An investigation into the roles of social protocol in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Like Water for Chocolate

“An investigation into the roles of social protocol in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Like Water for Chocolate”

The rules and conventions that society deems acceptable which govern our behaviour are woven into our everyday lives. Therefore it is not surprising that we find frequent references to these rules of social conduct in literature. Taking ones hat off while eating, and respecting your elders are some common examples of practices that form prescribed social conventions in societies. Solzhenitsyn's novel explores both positive and negative effects of the work camps social protocols, highlighting the resilience of humanity by controlling as much of ones situation as possible. Esquivel depicts  contrived Mexican family traditions, criticising it's unfairness through Mama Elena's harsh treatment of her daughter. The integration of social protocols in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate are fundamental in creating guidelines by which both protagonists Ivan Denisovich and Tita of each novel live by.

Sozhenitsyn's presentation of prisoners in the gulag highlights the benefits of social protocols introduced by inmates as a coping mechanism. This allows the reader to greater understand the significance of maintaining one's humanity in the extreme situations the prisoners are faced with. Early in the novel we learn that Shukov 'insists on removing his cap before eating'. This practice of etiquette carried on from his 'upbringing' gives him the feeling that he is behaving in a 'civilised manner'. Having little control over nearly ever aspect of his life in the camp, this simple action reinforces to the reader and Shukov himself that he can retain what little sense of dignity he has. Choosing not to relinquish the good manners he has been brought up with Solzhenitsyn creates this remanence of Shukov's past etiquette to aid his authorial purpose highlighting the remarkable resilience of humans in such a dire situations. Shukov including most other inmates follow the social conventions seen as acceptable by one another. However, Fetyukov, a sniveler and a beggar who is 'the sort who when he was looking after someone else's bowl took the potatoes from it', the opposite of dignified Shukov, was frowned upon by other inmates for his choices. Solzhenitsyn criticises Fetyukov for his lack of dignity and conformity, who doesn't abide by the unwritten rules of survival established by the prisoners in the gulag. This criticism sets him apart from almost every other character in the novel. Being one that 'licks other men's left overs' and 'peach[es] on [his] mates, it is believed that Fetyukov is the type of prisoner that 'these camps finish off'. The other inmates reaction to Fetyukov highlights to the reader that these actions are not socially accepted therefore moulding their opinion of the man. These attitudes towards dining etiquette serve as a benefit to the prisoners as it is one situation not governed by the guards, giving the inmates the feeling that the way they conduct themselves around meal time is their own choice. It provides them with a coping mechanism helping them maintain order and structure in the camp and ultimately their lives.