One Book, One Chicago Spring 2006
Character List
- Alyoshka: One of Ivan’s bunk mates, he is known as “the Baptist.”
- Buynovsky: A well-educated prisoner, known as “the captain” due to his former military rank.
- Der: The construction site foreman.
- Eino: One of the two Estonians.
- Fetyukov: A scavenger and scrounger.
- Gopchik: A 16-year-old imprisoned for providing milk to rebels hiding in the forest.
- Stepan Grigorich: The know-it-all doctor.
- Kildigs: A Latvian bricklayer.
- Senka Klevshin: A former inmate of Buchenwald.
- Kuzyomin: Ivan’s former gang boss who taught him the rules of the prison.
- Limpy: The mess hall attendant with an injured leg.
- Tsezar Markovich: A cinematographer.
- Moldavian: A prisoner missing at evening roll call.
- Panteleyer: A prisoner missing from morning roll call.
- Pavlo: The respected deputy gang foreman.
- Ivan Denisovich Shukhov: He escaped from a German prison camp only to be considered a spy by the Russian government.
- Tartar: A thin, hairless guard.
- Andrei Prokofyevich Tyurin: The gang boss.
- Kolya Vdovushkin (Nikolai Semyonich): A medical assistant who writes poetry.
- Volkovoy: A cruel and much feared disciplinary officer.
“The way the story is written—an account of one day—gives you so many lessons and gives the author the opportunity to take the novel in different paths and different understandings. You learn history along with gaining a personal feeling, something deep inside of you that will stay with you later on in the day.”
—Joanna Tomaszewski, student at Walter Payton College Prep, Chicago