In the book, it describes Ivan Denisovich Shukov being sentenced to a Soviet camp in the gulag system. After being captured as a prisoner of war during the First World War, he was accused of being a spy and sentenced to 10 years in a labor camp. The novel mainly describes Ivan's squad, which is the 104th with 24 members, of their loyalty and allegiance to the leader of the squad, the work that the prisoners are forced to do like working at a construction site where the conditions are brutal as the mortar that is used for laying bricks is frozen solid by the cold if it isn't applied quickly enough. The ways of the prisoners' way to survive are described in detail and the whole camp is based on the survival of the fittest. A man named Tiurin is the foreman of the 104th squad, and the men like him more and more as the book continues. He is quite popular despite being 'morose' because he understands the inmates and gives help to them as well as talking to them. Ivan workes really hard and is quite respected in the squad. Ivan always conserves the rations that he receives and always watches for any items that he can keep and trade for food later on. To dehumanize the prisoners, they are given numbers to be identified easily. The leader of the squad receives the day's work and the rest of the squad are fed according to how they finish their assignment. The inmates of each squad are forced to collaborate and work with each other to get their assignments done. The whole squad is punished if any of the squad's member is slacking. In gang 104, there are a surprising loyalty that is shown when the gang members work together, and Ivan steals felt and extra soup when teamed up with the members of 104. Ivan and the prisoners do more than surviving each day through such solidarity.
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