Death of Ivan Ilyich Analysis PDF

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The Death of Ivan Ilych and The Correct Way to Live In the Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy, an unremarkable “every man” is plagued with a life threatening illness and is forced to reflect on his success of achieving fulfillment, what he refers to as the “correct life.” A life that is “correct” is one that is secure through a well-paying job and a family, pleasurable through “pleasantness,” and approved of by society (Tolstoy 25). The “correct life” is also described by Ivan Ilych as “pleasant and agreeable,” following a sort of checklist by which the middle class society where he resides generally adheres (Tolstoy 25). A major theme throughout the story is the falsehood of the expected pursuit of happiness for the middle class man. This theme is illustrated by Ivan’s reflection of the yearning in his early life for pleasure through approval of members in the social class he worked to be a part of. These “highly ranked” individuals are just as unremarkable and selfish as Ivan himself, adhering to the same lackluster social checklist. The outcome of following this path of deception can lead to mental imprisonment, suffering, and the eventual the demise of the common man. Tolstoy demonstrated how the quest for normality is based on deception by uncovering Ivan Ilych’s true sentiments of his marriage and false relationships with his peers.

Approval by society is one of the main motivations for Ivan Ilych to pursue the “correct life,” and it seems that his society regards anything that isn’t necessarily unbearable as satisfactory. As Ivan is lying in bed suffering from his illness, he has an internal conversation with his “soul” and begins to wish he could “live as [he] used to—well and pleasantly” (Tolstoy 50). The theme of pleasantness is overwhelmingly emphasized throughout the story; Tolstoy likely used this term recurrently to emphasize the dullness of ordinary life. The connotation of “pleasant” is generally positive, however it lacks meaningful description. The word is used throughout the story in a way that suggests the characters are simply enduring their lives rather

than actually enjoying them. Satisfaction is achieved by Ivan simply by avoiding anything “unpleasant,” which is essentially anything that disrupts his “easy and decorous relation to life” (Tolstoy 16). The theme of deceit becomes clear when Ivan realizes he fell for the falsehood “ordinary” happiness, as Tolstoy portrays a life of isolation in an unsatisfactory marriage.

As Ivan reflects on his life, he begins to realize that his best moments after childhood were painfully unfulfilling. As Tolstoy describes a young Ivan’s attitude towards his future wife, he notes that Ivan “might have aspired to a more brilliant match, but even this was good” (Tolstoy 15). Ivan found someone that was “good” enough, and his innate response was to consider marriage in order to boost his societal standing. Ivan decided to marry not out of love, but because it was “the right thing by the most highly placed of his associates” (Tolstoy 15). This empty and shallow rationality for entering marriage follows the scheme for a “correct life” if nothing else is considered besides the action of marriage. By describing Ivan Ilych’s marriage, Tolstoy was able to expose common sentiments surrounding the blueprint of the middle class lifestyle.

As Ivan’s life proceeds, he becomes increasingly lonely and resentful of his wife, at one point even calling the marriage an “accident” with following “disenchantment” (Tolstoy 51). By following the outline for a happy suburban life, Ivan consequently spent years in isolation without realizing it until the possibility of death arrived. The “disenchantment” Ivan describes is simply the day to day interactions with his family, which he mostly avoids by retracting physically and emotionally. Any display of affection by Ivan’s wife or children is immediately met with a dry, uninterested tone. The interactions Ivan has with his family are an important element to the theme of deception, since this is where the “correct life” seems to unravel. The

whole time he was mindlessly living, he was convinced that he was “going up in public opinion” without being aware that “life was ebbing away from [him],” leading all the way up to his death (Tolstoy 51). He then realizes that “marriage was not always conducive to the pleasures and amenities of life, but on the contrary often infringed both comfort and propriety,” therefore destroying the quality of pleasantness in his life which he worked hard to maintain (Tolstoy 16). To Ivan’s peers, he is considerably successful based his life’s outward appearance. However, because of his wish to satisfy individuals of high social rank instead of his own needs, he is inevitably forced into a void of loneliness during his illness due to façade of “pleasantness.”

The most disheartening aspect of The Death of Ivan Ilych is that the peers Ivan held so highly in his head were the main root of falsehood that caused his demise. During Ivan’s funeral, Tolstoy exposes the pettiness and greediness of his supposed friends. Peter Ivanovich, Ivan’s “closest acquaintance”, is approached by Ivan’s wife with a sigh as she takes his hand and says “I know you were a true friend to Ivan Ilych…” (Tolstoy 7). Tolstoy describes Peter Ivanovich as an acquaintance, while Ivan’s wife refers to him as a friend. This shows the disconnect between the truth and the false reality that surrounds Ivan Ilych’s life. Peter Ivanovich then comes up with an act to fabricate the façade of mourning. He decided that “what he had to do here was to press her hand, sigh, and say ‘believe me…’” and in doing this, he felt that the “desired result had been achieved” (Tolstoy 7). This scene is especially troubling since after decades of marriage to Ivan, his wife has no inkling that Peter Ivanovich cares little for her husband. Peter Ivanovich blatantly fools her while concealing intensely selfish thoughts, resulting in her being “touched” by his actions (Tolsoty 7). The closest acquaintance Ivan acquired in his life only presents himself to uphold his reputation, but makes no appearance while Ivan is alive. Tolstoy uses Peter Ivanovich is used as a symbol of the false, shallow

relationships that permeated Ivan’s life. Such relationships are common in the search for normality, as demonstrated by Ivan’s marriage, children, and peers. Peter ultimately decided his night would not be ruined by Ivan’s death, as “the incident of a church service for Ivan Ilych” was not reason enough to “hinder their spending the evening agreeably” (Tolstoy 7). The thought processes of Ivan’s most seemingly cherished acquaintances serve as an indication of the lack of depth in his life. However, the selfishness of Ivan’s peers runs parallel to the selfishness that Ivan demonstrates while following the guidelines for the “correct life.”

Both Ivan and his peers care only for their own experiences of “pleasantness,” as they chose to act based on what would bring themselves the most comfort and ease. The theme of the “correct life” was shown to leave even the most unremarkable man with a distressed family and an excruciating pit of loneliness at the end of his existence. Tolstoy shows that most of the relationships in the story were purely for show, holding no deep significance and proving Ivan’s efforts to please his peers to be for nothing. Ivan settled for a marriage that was “good enough” and acquaintances that cared immensely more about a game of cards than remembering his life, simply because they did not have much to remember. The false relationships in The Death of Ivan Ilych satisfied only societal affirmation and left the individuals with nothing more than a role to play. Through these false relationships, Tolstoy was able to demonstrate the fault of the blueprint for a normal life.

Works Cited Tolstoy, Lev Nikolayevich. The Death of Ivan Ilych. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015....