Prison Literature Analysis

The Rattlers (GHUM)

Old Readings

• For class on 1/30

• - Anatoly Marchenko “The Cooler” (memoir)
• - Varlam Shalamov “In the Bathhouse” (essay)
• - Varlam Shalamov “Lend-Lease” (essay)
• - Varlam Shalamov “Prosthetic Appliances” (short story – creative nonfiction)
• - Varlam Shalamov “The Red Cross” (essay)

Varlmam Sharlamov “In the Bathhouse”

• He is making a commentary how overall the prisoners actually hate going to the bathhouse. It is not that they don’t want to be clean but they get all of their belongings stolen, thrown out or traded for without their knowledge while they are cleaning themselves
• He describes the bathhouse as a place that is actually impossible to get clean in. You get a small amount of water and sometimes it is only enough to splash the water on your eyes and that’s it.
• Men cry over what underwear they get after showering and get in fights inside the bathhouse.
• The washed clothing is still damp when the prisoner receives it, and he ends all of this by saying it is obvious why nobody likes the bathhouse.

Varlam Shalamov “Prosthetic Appliances”

• Six prisoners are sent to the punishment block.
• All are administrative workers charged with some plot.
• The men are stripped to their underwear, then, totally naked. The first must take off his steel prosthetic corset.

• The prisoner comments to the narrator that he knows the investigator, because he used to go to the house of prostitution that the investigator's mother ran.
• The investigator has the stable manager take off his artificial arm, who fights and screams and thus, loses his hot food privileges.
•  The next prisoner is a doctor who has his hearing aid confiscated. The next man loses his prosthetic leg and the next checks in his artificial eye.
• The last man, the narrator, is naked, but though asked, will not give up his soul.

 Anatoly Marchenko “The Cooler” (memoir)

• Narrator has a double ear infection, and constant headaches and goes to the medical outpost knowing they will do nothing to help
• The only chance of being excused from work was to have a high temperature and since he didn’t have that and his work was below his norm he was put in the punishment cell also called “The Cooler”. The cooler was equipped with cells having very small wooden beds with a metal bar through he middle making it very uncomfortable and a little rec yard without grass. It was always cold. It also smelled horrible. Less then 1 minute showers and hot water and bread for breakfast was the norm. Lunch was cabbage soup (basically water) and dinner was a very small peice of boiled cod.

 Varlam Shalamov “The Red Cross” (essay)

·      Only medical ppl can provide real help

o   Labor depends on health, health depends on life

·      Doctor says rest- everyone else says work

o   Most important job- determine labor categories- degree which a con is capable of working

o   Subordinate to no one

o   Responsible to what went into the food (quality and quantity)