Evil - The Gulag

Archipelago
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
 The Gulag Archipelago – Not a Victim’s
Account, a Reflective Study
I have absorbed into myself my own eleven years there not as something shameful
nor as a nightmare to be cursed: I have come almost to love that monstrous
world, and now, by a happy turn of events, I have also been entrusted with many
recent reports and letters. So perhaps I shall be able to give some account of the
bones and flesh of that salamander which, incidentally, is still alive.
Evil
• If only it were so simple! If only
there were evil people
somewhere insidiously
committing evil deeds, and it
were necessary only to separate
them from the rest of us and
destroy them. But the line
dividing good and evil cuts
through the heart of every human
being. And who is willing to
destroy a piece of his own heart?
Pair Activity: Give examples of
how media outlets, including
news channels, portray evil.
Class Discussion: How is
Solzhenitsyn’s perspective on
evil different from the ones
found in popular media? Which
of the two are found in children
stories? Explain
 Someone
Ideology as a
What
This connections
ToSolzhenitsyn’s
do evil
is surely the main are there
a human
problem of to 20th
being
the personal
must responsibility?
century: first of allyou
is it permissible
Use
merely words
to carry out orders andto articulate
commit any connection
one’s conscience to someone
Questions – Use the full handout to believe that what he’s doing is good, or good
else

Else’s
see between ideology and personal responsibility.
else’s keeping? Can a man do without ideas of his own about
that it’s
and evil, andamerely
well-considered
derive them from the act in conformity
printed instructions and
verbal orders of his superiors? Oaths! Those solemn pledges

Justification
Howwith
can natural
thewith
pronounced adoptionlaw.
a tremor Fortunately,
ofinpersonal it is
responsibility
the voice and intended in the
serve
to defend as a
the
answer the questions people againstreaction
nature
corrective evildoers:to
of the seeideology?
how easilyUse
human theySolzhenitsyn’s
being can be misdirected
to seek a andto

Thoughts
the service of evildoers and against the people! (The Gulag
Fremaux’s words and phrases
justification fortohis
Archipelago)
articulate
actions. your answer.
 Ideology and the “Risks” of Alienation

How does the popular media ideology of evil risk alienating others? Use Sandrine
Fremaux’s article to answer the question.
Popular Media and Alienation

Popular media employs narratives that are highly polarized. In the words of Alexander Solzhenitsyn,
popular media presents narratives that are ideological in nature, narratives that present it as “so
simple”. “there (are indeed) evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds” according to
popular media. With a simple solution to “only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy
them”. Popular media does not accept that “the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of
every human being” even through their hearts. Popular media presents a narrative in which their
sides, despite their innocence of all wrong doing” are the victims of evil powers.

In essence then, popular media rarely present an objective factual account of events. News outlets,
for example, are affected by political and social ideologies which determine the facts they present,
and views they popularize. Other examples of popular media, film and TV industries for example,
make popular certain ideologies and ridicule and present as evil other ideologies. If one applies
Sandrine Fremaux’s
 Compare and Contrast
• The dreamer is a distinguished operatic
artist, and, like all who have elected to
follow, not the safely marked general
highways of the day, but the adventure
of the special, dimly audible call that
comes to those whose ears are open
within as well as without, she has had
to make her way alone, through
difficulties not commonly encountered.
The Hero with a Thousand Faces – Joseph
Campbell – Collected Works, Page 22
• This is surely the main problem of the
20th century: is it permissible merely to
carry out orders and commit one’s
conscience to someone else’s keeping?
Can a man do without ideas of his own
about good and evil, and merely derive
them from the printed instructions and
verbal orders of his superiors? Oaths!
Those solemn pledges pronounced with a
tremor in the voice and intended to
defend the people against evildoers: see
how easily they can be misdirected to the
service of evildoers and against the
people! (The Gulag Archipelago)