A Study Of The Suffering Theme On Solzhenitsyn’s Novels

Aleksandr Isaevich Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), one of the most famous and controversial writers in Russian, and the fourth winner of Nobel Prize for literature in Russian literary history. As the pioneer of the Soviet Union "Literature based on Labor Reform Camp", he has claimed that a true word is more important than the whole world, which was known as "the Conscience of Russia". In his works, he greatly focused on the critical consciousness and humanism.In the introductory remarks, Solzhenitsyn’s life with ups and downs and his literature creation are briefly introduced. At the same time, the research on Solzhenitsyn at home and abroad is analyzed and summarized. It can be found that there are few studies on the suffering of life in Solzhenitsyn’s works, though at present humanism is the hotspot of the research on his works at home and abroad. There is only one article about the suffering, which has analyzed and criticized Solzhenitsyn’s works with Hanna Arendt’s totalitarian politics theory. As is known to all, religion has profound influences on Solzhenitsyn. He even holds that the Eastern Church can save Russia and it has a unique perspective of the trials. Therefore, here the suffering of life in Solzhenitsyn’s works is studied from the perspective of religion.In the first chapter, the suffering and the different attitudes when they faced the suffering of life in Solzhenitsyn’s works are analyzed and summarized. The suffering in Solzhenitsyn’s works is not only the labor reform in camp, but also the diseases and poverty and so on in daily life. The suffering is regarded as the punishment of God on those wrongdoers and the valley of the just persons improving themselves, and they can be closer to God for experiencing the trials.In the second chapter, the reasons why Solzhenitsyn has taken the suffering as the theme of works are analyzed, including time context, self-experience, culture tradition and religious belief. The time context of the Soviet Great Purge in the1930s and Solzhenitsyn’s self-experience lead to that his works reflect the suffering. Meanwhile, the unique attitudes of Russian tradition towards the suffering and the belief on the Eastern Church contribute to that the trials in his works are used not to reveal the reality but to express something deeply.In chapter three, the significance of the suffering in Solzhenitsyn’s works is explored. On the one hand, it makes his belief of life "live not by lies" come true and embodies the great consciousness of mission the Russian intellectuals have. On the other hand, it shows the unique perception to the suffering. The characters in trials still inquired into the question "what does human live by?" and resisted the damage of totalitarian to people. That is to say, even if in the trials, people should protect the dignity, display the humanity and give others power and warmth. In this way, they can purify their own spirit and redeem their souls.The Conclusion summarizes this thesis, the reason why I chosen the suffering theme on Solzhenitsyn’s works as my topic will be told. Solzhenitsyn’s life with ups and downs, and the character’s attitude to suffering in his works is his attitude. The hardships hurt his body, but at the same time it enriched his heart and soul. His thinking about suffering enlighten and inspire others forever.