...Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilych” Published in 1886, The Death of Ivan Ilych is regarded as one of Leo Tolstoy’s greatest works. The novella centers on the life and death of a 45-year old high court judge in Russia. With a high-paying job, a fulfilling career and a reputable social status, Ivan seems to be living the good life. One day however, he accidently falls from a ladder and hurts his side while hanging up the curtains in his new apartment. While the doctors failed to make a clear diagnosis of his condition, it soon becomes apparent that his illness is terminal. It is during his suffering that the protagonist confronts the meaning of his life and the inevitability of death. Within the narrative, Tolstoy employed powerful themes...
Words: 2197 - Pages: 9
...1. The Death of Ivan Ilych. Leo Tolstoy’s, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, portrays a man who has squandered his entire existence with the inability to perceive the likelihood of his own demise. Tolstoy depicts the physical deterioration of Ilych’s life and the subsequent revelations that he has at the time of his death. His physical dismay is brought on by an accident while decorating his home. Ilych’s spiritual rejuvenation is brought on by the recognition of his oncoming death and his subsisted shallow life. He is a man with total disregard towards the emotions and sufferings of others. His chosen companions obtain the same attitudes towards life. These individuals only look towards prominence, control and proprietary gains in life. Ilyich is regarded as a successful man; he is a high court judge and is among the professional class of 19th-century Russia. He has died at the age of 45 but seems to have lived a good life and been given many prominent opportunities. The exception to his success is one denied job promotion and the dreadful relationship he has with his wife and family. The novel begins shortly after Ilych’s demise. His colleagues learn of his death through a newspaper announcement. A few of the men are stunned to learn of his death and have a hard time comprehending how someone so close to them in age and station has died. The only comfort these men receive is from knowing that it is Ivan Ilych who has died; they praise God that the dying man is not them...
Words: 1306 - Pages: 6
...works that depict these ideas are “The Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy and “The Metamorphosis” by Kafka. In both works by Tolstoy and Kafka, the main characters at some point question their lives’ and what life means to them. In order to question one’s life, it would be necessary that one evaluate the decisions they make. A person’s life can change in any event that has happened to them. Moreover, the decisions ones made in those events can create a ripple effect of what happens to them in the future. In Tolstoy, we have Ivan Ilych, a dying man looking back into his life. In Kafka, we have Gregor Samsa, a man transformed into a vermin watching his life change and witnessing his family learning to live without him. The main characters here now have an existential crisis and are going to have to make a choice. Both accept their fates in a similar fashion, acceptance. Both works have a similar theme of seclusion. In Kafka's work, Gregor transforms into an insect. His entire family and employer immediately reject him. His father locks him in his room; his mother faints at the mere sight of him. They worry more about who will provide for them, rather than Gregor’s feelings about this transformation. The idea of seclusion presents itself differently in Tolstoy's story. Ivan when encountering a situation that does not promote his pleasant existence alienates himself. He alienates himself from his family mostly. What both Gregor and Ivan do not know is that both of the seclusions...
Words: 2417 - Pages: 10
...With the emphasis on the Collected Poems by RS Thomas and The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy and with wider reference to Wit Margaret Edson explore if the modern world destroy emotions, passions and irrationality creating a selfish, unresponsive and rational society? By: Imogen Teale The age we live in is the age of 'the machine,' where technological achievements are unimaginable, 'the age of space travel, the internet, genetic engineering,'(An Introduction to Marx's Theory of Alienation) this is The Age of Enlightenment. No longer are we seen as individuals in society, we are not urged to liberate human imagination and creativity to unleash,' the true, the good and the beautiful,'(Toward a Genealogy of Individualism By Daniel Shanahan) potential of individuals encouraged by the era of Romanticism. Living in the age where despite our power to control the natural world our society is dominated by insecurities, lives characterised by feelings of isolation, loneliness and the need for escapism,'insecurity has seeped in to the fabric of our lives.' (Insecure Times: Living with Insecurity in Modern Society, Author unknown, edited by Michael Hill, John Vail, Jane Wheelock) Exploring the ideas and themes portrayed in RS Thomas' Collected Poems, Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych and supported evidence from Wit by Margaret Edson each author uses a main character as a symbol for the death of the natural world and the destruction of modernity. The more densely populated cities...
Words: 3212 - Pages: 13
...The Death of Ivan Ilych Author(s): Tolstoy, Leo Nikolayevich (1828-1910) Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library Description: Subjects: Tolstoy's novella, written just after the author's conversion to Christianity, is now considered a literary masterpiece. In it, death suddenly confronts Ivan, a well-to-do middle-aged Russian man, in the form of an acute illness. Standing on the edge of death's yawning chasm, Ivan looks back at his life and its comparative vacuity. Before he fell ill, earning enough money for some elegant furniture concerned him, but now eternity and destiny wrack his spirit. Tolstoy's startlingly precise portrayal of human anxiety, desire, epiphany, and love has gripped countless readers from all walks of life, and many of them report that the story not only moved them to tears, but also had a profound impact upon how they view life and its purpose. This beloved book is essential to any library. Kathleen O'Bannon CCEL Staff Slavic Russian. White Russian. Ukrainian i Contents Title Page 1 Chapter I 2 Chapter II 9 Chapter III 15 Chapter IV 21 Chapter V 27 Chapter VI 31 Chapter VII 34 Chapter VIII 38 Chapter IX 44 Chapter X 47 Chapter XI 49 Chapter XII 52 Indexes 54 French Words and Phrases 55 ii This PDF file is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org. The mission of the CCEL is to...
Words: 23134 - Pages: 93
...Sometimes we have to change our view on what’s right and wrong to fulfill our desires. We blatantly see this in Machado de Assis literature work “The Rod of Justice”, when Damiao, a young boy who is on his way to priesthood, selfishly put his self-interest before someone in need of his help, while in Leo Tolstoy’s “Death of Ivan Ilyich”, Ivan demonstrates his self-interest in achieving aristocratic status rather than taking advantage of what truly is meaningful in life. The action’s chosen by the main characters will slowly lead to pain and dissatisfaction. In the story, “The Rod of Justice”, a young seminary student named Damiao, was desperately trying to escape the seminary because he felt that becoming a priest was not his vocation. He was...
Words: 1615 - Pages: 7
...University of Phoenix Material Literary Masterpieces Matrix Complete the following matrix for each of the cultural periods that are shown. Provide examples from at least two (2) literary works to illustrate your entries in each category. If discussing contemporary literature, for example, a thematic focus might be relationship of mainstream with minority literatures and your examples incorporate Rushdie' and Cronin's works. Your entries in these columns must go beyond a few words or a simple bullet point. There is no required minimum word length, but you must go into sufficient detail to demonstrate your comprehension of these literary components. This assignment is designed to be completed throughout the course. It is easier to complete when approached this way; it also functions better as a foundation for your Learning Team paper—The Literary Masterpiece in Contemporary Society Paper—due in Week Five. Note. Ancient and classical literature are grouped together in the first week's readings, but they are separated here to sharpen your understanding of the distinctions between the two periods. | |Thematic Focus |Literary Qualities |Shared Characteristics |Influence of Earlier | | | | | |Periods | |Ancient Literature |The book of Genesis has |Genesis is mainly written |Both books are heavily...
Words: 1199 - Pages: 5
...Curiosity about the possibility and conditions of "change in identity" has been remarkably intense, in fiction and in psychology, during the last century. In talk about literature, this has led to the development of a crude but useful terminological distinction of two sorts of characterization: "static" and "dynamic." A static character, in this vocabulary, is one that does not undergo important change in the course of the story, remaining essentially the same at the end as he or she was at the beginning. A dynamic character, in contrast, is one that does undergo an important change in the course of the story. More specifically, the changes that we are referring to as being "undergone" here are not changes in circumstances, but changes in some sense within the character in question -- changes in insight or understanding or changes in commitment, in values. The change at stake in this distinction is a change "in" the character of the character. In the stories a soilders home by Ernest Hemmingway and A Good Man is Hard to find by Flannery O connor we see this occur. Many people worry about what happens during war but no one realizes what happens to the young people coming back from war. The young people that go to war will change them dramatically when they come back. In the short story “Soldier’s Home”, by E. Heimingway, he writes about a young man’s after war experience, returning home and into society. In another short story called “Speaking of Courage”, by Tim O’Brien...
Words: 1906 - Pages: 8
