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 relationship to truly understand the concerns and the impact of his illness on the patient’s life. It almost seems that the physician did not take the patient’s concerns seriously. In addition, as his symptoms were worsening, although he consulted other physicians and he received contradictory answers, thus confusing the patient and decreasing the trust in the physician’s abilities. A patient centered relationship allows patient to build trust in the provider. I think that if the physician were more empathetic to the patient, the patient would not have had to look for answers to his questions in medical texts and other physicians. In fact, if there were open communication,

Merriam Webster dictionaries define despair as a situation in which an individual feels that there is hope or that the situation that they are in will not change (Merriam-Webster). If a patient has feelings of despair about their health, then he or she may feel depressed, anxious, leading to loss of appetite, not taking to anyone, and possibly loss of interest in life. I think that it negatively influences their treatment because despair exerts further stress on the body on top of the disease process. They may not want to follow through with the