Week 13:

Pyotor’s group acts as a microcosm of Solzhenitsyn’s observation of society today because in both contexts, terror replaces ideology and becomes the true organizing principle. In Demons, ideology seems to infiltrate every conversation yet it remains actionless. Pyotr is arguably the most devoted to the “cause,” giving him a heightened sense of authority. However, this authority is contingent on the fear he generates in the people around him. Although Pyotr is faced with skepticism about his envisioned political system, members of the group are inevitably unable to resist. “That pyotr stapnovich was playing with them like pawns they likewise believed…they all knew that they would still come in complement to the spot the next day… They felt they had suddenly been caught like flies in the web of a huge spider; they were angry but quacking with fear”(551). This submission stems from the instinctive obedience that emerges when individuals realize that resistance carries immediate personal danger. When awareness is no longer strong enough to keep individuals from compliance, ideology becomes irrelevant. The fear of punishment and guilt glues the group together. In the last moments of the Gulag Archipelago, Solzhenitsyn scales Pyotr’s totalitarian behaviors to reflect the Soviet Union. The Gulag Archipelago wasn’t just a prison but a political tool. The fear the archipelago commanded by simply existing, was enough to control an entire society into submission. For those not imprisoned, it still influenced almost every little behavior in accordance with Soviet Union laws. Solzhenitsyn reveals this mechanism of fear by stating: “for half a century and more the enormous state has towered over us, girded with hoops of steel. The hoops are still there, there is no law”(468). This imagery evokes the tangible methods of control that still exist and control society today. The law that Solzhenitsyn deems non-existent highlights how the “law” has simply masked the concept of fear. Legality does not exist to benefit citizens and bring justice to society but instead to automate and strengthen the power of the regime. In both texts, fear substitutes ideology. The threat of being culpable is enough to coordinate the actions of Pyotr’s “followers.” Similarly, Solzhenitsyn highlights that the Soviet Union does not need consistent laws or clear political principles. Once people internalize the expectation of arbitrary punishment, the system can operate indefinitely and automatically. Furthermore, as fear erodes trust and community, individuals become isolated despite being surrounded by others. As ideology fades, fear is what compensates. Pyotr’s revolutionary group as a microcosm of Solzhenitsyn’s archipelago mirrors the structure of obedience that is identical whether it governs five people or five million.