Gulag Source 1
"This was the toughest moment — when you lined up for roll call in the morning. Into the bitter cold in the darkness with an empty belly — for the whole day."
Page 27
Warrant: This explains how difficult the gulag was to survive through. It proves the difficulties behind living through it, and how strict of a lifestyle you needed to make it through even a year.
Gulag Source 1
"You could bet your life that for a month there’d be no place where you could get warm— not even a hole in the ground."
Page 3
Warrant: Warmth is key. Staying warm means life or death within the gulag and when Shukov explains that there is no hope of this for an entire month shows how difficult it was to stay alive.
Gulag Source 1
"When there was a storm, the snow was very, very fine, but in
the snowdrifts it got packed down. Prisoners had gotten over the wire
across these snowdrifts and made a run for it. But it’s true they
didn’t get far."
Page 53
Warrant: Life in the Gulag was so torturous that people decided to try to escape rather then gain an understanding for the place. Ultimately, these people would die in the process of trying.
Gulag Source 1
"They stayed put in their shelters. But then after a while the gang bosses would agree among themselves on the right moment for all the gangs to come out together. The prisoners were so pigheaded that other- wise they’d just hang around till midnight, waiting for the others."
Page 108
Warrant: Order was a necessity to keep everyone alive. This proves that if someone tried to act like an individual and go in early or alone, they would be beaten by the guards. Proving how hard the gulag was.
Fear Source 1
"So what happened was every prisoner carried wood every day but you never knew if you’d get it through or when they’d take it away from you."
Page 121
Warrant: Fear was everything within places like the Gulag. Without this, death would come upon you. the fear of being taken away or starved is what kept everyone working.
Fear Source 1
"He went up there to get away from me and he got warm and fell asleep.” And he rammed his first into the back of the fellow’s neck. He let him have it real good. That was just to get him clear of the guard."
Page 115
Warrant: The Moldavian was made out to be the example in front of the group. Punishing someone like this in public is to keep installing fear within the whole group and make it known these things are not okay.
Gulag Source 1
"he knew the price they paid for these packages and he knew he couldn’t go on taking the bread out of their mouth for ten years. So he’d rather do without."
Page 141
Warrant: People like Shukov existed within the Gulag. He didn't want packages because it would be taking from his family who is already starving. These people are alone and expected to do all of this.
Determination Source 1
"So when a really tough job came along, like now, you couldn’t sit on your hands. Like it or not, you had to get a move on. Either they made the place warm within two hours or they’d all be fucking well dead."
Page 61
Warrant: It's arguable that this stems from fear, but I believe it also shows the motivation to want to live. Each person was determined to find the warmth that came at the end of the job and worked extremely hard to make that happen.
Gulag Source 1
"It was cold sitting in the mess hall and most of the men ate with their caps on, but without hurrying, chasing bits of rotten fish among the cabbage leaves and spitting the bones out on the table. When there was a whole pile of them, someone would sweep them off before the next gang came, and they were ground underfoot on the floor."
Page 13
Warrant: Obviously extremely unsanitary, this example was written to prove how unsanitary the conditions of the Gulag were. It made sense so many people got diseases or something like it.
Gulag Source 1
"When you are cold, don’t expect sympathy from someone who’s warm."
Page 22
Warrant: A quote that has so much meaning behind it. This basically means that don't expect sympathy from someone who is in a better position than you. This shows how bleak the conditions were at the Gulag and you could only look after yourself.
Loyalty Source 2
"'The Secret is in the grinding.' He pointed to the wooden apparatus with an iron crank. 'Not a minute before you brew'"
Page 126
Warrant: Quotes like this explain how the Count stays loyal to Russia. He listens to the old man through his explanation on how to brew coffee which is an old Russian tradition in this matter.
Gulag Source 2
"Leaving Pasha and Petya behind, the captain led the Count and his escort to a utility stair hidden behind an inconspicuous door in the core of the hotel."
Page 10
Warrant: The Count was on his way to isolation in this. Isolation from the things you love was a core part of the Gulag. While not directly correlated, both of these are a form of isolation.
Communism Source 2
"Becomes the Property of the people."
Page 11
Warrant: A quote almost never thought to be said before becomes a reality for Russia. Communism runs on the fact that the people own everything. This is where Russia ends up going with their government.
Effectiveness Source 2
"But as the Count gazed around him with the forlorn thought, a voice only half his own reminded him that in the Metropol there were rooms behind rooms, and doors behind doors..."
Page 62
Warrant: Mysterious quotes like this explain how effective Amor Towles was in portraying his points in this book. Keeping the audience engaged was effective in keeping the flow of the book going.
Gulag Source 2
"At the very moment that the Count heard the door to suit 208 clicking shut, Anna Urbanova was, in fact, falling asleep; but she did not sleep soundly."
Warrant: To bring the two books together, nobody slept well in the Gulag. While Anna was not necessarily in the Gulag, she was escaping the country with them and freeing herself would lead to a better sleep.
Effectiveness Source 2
"But in the end, that is exactly what they had done. They created the poetry of silence."
Page 269
Warrant: Silence is what kept some alive within this time for Russia. Staying out of becoming an enemy to the government was a way to stay alive.
Difference Source 2
"But even as he had this thought, Andrey walked over to the bed and smoothed out the blankets where his wife had been sitting; and only then, did he turn out the light."
Page 317
Warrant: This is a difference between the two books. While similarities are important to prove the effectiveness between the two, some differences happen as well. Shukov never would have had lights like this or enough blankets to stay warm.
Gulag Source 1
"Pavlo handed him his bread ration from the table. There was a
little white heap of sugar on top of it."
Page 23
Warrant: Shukov survived his punishment. His only food for that meal was a bread ration. This was not sustainable to live off of, and was just one of the struggles of living in the Gulag.
Gulag Source 1
"Right away everyone in the gang, whether snooz- ing or not, yawned and made for the door. The gang boss had been in camps for nineteen years, and he wouldn’t chase you out to the roll call one second too early. When he said “Outside !” the time had really come."
Page 27
Things were strict in the Gulag. This is a prime example of it. If you didn't wake up on time, you were punished. While this sounds like USNA, we are provided with the facilities to get good sleep and food.
Gulag Source 1
"The prisoners undid their coats and held them open. They marched up by fives, and five warders were waiting for them. They put their hands inside the prisoners’ coats and felt their jackets. They pat- ted the pocket (the only one allowed) on the right knee. They had gloves on, and if they felt something odd they didn’t yank it out right away but asked, taking their time."
Page 32
This treatment is beyond unreasonable, but was a norm within the gulag. Shukov went through this while the Count was given a hotel room. Another difference between the two books.