Ivan Ilyich Character Analysis

659 Words2 Pages

Beside the physical changes, Ivan Ilyich becomes very rude to the people around him, especially his wife after his illness. While he and his wife always had some conflicts, things become especially tense after Ivan's illness. It goes so far as Ivan wishing thinking about how "... he hated her from the bottom of his soul" as she kissed him goodnight. This feeling goes both ways, as Tolstoy writes about how Praskovya felt that..." her husband had a dreadful temper and made her life miserable... and how..."she hated her husband. She began to wish he would die..." By contrast, at the funeral, Ivan's so-called friends seem unaffected by Ivan's death. Whether or not the illness changed them, we don't know, since we didn't see what they were like …show more content…

He becomes scared of his own death as he realizes that one day, he will die like everyone else. During his times of suffering, Ivan begins to fear death and asks why this is happening to him. While he had superficial relationships with everyone in his life, Ivan was satisfied with his position in life. On his deathbed, Ivan's view changes. He wonders if he did not live his life to the fullest and if he could've done more. Due to his illness, he eventually comes to peace with the idea that it is time for him to die and to no longer be a burden to his family any longer. In ______, the parents are in a support group and talking about their problems about their children with a group of other parents. They said that their daughter's decisions and caused them much grief and ripped their world apart. How do (or should) doctors interact with patients? In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, the doctors are not interested in answering Ivan's questions and don't really seem to care about his concerns. While it is important in some cases to distance yourself from the patient as a doctor, the doctors in Ivan Ilyich should have been more empathetic towards Ivan's

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