Leo Tolstoy was one of the most acclaimed Russian writers, who wrote the famous . This biography gives detailed information.The Death of Ivan Ilyich. This article is about the novella. For the Austrian development critic, see Ivan Illich. The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Russian: . She is characterized as self- absorbed and uninterested in her husband's struggles unless they directly affect her personally. Gerasim is the Golovins' young butler. He takes on the role of sole comforter and caretaker during Ivan's illness. Peter Ivanovich is Ivan's longtime friend and colleague. He studied law with Ivan and is the first to recognize Ivan's impending death. Lisa Golovin is Ivan's daughter. F. Like everyone he knows, he spends his life climbing the social ladder. Enduring marriage to a woman whom he often finds too demanding, he works his way up to be a magistrate, thanks to the influence he has over a friend who has just been promoted, focusing more on his work as his family life becomes less tolerable. While hanging curtains for his new home one day, he falls awkwardly and hurts his side. Though he does not think much of it at first, he begins to suffer from a pain in his side. As his discomfort grows, his behavior towards his family becomes more irritable. His wife finally insists that he visit a physician. The physician cannot pinpoint the source of his malady, but soon it becomes clear that his condition is terminal. Confronted with his diagnosis, Ivan attempts every remedy he can to obtain a cure for his worsening situation until the pain grows so intense he is forced to cease working and spend the remainder of his days in bed. Here, he is brought face to face with his mortality, and realizes that although he knows of it, he does not truly grasp it. Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible. II; Ivan Ilych saw that he was dying, and he was in continual despair. Tolstoy died in 1910, at the age of 82. Just prior to his death, his health had been a concern of his family, who were actively engaged in his care on a daily basis. During the long and painful process of death, Ivan dwells on the idea that he does not deserve his suffering because he has lived rightly. If he had not lived a good life, there could be a reason for his pain; but he has, so pain and death must be arbitrary and senseless. As he begins to hate his family for avoiding the subject of his death, for pretending he is only sick and not dying, he finds his only comfort in his peasant boy servant Gerasim, the only person in Ivan's life who does not fear death, and also the only one who, apart from his own son, shows compassion for him. Ivan begins to question whether he has, in fact, lived a good life. In the final days of his life, Ivan makes a clear split between an artificial life, such as his own, which masks the true meaning of life and makes one fear death, and an authentic life, the life of Gerasim. Authentic life is marked by compassion and sympathy; the artificial life by self- interest. His hand falls onto his nearby son's head, and Ivan pities his son. He no longer hates his daughter or wife, but rather feels pity for them, and hopes his death will release them. In so doing, his terror of death leaves him, and as Tolstoy suggests, death itself disappears. Interpretation. But more than anything, I would offer, it is about the consequences of living without meaning, that is, without a true and abiding connection to one's life .. In his lectures on Russian literature, Russian- born novelist and critic Vladimir Nabokov argues that, for Tolstoy, a sinful life (such as Ivan's) is moral death. Therefore death, the return of the soul to God, is, for Tolstoy, moral life. The Death of Ivan Ilyich Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy 1886 Translated by Louise and Aylmer Maude Chapter I During an interval in the Melvinski trial in the large building. Recommended Reading for AP Literature & Composition Titles from Free Response Questions* Adapted from an original list by Norma J. Works referred to on the. 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. Instead, the story leads the reader through a pensive, metaphysical exploration of the reason for death and what it means to truly live. Tolstoy was a man who struggled greatly with self- doubt and spiritual reflection, especially as he grew close to his own death in 1. I cannot now help seeing day and night going round and bringing me to death. That is all I see, for that alone is true. All else is false. This personal epiphany caused significant spiritual upheaval in Tolstoy's life, prompting him to question the Russian Orthodox Church, sexuality, education, serfdom, etc. From a biographical standpoint, therefore, it is possible to interpret The Death of Ivan Ilyich as a manifestation of Tolstoy's embroilment with death and the meaning of his own life during his final years. Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Il. Northwestern University Press. The Death of Ivan Ilyich. The Story and Its Writer. Ann Charters: Bedford/St. Lectures On Russian Literature. The Literature Network. 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