Leo Tolstoy, author of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, suffered numerous tragic losses such as his parents and his aunt, Tatyana Ergolsky who created a tremendous impact during Tolstoy’s childhood. Overtime, Tolstoy was cultured and for Tolstoy it was common within his community. During the 1840, Tolstoy developed a strong, eager interest for the studies of moral philosophy. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy suggests that although people can find happiness in materialism, they need spirituality during a crisis. In Cause of Suffering, everyone craves a lust for satisfaction, whether it is hunger, power, or entertainment. We never forget the thirst for attentiveness as it becomes repetitive until the thirst subsides for a while. For this reason, …show more content…
Moreover, they believe that spiritual belief carries the main position in helping adults through tough conflicts they face throughout their lives. Accordingly, numerous of cases, those with life threatening problems carry this weight of emotions that reflects their sense of value, significance or a connection with the actual reality that they are faced with. We live in a capitalistic nation that alone alters itself to change our way of interpretation that creates people to seek attachment, sympathy, and admiration for a life yet, they never seek to discover whether everyone enjoyed or abused it. In Ivan’s case Gerasim represents the spirit we need when life becomes difficult. Gerasim gives Ivan what he needs, support and comfort. In brief, when Ivan is incapable of completing certain tasks, Gerasim is inclined in being Ivan’s aid when it comes to resting his legs on Gerasim’s shoulder, easing the pain within Ivan. Gerasim demonstrates, “goodness of heart” (Tolstoy 86) toward Ivan’s suffering, while everyone is self-absorbed within themselves, being “whirl of social activity.” (Tolstoy 69) Geraism understands that Ivan’s illness may occur to anyone, and displaying kindness toward others, he may one day receive it in return when his time comes. Gerasim demonstrates Ivan with devotion, that Ivan’s life in crisis is not a burden. In conclusion, Tolstoy presents us with the reailty the everyone shields themselves among societal groups or engagements. Through satisfication in careers, luxuries, and leisures. However, are met upon with the resentment of their families or oneself, finding the spirituality one needs in order to find peace within
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy tells the story of Ivan Ilyich, a man who deals with a mysterious illness through introspection. Until his illness, he lived the life he thought he was supposed to live. Like Candide, he was living in blind optimism. He assumed that what he was doing was the right thing because he was told as much. He had a respectable job and a family. Happiness, if it did occur to him, was fulfilling his duties as a husband and father. It was his sudden illness that allowed him to reflect on his choices, concluding that those choices did not make him happy. “Maybe I have lived not as I should have… But how so when I did everything in the proper way” (Tolstoy 1474)? Ilyich had been in a bubble for his entire life, the bubble only popping when he realizes his own mortality. This puts his marriage, his career, and his life choices into perspective. Realizing that he does not get to redo these choices, he distances himself from his old life: his wife, his children, and his career. All that is left is to reflect. This reflection is his personal enlightenment. He had been living in the dark, blind to his true feelings for his entire life. Mortality creates a space in which he can question himself as to why he made the choices he made, and how those choices created the unsatisfactory life he finds himself in
However, through the enlightenment provided by Tolstoy, and the lessons taught, I now see that I am less satisfied with my existence and more deceivingly complacent with it. To expand on this, I have not done anything of true significance and have lived only to appear content, fooling even myself, while hiding behind a stoic facade. I have lived in an inauthentic way, preoccupied with my superficial social portrayal instead of true inner delineation. Just as I did, I feel as though the protagonist, Ivan Ilyich, would have claimed to have been happy, genuinely believing himself. I see a lot of myself in Ivan, and it makes me fearful. I would seek only what was pleasant and shy away from what is unpleasant. I now see I must be willing to accept my own transience and live genuinely if I want to live a blissful
of suffering is most beneficial. However, answering this question about suffering becomes increasingly more difficult with the
People usually believe following society is the “right” way of living. In Leo Tolstoy’s novel, Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy uses a recurring theme of conformity. He illustrates Ivan Ilyich, the protagonist, a middle class man as a modern day conformist. His character lives for society’s approval and in doing so, distracts himself from seeking true happiness. Throughout the novel, Leo Tolstoy uses satire to expose the upper-middle class people as conformists. Tolstoy portrays the damaging effects propriety has on an individual when the individual chooses to disregard compassion and fulfillment in favor of society’s norms.
Tolstoy immediately absorbs you into the novel by beginning with Ivan’s death. The actual death scene is saved until the end of the novel, but he shows you the reaction of some of Ivan’s colleagues as they hear the news of Ivan’s death. You are almost disgusted at the nonchalant manner that Ivan’s “friends” take his death. They are surprised by his death, but immediately think of how his death will affect their own lives, but more importantly, their careers. “The first though that occurred to each of the gentlemen in the office, learning of Ivan Ilyich’s death, was what effect it would have on their own transfers and promotions.” (pg 32) As a reader, you have to wonder how Ivan must have had to live in order for people close to him to feel no sadness towards the loss or even pity for his wife. In fact, these gentlemen are exactly like Ivan. The purpose of their lives was to gain as much power as possible with n...
This is related to the theme to live without suffering because as Ivan is getting ready to die he complains about how he is in so much pain despite numerous doctor visits and medication. Tolstoy uses his complaints as indicator for the readers to know that Ivan does not want to die in pain but peace. A moment of this is when Ivan calls his family into the room and dies in front of them because he believes it will bring them joy.
In the novel The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy portrays the family life of Ilyich as a rather negative burden on him. Throughout the book, he is happy only through certain times, and interestingly with certain people that are not of his family. Towards the end of Ilyich’s life, he became extremely miserable, finding comfort in things that allow him to “escape” reality, clinging onto people and activities that only drew him further away from his immediate family. There are several areas in the passage that have interesting ways that Ilyich followed through to remove himself from the discontent of his family. What this book can refer to is someone who has a family, but does not like his family. To get away from this, he chooses to be distracted with things, whether that is always being out with friends, and simply just becoming busy with work.
For Leo Tolstoy, in order for something to be considered art, it must evoke some form of emotion that acts as a means of unification and communication for humanity. As long as the intent of the artist hopes to unify, it is a positive necessity for the human experience, “art begins when one person, with the object of joining another or others to himself in one and the same feeling, expresses that feeling by certain indications.” For Tolstoy’s theory, the idea of intent is paramount to the execution of art. If something is not made with the intent of evoking a pure emotion, then it is not art. Tolstoy believes that art is “a means of union among men, joining them together in the same feelings and indispensable for the life and progress toward well-beings of individuals and of humanity.” When m...
In his novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy satirizes the isolation and materialism of Russian society and suggests that its desensitized existence overlooks the true meaning of life—compassion. Ivan had attained everything that society deemed important in life: a high social position, a powerful job, and money. Marriage developed out of necessity rather than love: “He only required of it those conveniences—dinner at home, housewife, and bed—which it could give him” (17). Later, he purchased a magnificent house, as society dictated, and attempted to fill it with ostentatious antiquities solely available to the wealthy. However, “In reality it was just what is usually seen in the houses of people of moderate means who want to appear rich, and therefore succeed only in resembling others like themselves” (22). Through intense characterizations by the detached and omniscient narrator, Tolstoy reveals the flaws of this deeply superficial society. Although Ivan has flourished under the standards of society, he fails to establish any sort of connection with another human being on this earth. Tragically, only his fatal illness can allow him to confront his own death and reevaluate his life. He finally understands, in his final breath, that “All you have lived for and still live for is falsehood and deception, hiding life and death from you” (69).
Merriman, C.D.. "Leo Tolstoy." - Biography and Works. Search Texts, Read Online . Discuss.. Jalic INC., 1 Jan. 2007. Web. 16 May 2014. .
Ivan Ilych was a member of the Court of Justice who was "neither as cold and formal as his elder brother nor as wild as the younger, but was a happy mean between them—an intelligent, polished, lively, and agreeable man” (Tolstoy 102). He lived an unexceptionally ordinary life and strived for averageness. As the story progresses, he begins to contemplate his life choices and the reason for his agonizing illness and inevitable death. “Maybe I did not live as I ought to have done, but how could that be, when I did everything properly?” (Tolstoy
The story of In "The Death of Ivan Ilych", was written by Leo Tolstoy around who examines the life of a man, Ivan Ilyich, who would seem to have lived an exemplary life with moderate wealth, high station, and family. By story's end, however, Ivan's life will be shown to be devoid of passion -- a life of duties, responsibilities, respect, work, and cold objectivity to everything and everyone around Ivan. It is not until Ivan is on his death bed in his final moments that he realizes that materialism had brought to his life only envy, possessiveness, and non-generosity and that the personal relationships we forge are more important than who we are or what we own.
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 reactions towards it reflects modern society’s inability to cope with the ever present reminder that humans still suffer and die, despite all attempts to make life painless, perfect, and immortal.
A. The Epic of Russian Literature. New York: Oxford University Press, 1950. 309-346. Tolstoy, Leo. "
Suffering can be defined as an experience of discomfort suffered by a person during his life. The New York Times published an article entitled what suffering does, by David Brooks (2014). In this article, Brooks explains how suffering plays an important role in our pursuit of happiness. He explains firstly that happiness is found through experiences and then, suffering can also be a motivation in our pursuit of happiness. In other words, suffering is a fearful but necessary gift to acquire happiness. This paper is related to motivation and emotion, two keys words to the pursuit of happiness (King, 2010).