The Gulag Archipelago Character Analysis

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn describes himself as a man shaped by the brutal realities of Soviet repression. He reveals a deep inner strength forged through his experiences in the Gulag camps. His narrative portrays a reflective and… read analysis of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Joseph Stalin

Known for his calculated and ruthless leadership, Stalin transformed the Soviet Union into a global superpower at a devastating human cost. He projected himself as a man of steel and was relentless in eliminating any… read analysis of Joseph Stalin

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev led the Soviet Union through a period of significant reforms and intense tension during the Cold War. He is best known for initiating de-Stalinization, openly denouncing Stalin's crimes in his “Secret Speech”… read analysis of Nikita Khrushchev

Lavrentiy Beria

Lavrentiy Beria was one of the most feared and powerful figures in the Soviet Union under Stalin. Serving as the head of the NKVD from 1938 to 1953, Beria played a central role in… read analysis of Lavrentiy Beria

Maxim Gorky

Maxim Gorky, a pioneering Russian writer and political activist, became a key figure in literature and revolutionary movements. His works, like Mother and The Lower Depths, exposed societal injustices and championed the working class… read analysis of Maxim Gorky

Andrei Vyshinsky

Andrei Vyshinsky, a prominent Soviet lawyer and politician, became infamous for his role as the chief prosecutor during Stalin’s Great Purge. Vyshinsky played a key part in the Moscow Trials of the 1930s, during… read analysis of Andrei Vyshinsky

General Andrei Vlasov

General Vlasov, a former Soviet military commander, turned into a controversial figure during World War II after German forces captured him in 1942. Disillusioned with Stalin’s regime, Vlasov allied with Nazi Germany and led… read analysis of General Andrei Vlasov

Vladimir Lenin

Vladimir Lenin, the driving force behind the 1917 Russian Revolution, led the Bolsheviks with a fierce intellect and unwavering commitment to Marxist ideals. Determined and uncompromising, he believed in using radical means to create a… read analysis of Vladimir Lenin

Naftaly Aronovich Frenkel

Naftaly Aronovich Frenkel was a key architect of the Soviet labor camp system, who played a pivotal role in transforming the Gulag into an instrument of economic productivity. A former prisoner himself, he rose to… read analysis of Naftaly Aronovich Frenkel

Friedrich Engels

Friedrich Engels co-founded Marxist theory alongside Karl Marx. Best known for his collaboration on The Communist Manifesto, Engels highlighted the exploitation inherent in capitalism and championed the cause of the proletariat. After his… read analysis of Friedrich Engels

Minor Characters

Karl Marx

Karl Marx co-founded Marxist theory alongside Friedrich Engels. In the political pamphlet The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels critique the exploitation inherent in capitalism and champion the cause of the proletariat. The Soviet Union adopted Marx’s ideas to found its ideology and inform its policies related to class struggle.

Varlam Shalamov

Varlam Shalamov was a Russian writer and poet best known for his harrowing accounts of life in the Soviet labor camps. His most famous work, Kolyma Tales, draws from his experiences over 17 brutal years in the Gulag.

Georgi Pavlovich Tenno

Tenno is a “committed escape,” someone who will continue trying to free himself from the Gulag no matter how many times he is threatened or hurt.

Captain Yezepov

Yezepov was the man who interrogated and tortured Solzhenitsyn while he was in the Gulag. Solzhenitsyn struggles to remember what Yezepov looks like.

Grigory Kulda

Kulda is a man who tries and temporarily succeeds in escaping the Gulag. However, eventually he is found and transferred to Kengir. His escape partner is Ivan Dushechkin.

Ivan Dushechkin

Dushechkin is a man who temporarily succeeds in escaping the Gulag. However, eventually he is found and transferred to Kengir. His escape partner is Grigory Kulda.

Anatoly Ilyich Fastenko

Fastenko is one of Solzhenitsyn’s first cellmates in the Gulag. Solzhenitsyn describes him as a wise old man.

Yuri Yevtukhovich

Yevtukhovich is a young man Solzhenitsyn met while in the Gulag. They often argued about the Soviet Union’s role in World War II.

Boris Gammerov

Gammerov is a young man Solzhenitsyn meets in the Gulag. They argue over the spiritual sincerity of President Roosevelt.

Zoya Leshcheva

Leshcheva is a girl who enters the Gulag at a young age but manages to hold on to her religious faith and fights against her oppressors.

Anatoly Vasilyevich Silin

Silin is a religious poet who found his faith while in the Gulag.

Kolya Zhdanok

Zhdanok is Tenno’s partner in crime. They regularly attempt to escape the Gulag together.

The Gulag Archipelago Characters