Previous
Part 3, Chapter 10: In Place of Politicals
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
Many orthodox Communists arrested during the Great Purges, known as the “call-up of 1937,” clung fiercely to their ideological beliefs. These individuals had previously held influential roles, and imprisonment shattered their sense of purpose, making them fight desperately to maintain any remnants of their former status. The betrayal by their beloved Party was a devastating blow they struggled to comprehend. Despite the overwhelming evidence of their unjust treatment, they defended the government in prison, believing rogue individuals, not the system, were to blame.
The “call-up of 1937,” one of the darkest episodes in Soviet history, marked the height of Stalin's Great Purges. During this period, a wave of arrests swept through the Soviet Union, claiming the lives and freedom of many who had once been staunch supporters of the Communist cause. Their ideological devotion left them unprepared for the Party’s betrayal, which shattered their sense of identity and purpose.
Themes
Their unwavering loyalty persisted throughout their imprisonment. They wrote countless appeals swearing allegiance to Stalin, hoping for his forgiveness while distancing themselves from executed comrades. Even after years of suffering, many could not acknowledge the systemic cruelty they had supported. Solzhenitsyn argues that the tragedy of these loyalists lies in their failure to learn from their own suffering because of the power of their ideological framework.
The loyalty of these imprisoned Communists endured despite overwhelming evidence of their unjust treatment, showing the deep-rooted psychological hold that Stalin’s cult of personality and the Party ideology had over them. Solzhenitsyn views this unwavering faith in Stalin, even in the face of such personal betrayal, as a tragic failure to learn from suffering. Their loyalty, he argues, was both a product of ideological conditioning and a reflection of the terrifying influence the state wielded over the minds of its citizens.
Themes
