Theme Of Detail In The Death Of Ivan Ilyich

“We use detail to focus, to fix an impression, to recall. We snag on it,” - Wood’s Chapter on Detail (43). Detail enables us to picture things from literature into our mind in an instant. Although, detail is not used constantly, but when it is utilized, we as readers should be experienced enough to realize the complexity and vividness of that specific detail. There are countless examples of detail in The Death of Ivan Ilyich, but, the one I will be focusing on is, “the raw, shrivelled French prunes he had eaten as a child.” Tolstoy portrays to us that Ivan’s life is soon coming to an end by providing us (readers) with many recollections and details from his childhood. Tolstoy also demonstrates how Ivan will die without truly living because he never thought about how death would turn the corner and take him and never lived his own, unique life. Throughout his adulthood, Ivan made choices and completed actions, not for his own sake, but because that is what society accepted, and he wanted to be accepted by society. The details in Ivan’s life are present, but he doesn’t notice those details and goes right along with his work and card games; never showing any emotion towards practically anything in his life. Ivan demonstrates this lack of vision for details when he goes on to say, “It was

While lying on the couch, awaiting his impending death, Ilyich relives his past while suffering from the pain and agony of his fatal wound, and sees himself as a little kid, remembering all the details he had ever come across. Before he breathes his last breath, Ivan Ilyich, from the bottom of his heart, realizes that he has not been the father, son, or husband he should have been, and he tells his family to forgive him for all of the pain and suffering he has caused