Abstract: This article discusses how two influential writers of the twentieth century – José Revueltas (Mexico, 1914-1976) and Alexander Solzhenitsyn (Russia, 1918-2008) – interpret incarceration and its purported aim to reform prisoners. The article compares their interpretation of prison as society’s mirror and society’s relation to prisoners. This article also scrutinises their use of the metaphor of the prison as a microcosm and the concept of the prison nation (the incarcerated and former convicts).
