How would you describe Shukhov's personality in the begining of the novel, and is there any thing heroic about him?

In the begininning of the novel, Shukhov is a resourceful,
hard-working, and intelligent person with a sense of self-worth and integrity. The
opening pages show how he always gets up early so that he can earn a little extra before
the day begin, but is not so desperate as to demean himself (by licking empty bowls, for
example). He is sick but gets up anyway, showing his
determination.

However, Shukhov is not heroic. It is the
point that he be an everyman figure, and has little to separate him from any other man
in the camp. He has personality and good traits, but he is not heroic because that would
mark him as special, when the purpose of the novel is to reveal the everyday horrors
that any camp worker experiences.