" The little fish in the gruel are more bones than flesh; the flesh has been boiled off the bone and has disintegrated, leaving a few remnants on the head and tail. Without neglecting a single-scale or particles of fish on the brittle skeleton, Shukhov goes on champing his teeth and sucking the bones, then spits the remains on the table. He ingests everything-- the gills, the tail and the eyes only when they are still in their sockets but not when they have been boiled out and floated in the bowl separately.
Following a regular breakfast, Solzhenitsyn further adds a ritualistic dimension to portray the eating description of a perpetually hungry prisoner. Without hesitancy, Shukhov draws his right knee up to his stomach, pulls his spoon from under his boot-top, removes his hat and puts it in his left armpit and runs his spoon around the edge of the gruel. This simple routine shows that Shukhov attempts to maintain his dignity by controlling the way he eats the meal. Moreover, such day is different than usual. With the extra two bowls that Shukhov has finagles for his brigade from the kitchen, he has the right to a second bowl. Following the ritual, he eats the first bowl in the way he regularly does, chewing every mouthful thoroughly and slowly and preparing it possible for the most complete digestion. However, he has to eat the meal faster in order to show Pavlo that he is ready to be served for the second bowl. With the anticipation of the second bowl, the first bowl now seems like an appetiser to Shukhov; he does not feel as full as he usually does after one bowl of mush. Moreover, he scrapes every single remain of food from the bowl with pieces of bread crusts salvaged in the morning for purpose. He licks the crust clean; "then [repeats] the whole process." Different than the other's bowl, Shukhov's "bowl [looks] now as if it [has] been washed, with a dull film, nothing more on the inside surface.
