Ivan Denisovich Shukhov wakes up to the reveille but does not get out of bed. Normally, he arises early to have time to himself or to do odd jobs, but today he feels ill, and the barracks are frigid. He listens as Tiurin and Pavlo, the squad leader and deputy, leave to get the squad’s assignment for the day and their morning bread rations. Tiurin will need to bribe the planning department if the squad is to avoid working in the Socialist Way of Life Settlement, which is a new project and thus lacks structures offering protection from the cold. Alyosha and Buinovsky, Shukhov’s bunkmates, arise, and Shukhov hears the deputy leader of another squad complaining about short rations. Shukhov plans to report sick to the medical dispensary.

The Tartar, a guard, pulls off Shukhov’s blankets and assigns him three days of extra work as punishment for not getting up at reveille. Shukhov dresses and follows the Tartar to go to the commandant’s office, but the Tartar leads him to the guardroom instead and orders him to scrub the floors. Shukhov insincerely apologizes for oversleeping but is happy that he will be scrubbing the floor instead of serving three days of penalty work.