The same is true outside the prison, but to a lesser degree. As a result of inhumane conditions, and lack of any hope for improvement, the inmates don't value their lives. Outside the prison walls, the Soviet people also don't see their life as valuable as it is to Westerners.
Solzhenitsyn describes Shukhov as an inmate of a Stalinist labor camp somewhere in Siberia in 1951. He is the novel's protagonist and the story follows him and all his actions. Shukhov is a somewhat uneducated man from a working class. He was captured by the Germans during World War II, but escaped and arrived back to the Red Army hoping to be accepted as a hero, but instead was accused of treason and spying for the Germans. Shortly after, he was sentenced to 10 years in Gulag without a fair trial or possibility to communicate with his family. Although he was a proper citizen and fulfilled all of his obligations towards his motherland, he was silenced and judged as a traitor.
Life in the Soviet Union was always terrorizing. People felt a sense of doom looming over them; as if no matter what they do, either they or their loved ones will be accused of being enemies of the people for arbitrary reasons, and be sent to Gulag. It was this fear of the people that Stalin wanted, because if all people are living in fear of speaking out against the government, then the government is able to do as it pleases with no challenge. This sense of terror also included Shukhov even when he was already sentenced to Gulag. Prisoners would wake at dawn every morning feeling a sense of fear at the thought that perhaps it was their last day alive. It was common for prisoners to be shot with absolutely zero justification or warning. It was meant to "enlighten" the prisoners so they would appreciate all that communism can offer once they are released. This microcosm that Solzhenitsyn proposes within "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" is in direct comparison to the society of the USSR.
