| A | B |
|---|
| Shukhov | Stakhanovite who has been in labor camps for 8 years first at Ust-Izhma in Germany; imprisoned as a traitor |
| Kuziomin | "Old timer" at Ust-Izhma; Shukhov's first squad leader who instills survivalist ideas in Shukhov; hates squealers for they don't survive the camps |
| "One and a half" Ivan | Guard whose outside appearance is seedy, but whom Shukhov considers to be one of the "safer" guards |
| Alyosha the Baptist | Dependable member of the 104th; survives through his religious faith; keeps a New Testament hidden in the wall; camp hardships don't seem to bother him |
| Buinovsky | Ex-naval captain and newcomer to the camp; has trouble assimilating into camp life because he's used to having power and giving orders |
| The Tartar | Guard who does everything by the book; has a "choking" voice and is not bothered by the cold; looks for people to pick on |
| Pantleyev | The squealer, a creature truly despised by all prisoners |
| The Estonians | Two men, as close as brothers, who rely extensively on each other for survival |
| Senka Klevshin | A "quiet, luckless fellow" who is deaf; other squad members protect him by accommodating for his weaknesses |
| Fetiukov | Squad member who survives with little pride; Shukhov calls him a "jackal" and "a pat master at cadging;" manages to find his own means of survival |
| Vdovushkin | Medical supervisor and a writer |
| Volkovoi | Lieutenant of camp; a "wolf" who carries a whip and stripsearches the prisoners |
| Andrei Tiurin | Well-respected leader of the 104th; hand-picked Shukhov to be in his squad when he arrived at the work camp; extremely fair |
| Pavlo | Unofficial second in command of the 104th; cares about the survival of all members of the squad and believes in helping the weaker members until they learn the "rules" of surviving |
| Gopchik | Fresh-faced Ukrainian boy as "pink as a suckling pig;" Shukhov admires the speed with which he adapts to the work camp life and "adopts" the boy to fill the void left by his own son who died young |
| Kilgas | Works in the 104th as a mason; has only been in camp for 2 years, but is considered an "old timer" by Shukhov because he learned the rules of survival quickly; cheerful because he received two parcels per month |
| Tsezar | Rich prisoner who is treated as a guest; the only prisoner who lives in warmth and can survive on the parcels he receives in the mail; not required to work; spends his days conversing about the luxuries of the outside world |
| Der | Building foreman who looks for ways to punish the squads |
| The Moldavian | Prisoner who is rumored to be a spy; missing from lineup because he went into a crawl space to do some plastering, got warm, and fell asleep |
| "The Limper" | Mess orderly who is disabled, but a "hefty S.O.B." who is armed with a birch club with which he hits anyone who comes up the steps without his permission; Shukhov says, "he hit the down-and-outs" |
| Mess Chief | One of the few prisoners who wears no numbers |
| The Lett | A prisoner who sells tobacco, one of the few pleasures a prisoner still has |
