The Death of Ivan Ilych 1

The Death of Ivan Ilych

PART I

The story of the Death of Ivan Ilych begins at the chronological end of the novel.

Tolstoy skillfully structures the novel in this particular way in order to describe intimate

view of the social environment of Ivan Ilych had before and after his death, contrasting

behavior and of his colleagues and the perception of life and death of the protagonist

characters of the novel. In this first part, what strikes the reader is the hollowness of the

characters, their selfishness and greed for the worldly achievements and their lack of

sympathy over the death of their colleague.

In the first part of the novel, the character of Ivan Ilych is revealed through his

colleagues and his family members. Ironically, all these characters have the same

personality traits and attitudes which emerge as a major theme of the novel: the late

nineteenth-century Russian bourgeoisie society portrays hypocrisy, selfishness, and

lack o sympathy towards human relations. That is why, when the colleagues of Ivan

Ilych hear about the death of him, their first impression is that of selfishness and greed.

They instantly start reflecting on the possible promotions and transfers rather than

sympathizing and expressing sorrow over the death of their colleague. Similarly,

Praskovya, the widow of Ivan Ilych tries to devise plans in order to squeeze most

possible money from the government on the death of Ivan Ilych. Thus, this novel

satirizes the contemporary social values and norms of the society which demonstrate

self-interest of the characters, their selfishness, and lack of moral conscience and social

conformity.
 The Death of Ivan Ilych 2

In this context, the first part of the novel promises to reveal to the reader possible

miseries of the protagonist of the novel and how his ideas and perceptions of success in

a bureaucratic environment may ultimately turn out to be a complete failure morally and

ethically.

PART II

After reading the rest of the novel, it becomes clear that the major theme of the

novel is life and death while the selfishness, immorality and hollowness of characters

are minor themes. This appears from the fact that after Ivan Ilych suffers the pains and

senses the approaching death, he reflects his past life and compares it with his present.

In this way he is able to analyze the true meaning of life and death. In his life, Ivan Ilych

enjoyed his professional powers and did what he wanted to do in order to get promotion

and enjoy being a member of high class. However, when he suffers the pains and is

isolated from the society he aspired to be a member of, he realizes their hollowness and

vanity. At this point his old peasant servant Gerasim serves Ivan Ilych when even his

wife and children had neglected due to his unbearable sufferings. Contrast to the friends

Ivan Ilych possessed as society members, the character of Gerasim reflects his

nobleness of thoughts, ideas of life and his sincerity towards human beings. Thus, the

novel portrays two contrasting themes: at the one hand, the hollowness and selfishness

of the society is portrayed through the gentry class of high profiles while on the other

hand, sincerity, love, and sympathy is projected through the character of Gerasim who

belongs to lower class. Thus, Tolstoy’s philosophy demonstrates that ethical values

cannot be preserved through selfish aspirations and endless desires, rather these are

nourished through sacrifices and sympathy towards human beings.