Themes of Death, Transformation and Isolation

Death Of Ivan Ilych, Metamorphosis, And Heart Of Darkness
When reading a book, the reader is always trying to figure out the theme of the story. Is it love? Is it
death? Every writer puts a different theme in their stories. Some themes relate to each other.
However, there are some that are a bit different. A theme is the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a
person's thoughts, or an exhibition. In other words, the theme is considered the topic of the story. In
this essay, I will talk about the themes in three of the stories this trimester. I will then compare each
one of them to each other. Three of the stories that have been discussed this trimester are Death of
Ivan Ilych, Metamorphosis, and Heart of Darkness. The Death of Ivan Ilych is about a man who has
been ill for a very long time. He was a man who always worked and never had any time for his
family. At the end of his life, he asked god and his family for salvation. He was able to be forgiven
by his family, and he died knowing his family forgave him. A theme of this story was artificial life
and authentic life. The artificial life is a deception that hides life's true meaning and leaves one
terrified and alone at the moment of death. This life was represented by Ivan believing ... Show
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One theme of Heart of Darkness is isolation. "Kurtz," who is the main man of the "Congo," is
separated from civilization by a river. The river "resembles an immense snake uncoiled, with its
head in the sea, its body at rest curving afar over a vast country, and its tail lost in the depths of the
land" (10). The "Congo" creates the feeling of darkness and despair, along with isolation. Another
theme is madness as a result of imperialism. Africa is responsible for mental disintegration as well
as physical illness. The madness the result of power. Kurtz from the beginning is mad. He is
removed from social interaction and is given power of his own body and mind. He has no authority
to answer to but himself. However, this is more than one man can
... Get more on HelpWriting.net ...

The Death of Ivan Ilych Essay
Psychological Importance in The Death of Ivan Illych
In The Death of Ivan Ilych Leo Tolstoy conveys the psychological importance of the last, pivotal
scene through the use of diction, symbolism, irony. As Ivan Ilych suffers through his last moments
on earth, Tolstoy narrates this man's struggle to evolve and to ultimately realize his life was not
perfect. Using symbols Tolstoy creates a vivid image pertaining to a topic few people can even start
to comprehend– the reexamination of one's life while on the brink of death. In using symbols and
irony Tolstoy vividly conveys the manner in which Ilych views death as darkness unto his last
moments of life when he finally admits imperfection.
In the first paragraph of the ending chapter, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Tolstoy also employs irony as he examines the plight of Ivan Ilych. This highlights the differences
between Ilych's perception of his own life and reality while also allowing the reader to take part in
some of the tearing anguish Ivan feels in having to submit to the wrongdoings in his life. Tolstoy
compares Ivan Ilych's struggle to the plight of a man condemned to death as he "struggles in the
hands of an executioner" (61). Ivan Ilych does not see death as a natural process, but as a
punishment controlled by a merciless executioner, ironically much like the merciless judge he once
was. Ivan Ilych's feels that death is an undeserved punishment because he never considered his own
mortality. His obsession with social adroitness made mortality feel like a punishment, and his
justification of this obsession made it impossible for him to let go of his life. Ivan Ilych believed he
had lived his life up to social standards and because of this he would not have to endure the terrible
agony of death that is beset among ordinary people. In reality he was blind to his shallow life and
the transgressions he made. Tolstoy uses vivid imagery to describe Ivan Ilych's struggle to submit to
his life's end. For example, Tolstoy describes Ivan as feeling as though he is struggling to get inside
of a hole. The darkness in the hole obstructs Ivan's ability to get in, and he is unable to get past

Ivan Ilych By Leo Tolstoy
In "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Ilych is a highly regarded official in the court of
justice who lives carefree most of the time. However, as the story progresses, he starts to more and
more self analyze and become emotional as he ponders the reason for his hellish illness and coming
death . Although it may seem like he has done something to deserve such a cruel fate, it is honestly
just the way life works, and all of us have to accept this fact. That is what Ivan ends up realizing and
doing. It is not a punishment of how he has lived, but instead is a natural occurrence that ends up
hitting everyone at different times in our lives. While Ivan asks himself why he has been afflicted
with his illness he also starts to learn new things just like how we learn that the larger thematic
function of his suffering is to help him reflect on himself, his life, and the people around him. First,
we're not to see Ivan Ilych's suffering and death as some sort ... Show more content on
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Through Ivan Ilych, Tolstoy is using death to explore the question of what makes a happy and joyful
life. It's depressing to know that Ivan learns that his wife doesn't love him. Tolstoy states "She pitied
herself the more she hated her husband" (1006). He's totally alone. Barely anything he's done in his
life means anything to him. However, he ends up realizing that the time where he was most happiest
was during his childhood. "The further he departed from childhood and the nearer he came to the
present the more worthless and doubtful were the joys" (1023). Ivan Ilych's childhood is the only
happy part of his life because it is the only point at which he had any real connections to other
people. Happiness is defined differently by everyone but for Ivan Ilych having real connections to
and with other people is his definition of being

Characterism And Gerasim In The Death Of Ivan Ilych
According to Webster dictionary destiny means, "a predetermined course of events often held to be
an irresistible power or agency," such a simple definition for a word that holds so much weight
(Webster). Anyone who thinks of the word destiny feels some form of intimidation because knowing
that we are destined to do something great or small can be overwhelming. In most frictional writing
the characters have a predetermined destiny they need to fulfill from Katniss Everdeen stopping the
Hunger Games to Odysseus going back home and reclaim his thrown. The Death of Ivan Ilych is no
exception and Gerasim, himself had a destiny he couldn't avoid.
Gerasim is Ivan's butler's assistant in the story of The Death of Ivan Ilych. Gerasim is different ...
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Gerasim, on the other hand, was very different he was not only poor but he was also sincere in the
way he spoke and in his actions. Before Gerasim chose to help Ivan, Ivan lived, "alone on the brink
of abyss, with no one who understood or pitied him," (Tolstoy p.158). Gerism took pity on Ivan
which was something Ivan wanted, " Gerasim's attitude towards him there was something akin to
what he wished for, so the attitude comforted him, " (Tolstoy p.168). Through acknowledging Ivan's
failing health Gerism gave Ivan something he thought he never truly had which was a real human
relationship. Just by showing simple kindness Gerism caused Ivan to rethink his entire life. Still, a
question remains not about Ivan, but about Gerism and did he fight his destiny or was he accepting
of his purpose?
"We shall all of us die so why should I grudge a little trouble?" is the reply Gerism gave when Ivan
questioned why Gerism was helping him. Toylse goes deeper into this question, expressing that
Gerism didn't think helping Ivan was a burden because one day Gerism hoped someone would do
the same for him (Tolstoy p.168). Gerism destiny was to show Ivan what a good life looked liked
with someone who wasn't part of Ivan's high society driven friends. Gerism was accepting of his
purpose and did it with a smile on his face. He showed Ivan compassion and pity when Ivan truly
needed human sympathy. Even though this sign of human interaction made Ivan question his life

Gerasim In Leo Tolstoy's The Death Of Ivan Ilych
Ivan Ilych the protagonist from the novel The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy becomes ill and is
slowly dying. Ivan lives in depression and agony as his final days slowly diminish. Gerasim, the
butler's assistant, helps ease the pain and agony Ivan suffers from. Tolstoy utilizes Gerasim to
catalyze the realization and transformation Ivan experiences. Gerasim establishes Ivan's new
understanding of death, family, and morality. Ivan felt isolated as he neared death. Most people who
knew Ivan acknowledged his illness but not the fact that he was dying which aggravated him, "What
tormented Ivan Ilych most was the deception, the lie, which for some reason they all accepted, that
he was not dying but was simply ill" (40). Ivan felt deceived by everyone else because no one
accepted that his days were limited. Ivan felt secluded since many people ignored the gravity of his
condition and did not pay much attention to him. Gerasim filled the void Ivan felt from being
disregarded from others. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Gerasim willingly did all the requests Ivan asked him to do such as, "lifting him, to the sofa and
placed him on it" and would also "call Gerasim and get him to hold his legs on his shoulders, and he
liked talking to him" (40). Ivan enjoyed Grasim's company due to the fact that he understood Ivan
and would help him out, something that others did not do. Through Gerasim, Ivan realizes that he
should view death in a negative way, rather accept it for what it is and not have fear of it. This
transformation Ivan undergoes is evident in his final days before dying. Ivan learned to accept death
and is joyous of it, stating right before he dies, "'So that's what it is!' he suddenly exclaimed aloud.
'What joy!'" (57). Dying eventually became a sense of tranquility for Ivan, easing the pain from his
illness. Gerasim is responsible for Ivan's new view on

What Are The Questions In The Death Of Ivan Ilych
Philosophical Interview There comes a time in every person's life, when they start to ask questions
like: "What is the purpose of life?" and "What would I regret if I died tomorrow?" The opinions
usually vary from people of different ages, gender, and social group. The novel The Death Of Ivan
Ilych, by Leo Tolstoy, challenges you to ask yourself questions, not much different from the ones
mentioned above, about the life you have lived, and the future outcome of it. This process may put
perspective on your life, organize your priorities, and start the removal of unnecessary distractions.
After interviewing people of different ages, my belief that only two answers were possible was
diminished. I asked people what their opinion was on marriage, and if it was necessary to achieve a
happy life. For some of the interviewees, I asked follow–up questions, "Would you personally feel
that your life was incomplete if you never did get married?" and "If you fell in love would marriage
be an open option?" Some people responded with confidence, and others uncertainty. Some thought
through this concept before, but for the others, it never crossed their minds once. The ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
Every person questioned provided well–thought responses, that makes a compelling argument. I
used to think that nobody should get married because you can share the same connection without the
ceremony. Lindsay's argument made me realize that people have their own choice, and should
follow what they feel is right. If you fall in love and want to get married, that's your decision. If you
never marry, and desire the independency, that is perfectly fine, and accepted. I don't mind if I get
married, and I don't mind if I don't. I would prefer to fall in love, and spend my life with someone
who cares about me, without the official proof that we are together. I may change my mind in the
future and want to get married, but for now, I don't have to

The Death Of Ivan Ilych
People find a significant amount of ways in order to express and get our feelings elsewhere we can
use our body language or gestures along with volume. Screaming may be the most bizarre and
consists when it comes to expressing emotion, but when it comes down to it whatever gets the job
done is acceptable. Not saying that this allows a good thing to do, because it is very unacceptable to
just act out. In the short story novel The Death of Ivan Ilych, Ivan comes down with a terminal
illness after falling off the ladder on his side. In the short story Ivan screamed for three days straight
before he finally died. There are many hypotheses as to why he screamed for three days straight.
When one looks further into it they will notice Ivan screamed because he realizes he is going to die,
he must reevaluate his Life, and finally he realizes his isolation. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
The main character comes down with a deathly illness. At this moment he accepts his mortality also
consequentially except everything that is wrong with him physically and metaphorically. "Ivan
Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible"(2.1). Although not
only has he realized the terrible choices he has made but he is also coming to terms with the fact he
must die knowing he made these choices. For Ivan there is no going back, he has no chance to fix or
make up for the wrong doing he has done it's just over and he must painfully live with this agony
and realize it until he takes his last breath that nothing can be

Socrates And Ivan Ilych Essay
Socrates and Ivan Ilych have lived opposite lives that caused them major implications. Socrates
lived his life the way he believed he should live his life. Ivan lived his life the way others believed
he should have lived it. Both Socrates and Ivan went about their lives in different ways which
resulted in them living in an authentic and inauthentic way.
Starting off with an inauthentic life, which is a life where an individual follows others, avoids
decision making for themselves, and lives their life in a constant state of routine. When comparing
an inauthentic life to Ivan's life we can see that his life corresponds with an inauthentic life. Ivan
conformed to societal norms, focused on how he can please others, and was a very materialistic
man. Therefore, making him inauthentic. A quote from "The Death of Ivan Ilych" that best expresses
Ivan's inauthentic life is " Even when he was at the School of Law he was just what he remained for
the rest of his life: a capable, cheerful, good–natured, and sociable man, though strict in the
fulfillment of what he considered to be his duty: and he considered his to be what was so considered
by those in authority" (The Death of Ivan Ilych, 7). This quote shows that Ivan lacked independent
thinking. He wasn't able ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The differences between Ivan and Socrates are very clear. Ivan was a person who lived a life full of
routine. He did what was expected of him from others. He didn't live his life the way he wanted,
which resulted in him regretting his entire life while he was on his deathbed. While Socrates was a
person who lived life doing what he wanted to do, which was teaching Philosophy no matter what
other people's opinions were. After Socrates drank the Hemlock, he didn't regret his life. This is
because he lived his life the way he believed it should be

Death Of Ivan Ilych Essay
According to Henry James, the way characters respond to certain situation is what makes them
intriguing (Wakana). Leo Tolstoy's story, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is an example of just such a
story. Leo Tolstoy presents a character, Ivan Ilych and uses through out the story, in a way of Ivan
conveying the characters feelings to different situations (286–300). William Faulkner's story, "Barn
Burning" is another example of how the character is able to convey a message to the reader. William
Faulkner does this through the main character's thoughts and descriptions about the other characters
within the story (155–67). In Leo Tolstoy's story, "The Death of Ivan Ilych" Ivan Ilych is dying and
very much aware of that fact. He is in pain and in extreme anguish as he deals with his situation
(299). In Elisabeth Ross's book, On Death and Dying, she breaks down the different stages of grief
that someone dying may be going through. Ivan does to some extent, appear to be going through the
five stages of grief: "denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance" (Ross). Ivan goes
through denial, pretends his illness is just something that will eventually go away. Displays Anger,
almost everyone he has contact with is subject to his anger. As for depression, Ivan is in a ... Show
He knows that it is wrong for his father to burn the barns and he wants no part of it. Even so, he gets
into a fight in an attempt to defend his family honor. The family is forced to move around a lot due
to the fathers bitter attitude towards authority and his revengeful ways. Abner Snopes, Sarty's father,
reinforces the family honor on the boy by telling him how important it is to stand with ones own
family. "You got to learn to stick to your own blood or you ain't going to have any blood to stick to
you" (Faulkner

"Life and death are one thread, the same line viewed from different sides" (Lao Tzu). Without life,
death cannot exist and without death, life cannot exist. The journey that all living things embark on
can be seen as a thread, only to reach the final destination, death. It is this journey that we, as human
beings make the best of. In order to reach death with a positive mind, people must live a good life. A
life of deeper truth with the world around us, personal fulfillment, and joy. In Tolstoy's short story,
"The Death of Ivan Ilych", the reader is taken on a painful and agonizing journey of the last
moments of Ivan Ilych's life. Ivan Ilych, a man who was concerned about pleasing others rather than
himself and going through life without searching and digging deeper into what life really was. After
a long and aching struggle with his illness, Ivan Ilych understood that there is an end to life and one
is not eternal. Also, he learned that in order to enjoy life one must go beyond the norm, love full
heartedly, and enjoy the beauty that life is. The reader begins to know Ivan Ilych as a wealthy man
who under that was an average man, neither extraordinary nor useless. Something of key importance
is that he feels as though he is at the center of the universe, the world revolves around him. When
Ivan losses his job he wanted to "punish those who had failed to appreciate him and get transferred
to another ministry" (96). Ivan is a selfish man who only thinks about himself and his

An Existential Crisis In The Death Of Ivan Ilych By Kafka
Samson Abdurachmanov An Existential Crisis Existential crisis is a moment at which an individual
questions the very foundations of their life: whether their life has any meaning, purpose, or value.
Sometimes there are men who will accept their fate graciously. Two works that depict these ideas
are "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy and "The Metamorphosis" by Kafka. In both works by
Tolstoy and Kafka, the main characters at some point question their lives' and what life means to
them. In order to question one's life, it would be necessary that one evaluate the decisions they
make. A person's life can change in any event that has happened to them. Moreover, the ... Show
The cushion's spring Peter sat on was unsteady and at one point Peter was caught in it. So too was
Ivan material relationship, it was not stable. He takes a wife because a young legal man with secure
means should take a wife. He buys a house in the city and furnishes it with serious accessories
because a cultured aristocrat should have a material status symbol. Overall, Ivan does things for the
show of it. The cushion in a way also represents his shaky life. As aforementioned, people's
decisions shape their future. It would seem here that Ivan's attitude of "go with the flow" is shaping
up to be a bad decision, hence a bad future. Ivan faces an injury to his left side. At first, it is not
serious, but later on, his pain gets stronger to the point where he is bedridden. It is because of Ivan's
illness does he start to think about his life. He questions his existence and the rationale behind his
suffering; he slowly begins to see that his life was not as it should have been. Ivan's illness reveals to
him the true nature of life that, a life lived for others are a life worth living. He is going first through
agony and despair, he thought his life was meaningless and void of love; it was his son who showed
him love. Now he realized that he should have been more involved in his family life. "Yes, I am
making them wretched...They are sorry, but it will be better for them when I die...He tried to add
'forgive

Leo Tolstoy's The Death Of Ivan Ilych
"If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as
far as possible, all things," quoth the great French philosopher Rene Descartes. This also essentially
describes the meaning of Leo Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych." For if there was ever a man who
but once and only once dared to doubt all things for the sake of truth, it was Ivan Ilych.This
becomes evident when Mr. Ilych undergoes a profound spiritual reassessment as death draws nearer
to him and a final spiritual reconciliation when he finally passes away at the end of the story.
Specifically, Ivan Ilych undergoes this transformation as his death draws near and the falsity of the
life he has lead dawns upon him in the very twilight of his life. This leads to a final reconciliation
with the reality of his past ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
This is because when Ivan Ilych is seen as an archetypal product of modern society, his individual
experience gains a broader meaning applicable to people everywhere. Ivan Ilych is a worldly man
who, like so many people, is preoccupied with worldly concerns. Moreover, the world in which he
lives, like himself, is disingenuous. Everyone deals with each other in a polite and proper manner,
but there is no conviction behind the sentimentalities and apparent friendliness that characterize Ivan
Ilych's relationships; they are false. Ivan Ilych, however, is forced out of this comfortable falsity by
his impending death. When he finally comes face to face with the ultimate reality, he rejects the life
he has lived and embraces what he sees as "the light." Thus Ivan Ilych, at his death, is finally born
into a higher truth. Tolstoy, then, is calling on the readers to renounce the materialistic world and its
pretense, to reconcile themselves to whatever truth lies beyond it just as Ivan Ilych did. Therein lies
the significance of the

The Death Of Ivan Ilych Essay
I am majoring in psychology, with the aspiration of earning a Ph.D. At my core, I am a "people
person," which I define as someone who is invested in the human condition in all its varieties. I have
a particular love for literature, philosophy, and stand–up comedy. Nothing brings me greater than
making someone laugh. Ultimately, I want to make a positive impact in the lives of others. Through
Phi Theta Kappa, I can achieve my goals, develop lifelong friendships, and experience personal
growth.
Ivan Ilych is dead. The Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, informs the reader of this tragedy from just the
title of his novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych. Immediately, Tolstoy draws the attention of his
audience with the title. It is a curious title because it tells us the fate of the eponymous character of
the story, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The desperate quest for existential meaning put him in distress. He first turned to the Russian
Orthodox Church. However, he found the church and its institutions to be corrupt and voiced against
them, which led to his excommunication. Additionally, he repudiated "all the sacraments, all
miracles, the Holy Trinity, the immortality of the soul, and many other tenets of traditional religion,"
as Gary Saul Morson, Frances Hooper Professor of the Arts and Humanities in the Weinberg College
of Arts and Sciences, encapsulates in his Encyclopedia Britannica Online article, "Leo Tolstoy"
(Morson). Tolstoy ultimately found solace in the teachings of Jesus Christ, especially, in the Sermon
on the Mount. He admired Jesus not as a son of God, but, rather, as a sagacious mortal man. The
religious teachings profoundly changed Tolstoy. He dressed in peasant clothing, rejected his wealth
from past works, stripped himself of the title "Count," and championed the doctrine of turning the
other cheek . His lifestyle acts as a foil to Ivan Ilych's, a bourgeois who wastes his life on petty,
materialistic

Ivan Ilych Reflection
INTRO: As a senior in High School is getting close to graduating, there are many things they think
about. They start to spend more time with friends and family, striving to make as many memories as
they can. They also look back on all the academic challenges they overcame. One of which would
be reading all the novels assigned, or reading a summary of the book. A book which could stand out
to them would be "The Death of Ivan Ilych" written by Leo Tolstoy. This is a novel on how a man's
life, and how he died. Ivan Ilych, from a very young age, was always worried about his social
standpoint. He gained knowledge in the works of government and became a lawyer. His work
causes him to move twice before finding a wife, by the name of Praskóvya Fëdorovna. When she
becomes pregnant, she is a little more difficult to handle, so Ivan devotes himself to his ... Show
Not only does a senior worry about the future, but they also look back on their life and reflect on
what they have done. They then proceed to create more memories and feelings to take with them.
Ivan Ilych did the same thing, however, he didn't have more time to create more memories. Right
before he died, he tried to fix his relationship between him and his family by telling them he loves
them. This can also be seen as a warning, warning seniors to make memories while they can and to
act in a way they will not regret. In the novel, it states, "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and
most ordinary and therefore most terrible," (Ch. 2). This is a warning saying to do activities that will
give you fun memories to bring p in times of trial. It can also relate to many seniors because as they
reflect on their lives, all they see is things they haven't done yet, seeing their lives as

Ivan Ilych
After the reading the book of the "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy the reader can conclude
that not everyone lives a happy life. People can go from being happy to sad in just an instant. This
story teaches the reader that not everyone is going to be there in the hard moments, only those who
truly appreciate and understand the person in pain will be there supporting. Leo Tolstoy was very up
forward on his stories. He usually did not watch what he said. Many people might say his theme and
characters role are affected by the life he lived. Every character has their own role and meaning. For
example, those who have read any background of Tolstoy can say that he is very similar to Ivan
Ilych. Tolstoy lived tough life his parents past away ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Most people use lie to cover more lies but Peter was a character who didn't care about lying. He
symbolizes false because he was one to lie with no problem or remorse. Peter preferred to lie other
than facing the consequences. If someone knew Ivan Ilych it was Peter although most of the time he
put himself before everyone else, he actually knew Ivan really well. Peter is not the kind of best
friend people want because he would be backstabbing everyone all the time. He would make himself
look in front of people and say what people want to hear in front of everyone. A quote from the
novella that explains how fake peter was is when the narrator says, "Praskovya Fedorovna
recognizing Peter Ivanovich, sighed, went close up to him, took his hand, and said: "I know you
were a true friend to Ivan Ilych . . . " and looked at him awaiting some suitable response." This
quote explains how people were starting to realize how fake of a friend Peter was to Ivan. This
concludes that people are not always who others may think they are. As in for Peter Ivanovich he is
one of the worst traders a person could have as a friend. His last name Ivanovich stands for Ivan's
son. That is why maybe he was relieved when Ivan Ilych dies because he is truly tired of living
under his shadow. Peter was a false person because when his best friend dies he feels like more
doors open. That is why people might say don't judge a book

The Death Of Ivan Ilych Analysis
The death of Ivan Ilych is novella by Leo Tolstoy that examines the life of a very miserable
man,Ivan Ilych.
Ivan life is very ironic and threw his entire life he plays a big facade in front of people,but he is
really different inside than how he performs or acts around the public eye.
His entire ministry is a lie,and he eventually dies scared and all alone.
Ivan is forced to face reality instead of the money dome he's placed over himself to shield him from
the real world.
He marries even though he doesn't want nor care for marriage do to the fact he'd rather play around
with wires than get a real wife.
Eventually he starts to realize how meaningless his life was and how he wasted it doing nothing but
complaining and being miserable.
In the end he longs for death and so do most of the people around him to collect their check.
Ivan never wished to be married for love but just on looks alone.
He was pushed by the public eye thinking that him and his soon to be wife would make a good
couple so by society rules Ivan married even though he did not love his wife or her looks at that.
Even though he would rather go to the whore house than sleep with his wife he sometimes did
causing him to have five unwanted kids and only two of them survived to live on.
He slowly hated his wife more and more considering her a filthy leech and had her sent away from
his home.
As he became more sick he was disgusted with how much better his wife looked than him.
He slowly just wanted her dead

Ivan Ilych Quotes
The Death of Ivan Ilych
Thought–provoking and brutally honest, Ivan Ilych's life and death divulged the idea that life is not
meant to live like others, but to live authentically. When Leo Tolstoy published The Death of Ivan
Ilych (1886), he sought to challenge society's pride of striving to live a shallow and materialistic
life. Significant insight was brought about into how Ivan Ilych's life was considered artificial and
terrible by perceiving how he spent his life in the story. Moreover, Ivan Ilych's life reflected upon
the grievance of yearning to live pleasantly and properly. It ultimately exposed how his suffering
and illness freed him from his decorous, but dull life.
What is so profound about the saying, "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and
therefore most terrible?" (Tolstoy, 1886)
What is so profound about the given quote is that it captures the raw meaning of living an artificial
life to nothing more than of a proper and decorous degree. Furthermore, it foreshadows future
events for Ivan Ilych, such as his wife's emotional abuse. He blindly wished a miserable life upon
himself precisely when he said, "Really, why shouldn't I marry?" (Tolstoy, 1886). When Ivan Ilych
first started to realize how much of a nuisance his ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Several instances occur where Tolstoy implied his strong views on living such a life. One example is
when Ivan Ilych lay on his death bed and Tolstoy stated, "And his professional duties and the whole
arrangement of his life and of his family, and all his social and official interests, might all have been
false" (1886). He was clearly implying that Ivan Ilych had lived his life artificially–not authentically,
and reinforced his belief that vying for a pleasant and proper life was

Leo Tolstoy: The Death Of Ivan Ilych
Life and Death: The Death of Ivan Ilych
"The death of Ivan Ilych", one of the widely celebrated piece of literature written by Leo Tolstoy,
talks about a delusional man whose life seems to come to an end as he approaches the reality. It is a
convincing story in which a person struggles to see the reality in the falsity he had created. The
novella discusses a bitter and disturbing truth of human reality: the morale choices a person makes
in his lifetime and the consequences he faces in his deathbed because of his choices.
Ivan Ilych, the protagonist of the story, misinterprets his existence as being predictable and
controllable, lives his life in denial forcing himself to believe that living a reputable and successful
life surrounded by so–called ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
His selfish choices of isolating himself from his family, trying to become what the society thought
was the best while not being the part of the very society, and acquiring more wealth and power
caused Ivan to fall deeper in the falsity he had created himself. This is made clear in Tolstoy's
statement "Caius–man in the abstract–was mortal was perfectly correct, but he wasn't Caius, not an
abstract man, but a creature quite, quite different from all others" (763). This falsity was later
destroyed as Pachmuss puts forward his claim that it was the realization of love that was hidden
under Ivan's falsity that opened Ivan's eyes to see the reality. As Ivan desperately searched for the
meaning of his existence and the approaching death, his feeling of guilt and pity towards his family
ultimately releases him from his agony. His choice of accepting his fate and his true love for his
family puts an end to his suffering. "As opposed to the primitive man, the "civilized" individual
becomes a part of the harmonious whole only through death, or, during life, through love" (82).
Pachmuss believes that love is what drives human to move forward and love is the force that gives
life meaning. Following his purification, Ivan's death is reduced to insignificance as Tolstoy states,
"Death is finished. It is no more" (778), making him able to accept

In Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych, protagonist Ivan Ilych lives a life he
considers to be marvelous and filled with the things he wants and considers important (both physical
and emotional). He has a wonderful job he's good at, a beautiful family, a lovely house, and friends
to play games like bridge with in the evenings. One day, when he is fixing up his new home before
his family arrives, he hits his side after slipping by making bad step on a ladder. He convinces
himself that it is only a bruise, and that the pain will pass. The pain doesn't simply pass, though.
Doctor after doctor attempts to diagnose what might possibly be wrong with him, but none of them
are able to agree on what his injury is. As he continues to live his life as he planned, the sensation of
pain continues to come back to him repeatedly until he is eventually on his deathbed. As he realizes
he is approaching the very end of his life, Ivan Ilych ponders over his life and begins to question
himself, asking "What if my whole life has been wrong?" (Tolstoy 54). He comes to the conclusion
that the things that are important are not tangible items such as money or property. Rather, he
decides that the things that truly matter in life are intangible, such as happiness, compassion, and
facing the truth. He realizes too late that these important feelings and concepts have been missing
from his life all along.
Throughout his life, Ivan Ilych worried about what others would think of him. He

The Death Of Ivan Ilych By Leo Tolstoy
People attend college to get a degree so that they can get the job they want after graduation. Is this
the sole reason a student attends college? Stillman Gibroni III would say yes. Mr. Gibroni argues
that students should not have to take classes that do not provide information that attains to the field
of study that they are directly interested in. Because of this, he finds that classes which speak of past
events that have affected the world and past people who have been influential are a waste of time.
Mr. Gibroni is correct in knowing that one of the biggest reasons people attend college is to receive
an education so they can get a good paying job post–graduation. However, he fails to realize that
college is also a place where students ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Gibroni is not incorrect in his opinion that students go to college to get a degree to get a job past
graduation. However, he does not understand that certain college classes are required so to students
can grow morally and realize what they want to truly do in life. From being in Journey of
Transformation, I learned that receiving a good education is more about then just completing school
work and getting good grades. It is also about looking at the world and being able to have opinions
on events taking place. Reading what Martine Luther King Jr. and Leo Tolstoy wrote showed me
that living life without being aware of one's surroundings is ultimately an unfulfilled life. By this, I
mean that just because events are not personally affecting me does not mean they never will. Going
through life in steps and just thinking about what usually would happen next is not an effective way
to improve the world. It showed me that it is important to have opinions rather than not care.
Journey of transformation was essentially the most worthwhile class for me this semester. I say this
because it helped me think of my life choices in a personal sense. Frankl's points about how every
person has a diverse purpose in the world stuck with me. It helped me decide to change my major
and focus on a school subject that I enjoyed without worrying about others opinions on what I
should do with my life. I very much enjoyed this class because it showed me that a college
education is about

Ivan Ilych Tolstoy
Thoughts on The Death of Ivan Ilych
In Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych, a man is suddenly confronted with his own mortality. At
first, the man, Ivan Ilych, does not want to confront his inevitable death, but as time goes on, he
slowly realizes his life is ending. Knowing that he is going to die, Ivan starts to question his own
life, and he questions his relationships with his family and colleagues. Similar the people he
surrounds himself with, Ivan is materialistic and his relationships are shallow, except for Geralsim,
Ivan's bedside nurse during his last days. In the end, I believe Ivan began to realize the folly of his
shallow and materialistic lifestyle. How is one meant to make meaning out of the end of one's life?
The novella reminded me of my own experiences with death. In the summer of 2014, my family and
I struggled with a difficult death in our family. My grandmother, after a long fight with sickness
passed away. Like Ivan, she was not ready to leave this life, and I remember sitting with her at her
tiny dining room table in her tiny home, just a few months before her passing. A pile of papers was
littered on the table, old utility and doctor bills mixed in with newer, unopened envelopes. Her
oxygen machine noisily whirled next to the table filtering ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net
...
From the lessons of living a good life to struggling with the inevitability of death, the critics review
the moral lessons that are to be learned from reading the work. Some of the critical material claim
that Tolstoy's story is a depiction of bourgeois society and how the characters, in said society, are
materialistic and selfish. While these elements do appear within the novella, it is, in my view,
fictitious to claim that a person, who lives their life in the service of others, creating meaningful
relationships, not worrying about the material things of life, would have an easier time dealing with
death. But perhaps I am

In his novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy offers his audience a glance into the life and
death of an ambitious man, Ivan Ilych. Tolstoy uses the death of Ivan Ilyich to show his audience the
negative consequences of living the way Ilych did. Ivan Ilych followed society and made decisions
based on what others around him conformed to and not so much about what he genuinely wanted
until he was on his deathbed. As death approaches Ilych he realizes that he wrecked everything that
should be meaningful in his life in order to work and make money and in the end his friends did not
really care much about him. Ilych's desire to conform made him live a miserable life and led him to
darkness. Ivan Ilych attained everything that society ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Ivan Ilych's marriage to Praskovya Fedorovna is not built on true love, instead it is built on Ivan
Ilych once again, trying to fit in with society. To prove that Ivan Ilych did not get married based off
true love the narrator says, "Ivan Ilych might have aspired to a more brilliant match, but even this
was good. He had his salary, and she, he hoped, would have an equal income." (Tolstoy) This quote
proves that Ivan Ilych was conforming to society and he married his wife just because it was the
right thing to do since everyone else was doing it which is shown when the narrator says "Ivan
might have aspired to a more brilliant match" meaning that he was not completely satisfied with his
wife. Ivan Ilych did not look at the deeper meaning of marriage, he only looked at the materialistic
and physical things that came along with his wife which is why they both did not live a happy life
together. When Ivan Ilych got ill the narrator says, "her husband had a dreadful temper and made her
life miserable, she began to feel sorry for herself, and the more she pitied herself the more she hated
her husband. She began to wish he would die" (Tolstoy). This expresses the hate that Praskovya
Fedorovna felt towards her husband due to the fact that she realized Ivan Ilych never cared for her or
her family and he only cared about his social status. Ivan Ilych was a bad husband because of his
immorality and thus his wife is insurgent against him. Here,

Summary Of Ivan Ilych Chapter Summaries
Chapter seven starts with Ivan Ilych beginning in the third month of his sicknesses. This chapter
also describes his family, friends, acquaintances, doctors and servants in the beginning as wanting
Ivan to die so that they would not have to deal with the discomfort of his presence. "How it
happened it is impossible to say because it came about step by step, unnoticed, but in the third
month of Ivan Ilych's illness, his wife, his daughter, his son, his acquaintances, the doctors, the
servants, and above all he himself, were aware that the whole interest he had for other people was
whether he would soon vacate his place, and at last release the living from the discomfort caused by
his presence and be himself released from his sufferings" (VII, 1–2). Ivan is fully aware of the fact
that the only thing people around him care about is when he is going to expire. The people who
should love him the most, his family, should be there for him during his time of need. They should
give him comfort and care because they know that he is going to die, but they don't because they
only care about their own happiness. "Their daughter came in ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
"When the examination was over the doctor looked at his watch, and then Praskovya Fedorovna
announced to Ivan Ilych that it was of course as he pleased, but she had sent today for a celebrated
specialist who would examine him and have a consultation with Michael Danilovich" (VIII, 46–47).
She tells Ivan: ""Please don't raise any objections. I am doing this for my own sake," she said
ironically, letting it be felt that she was doing it all for his sake and only said this to leave him no
right to refuse. He remained silent, knitting his brows. He felt that he was surrounded and involved
in a mesh of falsity that it was hard to unravel anything. (VIII, 43–44). Ivan knows that she is not
doing nothing for his for his sake, but only for the sake of

It is hard not to feel compassion for Ivan Ilych. In his whole life, dying really is just about the only
important or worthwhile thing he does. All the rest of his life seems to be unhappy.
You see, it's only once Ivan Ilych comes face to face with his death and is forced to see his life for
what it is that everything takes a turn for the better. Unfortunately that happens a few hours before
he dies. In those dying moments he appears to find the happiness that had escaped him for his life.
The account of Ivan's enduring methodology toward death is likewise the tale of Ivan's
acknowledgment of death and his quest for a bargain with its loathsome force. How is one to make
sense of the end of one's life, of one's relationships, projects, and

Sigmund Freud, the founder of modern day psychology and psychoanalysis, described human
consciousness as the combination of three elements, id, ego and superego. The id is what controls
our personal desires, the superego controls our ideas about where we fit in society and the ego is in
between these two elements balancing their effects to help us make rational decisions. Despite the
fact that these theories were developed well after Flaubert wrote Madame Bovary or Tolstoy wrote
The Death of Ivan Ilych the main characters of each (Emma and Ivan) both represent people who
have become dominated by one aspect of their subconscious. Whereas Emma is dominated by her
id, seeking only selfish pleasures in life, Ivan is dominated by his ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
This attitude of Emma is most apparent in a scene towards the end of the novel in which Emma
attends a masquerade ball with Leon in Rouen. After the dance they go to a seedy restaurant where
Emma has a fainting spell. After recovering, "she thought of Berthe, sleeping in the maid's room
back in Yonville" (252). After a loud cart rumbles by, disrupting her train of thought, the next thing
she thinks is "everything, including herself, seemed unbearable to her. She wished she could fly
away like a bird and make herself young again somewhere in the vast purity of space" (252). Here,
Flaubert juxtaposes the image of Emma's pre–school aged child sleeping with her desire to restart
her life and try again. These contrasting images powerfully show Emma's indifference towards her
child, and reveal her complete selfishness.
While her feelings towards her daughter show how Emma is controlled by her id, she also displays a
lack of superego function, as she commonly is unconcerned with the rules of society. At the peak of
her relationships with both Rodolphe and Leon, Emma defiantly chooses to not to care if she is seen
in public with her lovers. This lack of discretion finally works against her when one day in Rouen,
"Monsieur Lheureux met her as she was leaving the Hôtel de Boulogne on Leon's arm. She was
frightened, for she was sure he would talk. But he was not foolish enough to do that.

Suffering In Tolstoy's The Death Of Ivan Ilych
In the Death of Ivan Ilych you learn a lot about people. Ivan Ilych was an ordinary person; he had a
family, bridge set and plenty of friends. Yet when he becomes stricken with a terminal illness
everything seems to disappear. The only person that he finds comfort in toward the end of his life is
his butler. I believe that there are three themes that are more prevalent than the others. The first of
those themes is suffering, the second is modernization and the final theme is isolation. In Tolstoys
novella suffering is a major influence on the way that the novella ends. The one constant in The
Death of Ivan Ilych, is suffering. When Ilych gets a strange disease, his body slowly starts going to
pieces and physical pain replaces his pleasant life. The author uses Ivan's death to show how much
suffering has gone beyond the physical. Ivan suffers from fear, hopelessness, and a sense of ... Show
Throughout the novella the doctors appear as arrogant and useless. By the end of the story's, it's
pretty clear that they have not given the dying Ivan Ilych any medical help. If anything, they've only
made his situation worse. Through the experience of Ivan Ilych with his doctors, Tolstoy suggests
that modern medicine is a bad thing and is showing society's refusal to come to terms with death.
Ivan Ilych's experience of death in the Death of Ivan Ilych is progressed by a growing sense of
isolation. His suffering and fear of death have the effect of completely cutting him off from the
world around him. For his friends, colleagues, and family members, life goes on just as before. Ivan
is dissapointed when he discovers that none of them seem to understand or care about what he's
experiencing. He has to face his fears and agonies alone, without comfort from anyone except a
servant, the one person who pities him. Ivan Ilych finds solace from the person he never thought he
would have, a butler of

Theme Of Depression In The Death Of Ivan Ilych
Depression is a mental health disorder that is very debilitating and causes one to lose interest in the
things that he once enjoyed. In the novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy, depression is a
key theme that developed throughout the story. Ivan Ilych, the protagonist of Tolstoy's novella, is a
character that one could infer, struggles with this disorder of the mind. Ivan died of a fatal sickness
by the end of the story, but he was never aware of his true illness. One could say that Ivan was long
dead to the world, even before he truly departed from it. In the last years of his life he became
distant, and lost in his thoughts, which such things are common when one has depression. It was not
an oddity that Ivan would often ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
For they do not care about Ivan because he never cared for them. Ivan loses interest in the things
that he once enjoyed. One night when he was playing bridge with his friends he starts to feels pain
in his side and a vile taste in his mouth due to his sickness. He finds it ridiculous that he would
derive pleasure by playing a grand slam. Ivan does not care when he misplays and misses the grand
slam. When bad things happened he would start thinking about his sickness and become fearful and
sad. Ivan feels as if his life is ruined and that he is a nuisance in others life's. For maybe the first
time in Ivan Ilych's life he was not in control of his fate, and this scares him greatly.
In Ivan's finale years he completely isolates himself from everyone. He confines himself in his
room, spending his time thinking about his unavoidable mortality. He despises people for they don't
understand his circumstance. When company was over he became angry and more miserable while
he lay in his room. He longs to be pitied and nurtured like how a sick child is. Ivan is completely
unable to take care of himself. He must face the stone, cold, truth of his inedible mortality. Ivan
hates his miserable life and those who were never there for him when he needed them to be.
Ivan's depression was fundamentally the true cause of his demise. He was too busy worrying about
his bodily illness rather than the illness that plague his mind. But

Ivan Ilych Tolstoy
Once I started reading this piece, I felt it was going to be hard to read, or it was going to be a boring
reading to be more specific. However, after a few minutes of reading it I capture all my attention. I
have to admit that this is actually a very interesting short novella, finding it very easy to read, it is
very realistic and take us to evaluate ourselves while we understand the life of Ivan Ilych. One of the
characteristics of Tolstoy's writing style is the psychological realism, and we can see this feature
strongly emphasized in this piece, as the narrator describes the way of how each of the characters
take the news about Ivan Ilych death, how they feel about it and what are their plans after this
unfortunate event. In this reading

The Death Of Ivan Ilych By Leo Tolstoy
In "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy, he shows how the majority of society is selfish.
Tolstoy suggests how even though there is so much selfishness in society, there are some
exceptional people who do not follow social conventions and are the prime example of how people
in a society should be. This paper will argue that being selfless is important in society and that
people should deviate from individualistic behavior and concentrate more on the collective behavior.
Through this careful examination it will be revealed that although a person should think about how
to advance themselves in the social hierarchy, it cannot be their only goal and people need to
combine it with it a more humanistic goal as well. According to Tolstoy, society ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
He introduces the character as Gerasim, the butler's assistant. He is content with the little that that he
has. He is the only one in the story who believes that death will come to everyone. Other people in
society think that death only comes to other people and will not come to them. This is exemplified
by Peter, who feels "that this had happened to Ivan Ilych and not to him, and that it should not and
could not happen to him... began to ask with interest about the details of Ivan Ilych's death, as
though death was an accident natural to Ivan Ilych but certainly not to himself"(Tolstoy 9). Through
the thought process of Peter, Tolstoy shows how society views death. Gerasim is also the only one in
the story who shows empathy towards Ivan Ilych. He cares about other people. He doesn't feel that
helping Ivan is a burden, but more as a way of soothing a dying man. As Ivan observed, "He saw
that no one felt for him, because no one even wished to grasp his position. Only Gerasim recognized
it and pitied him. And so Ivan Ilych felt at ease only with him. He felt comforted when Gerasim
supported his legs (sometimes all night long)" Tolstoy( 42). This illustrates how Gerasim didn't
mind his own inconvenience for the comfort of his master. Tolstoy portrays how most people in
society have a lot more financial and social status, but they are missing the essential meaning of life.
However, even though Gerasim lacks these advantages that other people have, he is the one who is
the happiest. This is because he has all the components; selflessness, love for everyone, and a strong
sense of empathy which makes up a meaningful

Why do we fear death? Perhaps it is the sense of finality which accompanies the occurrence of
death. Another possibility could be regret and shame for some things we have or have not done.
Maybe it is the thought of departure from your loved ones. No matter the reason, we all have at one
point in our lives feared death. In his novel The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy teaches us that
despite its inevitability, we should not be afraid of dying. By living a morally correct life, and not
one of falsehood, we will be prepared for our end, and not dread it.
Those who try to avoid death have often lived lives of falsehood and materialism. The fake life is
characterized by empty relationships, narcissism, and materialism. It is petty, unsatisfying, ... Show
Rather than only seeking to help yourself, you look to help others. The correct life encourages true
and strong relationships that discourage solitude and allow for sincere conversations and contact.
While the artificial life detaches you from relationships, the authentic life encourages strength in
unity and comfort in compassion. Ultimately, it prepares one to meet and accept death. Amongst all
the other characters, Gerasim alone does not fear death. Everyone else in Ivan's life makes every
attempt to avoid the topic of death, but "Gerasim alone did not lie; everything showed that he alone
understood the facts of the case and did not consider it necessary to disguise them, but simply felt
sorry for his emaciated and enfeebled master" (Tolstoy 42). Certain in the belief that he is living a
good life, and unafraid of true relationships, Gerasim has a genuine love for others that makes his
life an important piece in society. Tolstoy writes, "Ivan Ilych felt his presence such a comfort that he
did not want to let him go" (Tolstoy 40). The intangible support that Gerasim gives to Ivan by
understanding his condition and freeing him from solitude is even more important than the physical
pain which Gerasim alleviates. Tolstoy adds, "He saw that no one felt for him, because no one even
wished to grasp his position. Only Gerasim recognized it and pitied him. And so Ivan Ilych felt at
ease only with him"

Ivan Ilych And The Book Thief
The Book Thief and The Death of Ivan Ilych explicitly explore the theme of death, yet they also
display underlying themes of freedom and living. Holistically, these texts prove how crucial
freedom is in order to live a fulfilled life. The characters of Max Vandenburg and Ivan Ilych
illustrate this within their restricting circumstances, in doubts of whether these characters have truly
lived their lives, and in the way Ivan Ilych and Liesel Meminger reflect on their lives. The
importance of freedom is proved within these texts, and together they pose the question of, "What is
living?"
Despite Max Vandenburg and Ivan Ilych's differing circumstances, their freedom was affected in
similar ways. Set in the midst of World War II, The Book Thief ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Ivan Ilych's life was conventional and simple; it was not until he fell ill that he began to realise his
existence was potentially meaningless. As he is on the verge of death, he looks back on his happiest
times, and "in imagination he began to recall the best moments of his pleasant life. But strange to
say none of those best moments of his pleasant life now seemed at all what they had then seemed,"
(Tolstoy, 1886, page 50). All the days Ivan thought were his best days were seemingly meaningless.
Ivan's response to his life was that he had done something wrong; ""Maybe I did not live as I ought
to have done," it suddenly occurred to him. "But how could that be, when I did everything
properly?"" (Tolstoy, 1886, page 51). Liesel's life was the opposite of his; it was not easy or
pleasant, nor was it ordinary. Throughout her life, Liesel lost those she loved most, and suffered
through heartache. Yet, as she died, the author infers that Liesel did not regret her life. As she passes
away, Death describes her soul as sitting up, just like her papa's – "[his soul rose] up and [said] "I
know who you are, and I am ready," (Zusak, 2005, page 566). It has been inferred here that Liesel
embraced her life, despite the hardships she faced. Ivan Ilych, in contrast, lived a life he came to

Ivan Ilych Tolstoy
The short story "The Death of Ivan Ilych" written by Leo Tolstoy has characters that have a complex
and varying views on death, and specifically the death of Ivan Ilych. At the beginning of the story
Ivan Ilych's friend, Peter Ivanovich, wanted to show his respects to the dead individual and his
family. Ivanovich viewing of Ilych deceased body caused a negative reaction. The story states,
"Besides this there was warning in that expression a reproach and a warning to the living. This
warning seemed to Peter Ivanovich out of place, or at least not applicable to him. He felt a certain
discomfort and so he hurriedly crossed himself once more and turned and went out the door too
hurriedly and too regardless of propriety, as himself was aware" (1267). ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
This is supported by the response that Ilych's employees had upon discovering his death, which was
"It is he who is dead and not I" (1266). It was true that in the moment they were alive and he was
dead, but in time each of them would also experience the same outcome of death. Their responses
clarified each of them had not yet came to terms with that idea that one day everyone's life on Earth
would come to an end because they were human. However, there was only one character that
accepted death, which was the butler of the Ilych family named Gerasim. This was known when he
responded to Ivanovich's sad statement about the death of Ivan Ilych with "It's God will. We shall all
come to it some day" (1270). Gerasim's reply shows that unlike the other characters he does not
deny that death is a normal occurrence, which may be the main reason why Ivan Ilych gravitates to
him in the second half of the story. Ivan Ilych was also unaccepting of death during the first half of
the story, he even continued to refer to death as "It". Addressing death with this pronoun made it
seem as if death was a person that was haunting

Rosenow 2 The Word of God is expressed to us though many different works. The works vary from
a set of ancient scrolls found in a cave off a sea to a 19th century book written by an old Russian.
The power and influence that these works have on us is all determined by how the works are written
and how we ourselves interpret them. If you read the Bible with a closed mind and only take the
language for what it is and not the deeper meaning, then you wouldn't get much out of it. You have
to look beyond the words for more understanding. Before Leo Tolstoy wrote The Death of Ivan
Ilych, his life, the existence of all mankind and the universe, seemed completely futile to him. He
overcame this depression by finding almost his own religion. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
His clear illustration of the selfishness and materialism of the society of the time makes us feel that
this story is very real and takes place in very real surroundings. Almost everyone in the world can
relate this story to their own lives in a way and that is why the story is so profound. The Bible is the
ultimate religious text. You can find everything you need to know about how to live in the Bible.
Tolstoy chooses some of the finer points, that he believes are the most important, and puts them in
his story. Tolstoy reduced religion to morality in The Death of Ivan Ilych. He makes an immoral
man suffer for living so. He shows us that living artificially only leads to artificial

Nursing: The Death of Ivan Ilych
The Death of Ivan Ilych
1. Ivan is a middle class man from the 19th century who lived in Russia. He was a lawyer and a
bureaucrat. He was married to Praskovya. The vignette described Ivan as a capable, cheerful, good–
natured and social man. He was attracted to others who were in higher positions and likes their
politeness, speech, and manners. Although he was given the position as examining magistrate and
even then, he did not abuse his powers. In the beginning of the vignette, Ivan wanted to be an
independent man with the luxuries of the rich. However, after the accident, he came to understand
the sorrow of others.
In the vignette, the relationship between the physician and patient was authoritarian, and there was
no patient–physician ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The Difficult Patient
1. I think the charge nurse's statement initially had a negative impact on the student nurse because
she was very overwhelmed and frightened as described by the "trembling hands" and "pale student
nurse". In fact, it created a barrier between the patient and the student nurse because initially the
student nurse did not approach the patient. The charge nurse characterized the patient as a man who
was very difficult to care for and as an individual who physically hurt the caregivers. Overall, the
student probably wanted to keep a distance between the patient and had a negative image of the
patient, which will affect the communication and care of the patient.
2. I think that as a change agent, the charge nurse could have provided objective information about
the patient, such as the fact that he was ninety–nine, blind, completely deaf, incontinent, had
arthritis, etc. Additionally, I think the nurse could have advised the nursing student on ways to care
for this patient. The role of patient advocacy is to protect the patient, ensure that the patient has self–
determination; his or her free choices are not violated (Harkness, & DeMarco, 2012). In the team
building process, forming phase involves developing a relationship with the team members, and the
patient. It also allows one another to identify each other's role and interact with one another. In this
scenario, I think the forming phase involved the charge nursing

"How should life be lived?" This is a question that people repeatedly ask themselves during their
life. Outside influences, such as the media, celebrities, and peer pressure force people to search for
the answer to this question. As a result, many books have been written about how life should be
lived, one of these being The Death of Ivan Ilych. In this novella, Leo Tolstoy tells the reader how to
live a good life by describing the life and death of someone who lived "the simplest, the most
ordinary, and the most awful" kind of life (95). Tolstoy achieves his purpose by using different
figures of speech; specifically, he uses irony to demonstrate how Ivan, the main character, lived a
bad life, personification to show why he lived a bad life, and rhetorical questions to explain how life
should be lived. ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
As described in Chapters 2 and 3, Ivan had slowly lost his moral compass between the ages of 18
and 45. At first, he felt guilty for doing "horrid" things at school, but when he later on realized that
people of high status also did those horrid things, he lost this sense of guilt. This loss caused him to
do many other horrid actions, such as having an affair, drinking profusely, possibly meeting with a
prostitute, and badly manipulating others. Due to his new focus on work, though, he had begun to
earn more money, which caused him to view his life as "very nice" (110). This is an example of
irony to show how disconnected Ivan had become with the state of his inner self. Later on in the
novella when Ivan was near death, he realizes this irony, saying, "I had been going steadily
downhill, imagining that I was going uphill"

Ivan Ilych Psychology
Irish poet Oscar Wilde once said, "To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is
all." In "The Death of Ivan Ilych" by Leo Tolstoy, the reader goes through the motions of Ilych's
death and learns that Ivan Ilych did not live a meaningful life. Ilych did not live a meaningful life
because he has no real friends, his marriage lacks love, and he only lives for status.
Ivan Ilych has many acquaintances, but no real friends. Whenever his coworkers read in the
newspaper that he has passed away, the first thing they think of is how his death will affect
themselves and who will fill his spot. One of his coworkers even sees this as an opportunity to have
his brother–in–law transfer to work with them. Another reason the reader ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
All he cares about is how powerful he is and how much money he makes. After being public
prosecutor for a long time, he "refused several appointments offered him, looking for a more
desirable post" (Tolstoy 281). He is never satisfied with what he has and is constantly trying to up
his status. Ivan Ilych has a higher status, more money, and more materialistic things than most
people around him, yet he is still so unhappy with his life and he is always wanting more. He is
never happy with the job that he has, even though many people would be blessed to have his job,
because he thinks that money and power is all the matters in the world. He does not realize how
many things he regrets in his life until it is too

Comparing The Underground Man And The Death Of Ivan Ilych
Understanding the Meaning of Life The underground man from Notes from underground by Fyodor
Dostoevsky and Ivan Ilynch from The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy share a variety of
attributes such as the life. Tolstoy's novella uses a structural path to elaborate the transformation of
Ivan from a cold and self–righteous person to an intricately kind and confident individual at the end.
On the other hand, Dostoevsky exhaustively applies the plot, tone, and structure to establish the
personality of the underground man. The underground man and Ivan Ilych are both seen to seek the
meaning of life. The underground man's first encounter with Liza is in a dirty room where they have
slept. He teaches Liza to cherish her family even if he doesn't have one. This makes readers feel
sympathetic to the underground man. Ivan's illness opens a door of fear in his heart when he looks
back at his life and sees how rude and selfish he was. He tries to resist the pending demise by
wishing and hoping for a better outcome. In Leo Tolstoy's book, death is spoken as a theoretical
concept as well as an applied occurrence for the main character. ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
He lives a model life of his friends where he married a country girl and had two kids. The contrast
arises from the personal attributes related to each person. The underground man continues to envy
the normal man and states that he is lying. He does not believe anything that he has written. He
wonders that the readers are gullible as to imagine that he will publish the notes and let them read.
He keeps asking why he addresses the readers if he plans to not let them read. The underground man
declares the notes are from whatever comes to mind and the memories he has. He explains that he
writes notes because he wants to get rid of his hundreds of

Tolstoy's Portrayal Of Ivan Ilych
Compare Tolstoy's portrayal of Ivan Ilych's transformation to St. Augustine's portrayal of his
transformation. Ivan was a person of no notable kind, but he admired those with high social
standing, and acted in accordance of their prevailing standards, values, attitudes and practices. He is
a conformist. His values, desires, and behavior are entirely determined by the opinions and
expectations of his social superiors. He has no true identity because his life is stripped of some
substance/quality of his true individuality. He does not use his own reason to manage and guide his
principles and rules, the distinction between right and wrong. He soaks up his beliefs from the
people holding exceptional rank, from upper– crushers. After becoming ill, caused by a fall hitting
his side on the window frame, he is now depressed, irritable, fearful and quarrelsome. His physical
strength declines rapidly. One night while lying in the dark, he was visited by his first condition of
being subject to die, in which he continuously tried to block out of his mind but it haunted him
profusely. As the people around him pretends that he is only sick, Ivan now feels that he is
surrounded by hypocrites, ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Individuals are entitled to their own identity, values, morals and beliefs. Based on such information I
can say yes I agree with Tolstoy's understanding of the way human beings work as there are humans
who do live as such because human being possess a degree of selflessness and selfishness. They are
often caught up with self and the worldly activities and simple forget their true purpose on earth,
what is truly right from what's seemed to be right. As it relates to death and transformation I too
understand that first we have to take responsibility of our own actions, accepting the way of living
that we chose and what after life it leads us to. With that, we will better able to approach death more
willingly and

Analysis of Death of Ivan Ilych Essay
Letting Pain Be
To many individuals the word "progress" has a positive meaning behind it. It suggests improvement,
something humans have been obsessed with since the dawn of society. However, if closely
examined, progress can also have a negative connotation as well. While bringing improvement,
progress can simultaneously spark conformity, dependency, and the obsession of perfection within
the individuals caught in its midst. It is this aspect of progress within modern society that negatively
affects Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy's main character in The Death of Ivan Ilych. Ivan's attempt to
conform to modern society's view of perfection takes away his life long before he dies. Furthermore,
his fear of death and ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
The physical death he must face at the end scares him because it forces him to realize the life he has
lived has been completely false. When confronted with death Ivan starts retracing his past,
wondering what he has done to deserve such pain and suffering. He realizes when he is bed ridden
that he was much more alive as a child then as an adult. In chapter five of The Death of Ivan Ilych,
Ivan admits that "...the further back he looked the more life there had been. There had been more of
what was good in life and more of life itself," (Tolstoy 238). If one were to observe small children
play, they would notice it does not take much to hold a child's interest, and often they are much
more fascinated by things that don't work correctly then things that do. With the pressure to conform
to society's views of perfection as an adult, Ivan loses the liveliness he possessed as a child. Having
to face death terrifies him because it forces him to admit he actually did not do the correct thing like
he thought he did.
The progress of modern society and the pressure to conform has not only hastened Ivan Ilych's death
but also made him a die a very miserable death. As soon Ivan realizes he has a physical problem, a
problem that began with his obsession of having the perfect house, he consults one of the best
doctors he

Themes of Death, Transformation and Isolation

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