In the short story by Leo Tolstoy, “Death of Ivan Ilych” in this readers opinion it is about the changes that a person goes through when they are dying. The writer of this paper will show the stages of death that are represented here; the stages are denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally acceptance. Ivan Ilych in the story was in good health, he really didn’t have any issues. Ivan because ill after a fall he took from a ladder while decorating his home, he bruised his side. Although he brushed it off thinking he was a strong and agile man, someone else might have killed themselves.
The first stage is death is denial. Ivan Ilych is in denial. He was a doctor and then saw another because he was denying that he was ill. “They were all in good health. It could not be called ill health if Ivan Ilych sometimes said he had a queer taste in his mouth and felt some discomfort in his left side” (117). In this
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They are so close that it all looks to be the same. Ivan is angry with everyone around him. “While she was kissing him he hated her from the bottom of his soul and with difficulty refrained from pushing her away” (128). In this passage Ivan is angry with his wife, why am I ill and she is not. This is typical of an individual that is dying to be angry with people of good health. It is almost like it their fault that the ill person is dying and they are not. “Why hast Thou done all this? Why hast Thou brought me here? Why, why dost Thou torment me so terribly” (143). The reader now sees Ivan bargaining with Thee all mighty, he brought me here why would he torment me this way. Ivan is also depressed he is blaming god for him being ill, because we all know that god controls our being. Ivan bargains more with this next quote “Go on! Strike me! But what is it for? What have I done to Thee? What is it for” (143)? Ivan is trying to understand why he is ill and what he could have done differently to be