The tortured man
Lev Rubin is a symbolic character because he is obviously portrayed in a dual light. On the one hand, he is clearly a man who resisted the state, but what is his political activism worth now that he has chosen to accept the meager gifts of the Russian government in exchange for his help in betraying his fellow activists? His betrayal is measured against torture, because the threat of not helping is to be tortured and sent to die in another gulag. His character helps the reader see the mental torture and manipulation of the Russian gulags.
Innokentii Volodin
Another symbolic character is this man whose first name is the word "innocent." He tries to liven the gulags with his speeches about freedom and the need to overthrow the government, which is encouraging in an entertaining way. Within the gulag, his testimony is symbolic, because he is "innocent" from the experience that awaits him. In a way, his encouragement is helpful, but mostly, it is a tragic example of the hope that will be broken down in due time.
Paranoia motif
Through specific motifs, the reader gets to see the unspoken enemy of the Russian state. The paranoia experienced by Stalin is mirrored in the paranoid atmosphere of the gulags, which are essentially engines of paranoia, executing justice not by innocent or guilt, but by suspicion and emotion. The injustice of the gulags is that they allow the Russian state to protect itself absolutely from threat by using paranoia as a weapon to prevent future uprisings.
The Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain is a historical phenomenon, but it is a symbol in the novel as well because the Russians desperately want to communicate with the outside world what a nightmare the state has become, hoping that other world governments will realize the human rights violations. But, the curtain prevails, so that the Russian state devolves into a state of hopelessness and horror. The Iron Curtain is a symbol that says, "No one will hear you scream." The gulags themselves are similarly hopeless.
The gulag through motifs
Hopelessness and absolute panic are the tones that fill the walls of these Russian jails. They are more than jails. They are like concentration camps, but instead of placing the camps in the middle of the woods or something, they are often in the tundra, so that the bitter cold prevents them from ever being found or examined closely by anyone, Russian or otherwise. They are hellish traps, and the novel explores the various ways that the gulags warp a person's sense of hope and self, because the chances of rescue are slim to none.
