Kolyma Tales Chapter Summary & Analysis - Shock Therapy, In the Bathhouse Summary

Shock Therapy, In the Bathhouse Summary

Shock Therapy

Merzlakov is having difficulty surviving. He is big and is not fed enough. First, he gets a job at the camp, in a stable. He hulls some of the oats for horses and eats adequately, but then he and others are busted since his former colleague is now the chief of the stable and knows the trick. Merzlakov is returned to the general work gang and sees his strength trickling away. Merzlakov sees how larger men like him die faster, because they are not given enough food. When he is sent to the mine, Merzlakov sees that he will soon die since he is not fed enough to tolerate the hard work and extreme cold. One day, he is carrying a heavy log and collapses. He is beaten by the guards and by other prisoners. He uses this beating as an...
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