The story The Death of Ivan Ilyich was first published in 1886. It, like The Confessions, reflects Tolstoy’s spiritual quest. It is one of the first works where death is shown so realistically, “with all the terrible clarity” (Tolstoy 45). In the story, it is not so much the death itself that is interesting as the spiritual evolution of the hero his doubts and experiences. From the point of view of the “epiphany,” Ivan Ilyich, his whole life can be divided into three parts: before the disease, the disease itself, and death (the last two hours of agony). The life philosophy of the hero before the disease was reduced to simple external rules accepted in society. The main criterion was decorum in communication, in the choice of acquaintances, in the environment, and the family.
Marital life, representing some comforts in life, is a very complex and challenging case concerning which, to fulfill his duty, that is, to lead a decent, socially approved life, you need to develop – a confident attitude, as well as to service. The author repeatedly emphasizes that Ivan Ilyich’s life was the most ordinary: “The past life story of Ivan Ilyich was the most simple and ordinary” (Tolstoy 47). The hero lives according to a pattern already established by the people of his circle: studies, service, novels, modifications, drinking, marriage, and career growth – all within the bounds of society’s decency. Ivan Ilyich, even in death looks like all the dead: “The dead man lay, as dead men always lie, especially heavy, deadly, drowned by stiffened limbs” (Tolstoy 42). This “commonness” means that sooner or later, this will happen to everyone, but no one thinks about it, and if they do, they chase away such thoughts.
Peter Ivanovich tries not to think about his possible death, but Ivan Ilyich does not think about it either, perceiving this phenomenon as something abstract, utterly inapplicable to him. One of the main aspirations of the hero is comfort, a comfortable, quiet life. To this end, Ivan Ilyich seeks a lucrative position, deals with the furnishing of the house himself, worries about every little detail, not getting into family problems, and establishes the most comfortable and pleasant relationship with his wife. A decent, comfortable life – this is the main principle of the hero before the disease. Something appears that “began to spoil the pleasantness of an easy and decent life that had been established in the Golovin family” (Tolstoy 60). This something is Ivan Ilyich’s realization of his illness. Such realization gradually destroys the former life principles and values of the hero. At first, Ivan Ilyich tries to bring his illness “into the framework of decency,” he goes to the doctors, fulfills all the prescriptions, reads medical books, consults with knowledgeable people, and convinces himself that the disease has receded.
Soon this semblance of “control of the situation” disappears as well. Ivan Ilyich becomes demanding and irritable; he destroys the comfort he has worked so hard to create. Terror overcame him again; he panted, bent down, started looking for matches, and pushed his elbow on the nightstand. It was in his way and hurting him; he became angry with it, pushed harder with annoyance, and knocked the nightstand over. In despair, panting, he fell on his back, expecting to die immediately. Throughout his illness, Ivan Ilyich is plagued by existential doubts. First, it is disbelief in his death, then the rejection of death as a fact. Next, the hero realizes that life is ending for him. This new round of reflection gives rise to new experiences; Ivan Ilyich does not understand why this is happening to him.
It is the next step in the hero’s spiritual evolution, the fear of death and lack of understanding prompting him to reflect. Golovin gradually concludes that in his whole life, there was one “bright spot” – childhood, and “then blacker and blacker and faster and faster” (Tolstoy 86). The more Ivan Ilyich grasps this truth, the clearer he sees his life flying to the end. At first, he tried to fight but realized that it was useless. Ivan Ilyich agonized both spiritually and physically; the pain and incomprehension made him search hard for an answer. Golovin suddenly realizes that he has lived wrongly, that his whole life has been wasted, and nothing can be recovered. This realization comes when Ivan Ilyich inadvertently juxtaposes his family, the contrived values of his wife and children, their lies and pretenses, and the man Gerasim, who is the only one of Golovin’s entire entourage who does not cheat and does not pretend. The main character stalls in the middle of his evolutionary journey.
He has rejected the principles of his society and his family as something fake, empty, and vanity, but to get closer to the simple truth of life, Gerasim Ivan Ilyich can not. He does not know how to do it and feels he has missed something important. Yet Ivan Ilyich continues to cling not to life but to the illusion of the rightness of a life lived, even in three days of agony, when his existence is reduced to an animal sense of physical pain. He felt that his agony was both in the fact that he was being pushed into this black hole and even more in the fact that he could not climb through it. Only at the very threshold of death does he accept the thought that his life was “wrong” is he able to pity his relatives, to free himself from the illusion of his infinite significance.
Works Cited
Puchner, Martin, et al., eds. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. London and New York: WW Norton, 2018.
Tolstoy, Leo. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” (2021).