The novels- A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Stranger both focus on the life of the protagonist. The Stranger, Albert Camus's first novel, is at once a brilliantly artful story and an illustration of his absurd worldview. In The Stranger, the protagonist Meursault is portrayed as a person psychologically detached from the world around him. He lacks sentimental emotions that are sometimes very important for a person. For example, when his mother died, it is natural for a person to cry or cry, but Meursault did not show any concern over his mother's death. The story revolves around Meursault's indifference and shows us how he is trying to understand the meaning of society. In contrast, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, wrote this novel to show the harsh inhumane behavior in the Soviet camp. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a courageous and extremely controversial novel. This is a work of fiction, but it is also a kind of tell-all journalistic novel about the gulag system. “Gulags” are forced labor camps where millions of people are sent for crimes. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was writing about the "Gulag system" under Joseph Stalin, the dictator who ruled the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1952. During Stalin's reign of terror, millions of people were killed and millions were arrested and sent to the gulags . Conditions in the Gulag were appalling and prisoners were used as slave labor. People who survived the camps were often sent into forced exile afterward. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn had a factual understanding of the "Gulag system". He was arrested for writing a note of disapproval of Stalin in a letter. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was arrested i...... middle of paper .......org/details/Gulag_Archipelago_IOne day in the life of Ivan Denisovich. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2011, from Bookrags: http://www.bookrags.com/notes/ivan/A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2011, from Gradesaver: http://www.gradesaver.com/one-day-in-the-life-of-ivan-denisovich/One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2011, from Sparknotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/denisovich/A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2011, from Shmoop: http://www.shmoop.com/ivan-denisovich/The Stranger. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2011, from Sparknotes: http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/stranger/The Stranger. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2011, from Gradesaver: http://www.gradesaver.com/the-stranger/The Stranger. (n.d.). Retrieved May 10, 2011, from Shmoop: http://www.shmoop.com/the-stranger/