The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy - Essay ExampleHe has family, friends and a good position that he commit a major part of his life in cultivating. As a result he has political, personalised and social freedom. Ilyichs free and easy life is pleasant with decorum and lightheartedness, and his nature is agreeable. Through this narrative, Tolstoy studies two life and death, Ivans realization about his life not truly lived, and his eventual making of repose with the inevitability of death. Thus, only in his last moments does Ivan Ilyich lose his fear of death, and joyfully perceives the light which replaces it (Tolstoy 56). Great scholars much(prenominal) as Vladimir and Mahatma Gandhi acclaimed the novella as the greatest in Russian literature. The work is interesting to read, rich in insights about human nature, and educative in its content. Thesis Statement The purpose of this paper is to examine king of beasts Tolstoys story The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and discuss why the main pro tagonists life was not truly lived. Why Ivan Ilyichs Life was not Well Lived Tolstoy through his story insists that Ivan Ilyich is not various from others in the world, and that his extremely simple and ordinary life is most terrible (Tolstoy 9). ... The author depicts his protagonist as a selfish, short-sighted and mediocre person, since the latters ideal goal in life was to avoid unpleasantness. Ilyichs main pleasures in life included playing bridge with his friends, besides liking antiques and existent right on and pleasantly. However, it is evident that none of these normal, ordinary qualities can condemn Ilyich as wicked. This is the exact message that Tolstoy wishes to convey to the reader. magic spell Ivans existence was akin to living death, his death is a rebirth into a new spiritual life. Therefore, his fatal flaw was that he had lived in a spiritual void (Hobby 34). According to Tolstoy, the fact of living and life ironically includes the certainty of death. Living wi th pain and illness everyday, Ivan Ilyich suffers for several months while refusing to accept the inevitability of his death (Tolstoy 7). The core of his life had consisted of emptiness, self deception and false values. Most human beings, in the abut of living, we commonly deny the justice of our human condition, pretend to forget about death and this lie forms a part of the other lies that vitiate our beings. This means that Ilyich had been living a literal, physical life but had been spiritually dead (Hobby 34). Olneys (p.110) analysis of the story differentiates between life as experience and life as meaning, and states that Tolstoys vivid representation through the fictional narrative helps the reader comprehend the truth that was present in the authors own soul. For Tolstoy the actual meaning of life was different from stupidity in parties, tastefully decorating ones home, and other