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Part 1, Chapter 9: The Law Becomes a Man
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Gulag Archipelago, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Oppression and Totalitarianism
Survival and the Human Spirit
The Dangers of Ideology
Power as a Corrupting Force
The Value of Religion and Spirituality
Summary
Analysis
Chapter 10 is also partially excised and replaced with a brief summary from the editor, who notes that the unabridged chapter continues Solzhenitsyn’s summary of the public trials of the 1920s and early 1930s, by which point “loyal engineers and even fellow Communists come under attack.”
This broadening of persecution reflects the increasing paranoia and authoritarianism of the state, where loyalty was no shield against accusation. This account reflects the regime’s self-destructive nature, as it turned against its own architects and supporters to maintain absolute control.
Themes
Solzhenitsyn recounts the infamous public trials of the late 1930s, where prominent Soviet leaders, once celebrated for their revolutionary zeal and unshakable Communist ideals, publicly confessed to elaborate crimes they could not have committed. These trials, which the global community watched with astonishment, saw powerful figures reduced to obedient individuals, confessing in abject humiliation. The contrast between their past defiance and present submission baffled many. Solzhenitsyn notes that these Bolshevik leaders never endured the brutal interrogations and hard labor typical of Stalin’s era. The mystique surrounding these men as hardened revolutionaries obscures the reality of their situation: shielded from true hardship, they became vulnerable to Stalin’s psychological manipulations.
Solzhenitsyn portrays these confessions as a spectacle of submission, demonstrating Stalin’s power to break individuals who once embodied revolutionary ideals. The humiliation these figures suffer is an example of Stalin’s strategy of control: by compelling loyal Communists to denounce themselves publicly, he reinforces the message that no one is beyond his reach. Solzhenitsyn’s observation that these leaders were shielded from typical hardships reveals their underlying vulnerability, exposing the hollowness of their revolutionary personas.
Themes
For Solzhenitsyn, Stalin’s great talent was his ability to exploit weakness. Stalin handpicked defendants based on their malleability, choosing those who he knew could be broken. Even those who seemed the strongest fell victim to this manipulation and eventually confessed to crimes they did not commit. Solzhenitsyn insists that the true explanation for these confessions lies not in supernatural coercion but in a calculated exploitation of human frailty.
Solzhenitsyn’s insight into Stalin’s psychological tactics reveals the calculated nature of Soviet repression. The Soviet system relied on exploiting vulnerabilities rather than merely enforcing compliance through fear. Stalin’s approach illustrates the regime’s sophisticated cruelty, where domination over the individual is achieved not only through physical force but through the relentless manipulation of the human psyche.
Themes
