The Christain Theme of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich

The Christain Theme of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich

Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich attacks the pursuit of material possessions. The Ilyich family bases itself upon the unsure foundation of wealth. As Ivan ascends the rungs of the corporate ladder, he acquires new possessions and articles. After joining the Civil Service, Ivan buys "new fashionable belongings" at the "very best shops" to keep up appearances (100). For his wedding to Fiorodovna, Ivan buys "new furniture, new crockery, new linen[s]" to be proper or comme il faut. He tries in vain to keep up "appearances as ordained by public opinion" (116). None of these niceties are needed: Ivan buys them purely for the pleasure of owning them and in attempt to fit in with those of his class. He succeeds instead...

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...erings" that Ivan's illness put her through. In the end, Ivan has nothing to solace him during his slow expiration. What Tolstoy points out in The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a purely Christain theme: do not place your foundation upon material things, but upon those things which transcend all time.

Work Cited

Tolstoy, Leo. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Bantam Classic ed. New York: Bantam, 1991.