Throughout the novel of The Death of Ivan Ilych, Tolstoy conveys his thematic focus through his unique use of diction. Tolstoy examines several factors that have altered Ivan Ilych’s lifestyle. The only way to enhance our understanding of these factors is to observe how Tolstoy portrays Ivan’s evolving comprehension of what death means to him. Evidently, such portrayal can be thoroughly observed and understood by carefully analyzing Tolstoy’s use of diction. Furthermore, there are several themes that Tolstoy focuses on primarily, which are often associated with the depiction of the human existence as a conflict between different sides of the spectrum and Ivan’s tendency to alienate himself from the world.
1. The two sides of the debates in Dostoevsky’s “The Grand Inquisitor” are who can handle freedom the most. Christ gave human beings the freedom to choose weather or not to follow him, but almost no one is strong enough to be faithful and those who are not will be cursed forever. The Grand Inquisitor says that Christ should have given people no choice, and instead taken power and given people no choice, and instead taken power and given people redemption instead of freedom. So that the same people who were to scared to succeed Christ to begin with would still be stuck, but at least they could have joy and security on earth, rather than the impossible burden of moral freedom.
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.
In “If I Were A Poor Black Kid,” writer Gene Marks claims that poor inner city children have opportunities to be successful in life if they follow the advices/ideas he gives such as, to magnet/private school, have technology access and get good grades. Throughout the article Marks, emphasizes that poor inner city kids have the ability to be successful but they do not want to use the resource they have available. This article has been a controversial because Marks compare himself with the poor inner city kids without having knowledge about the challenges poor inner city kids face daily. The argument the author presents in the article may seem logical on the surface but investigating more deeply it can be unreasonable. Gene Marks is a man who comes from a middle class white background.
The novel of “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is indeed has a social satire theme. At first I believed it was not social satire but, just because this novel was not filled with scenes that will make the audience laugh does not mean it does not show the figurative language of being a satire piece of work. It shows signs of being a “work or manner that blends a critical attitude with humor and wit for improving human institutions or humanity, which inspires a remodeling”. Leo Tolstoy wrote this novel to mock and ridicule the bourgeois class. The author makes a point to pick out the hypocritical lies and being to self-involved in oneself.
Inside the Tiny Shoes What would you do if you were inside the tiny shoes of a seven year old boy getting scolded by the man you looked up to the most? The short story “Home” by Anton Chekhov gives the audience the glimpse of both sides to the story. Yevgeny Petrovitch, a prosecutor and father to Seryozha, comes to realize that his son has been stealing his cigarettes and smoking them at a very young age. Disappointed and confused as what to say, he sits down and tries to talk to the boy, but is constantly reminded of his son’s age. Reading “Home” through a psychoanalytic lens reveals the frail boy named Seryozha to be a childish character, shown by his defense mechanism, psychosexual stage of development, and because of symbols shown.
Exploring Existential Realities Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” and “Letter to Major von Wiseman” both give examples of themes like morality, societal facades, and the search for genuine existence. This essay will compare their exploration of these themes, offering an inside look into human experience. Tolstoy's novella follows Ivan Ilyich who is faced with death, and he realizes that the way society works is awful. On the other hand, the letter talks about how horrible war is and how it damages people emotionally and makes them question what is right and wrong.
Tolstoy’s ability to interweave the environment with themes of materialism and death makes The Death of Ivan Ilych stand out as a piece that criticizes societal values. In his article “Tolstoy and the Moran Instructions of Death,” Dennis Sansom focuses on the influence of fighting chaos in Ivan’s eventual acceptance of his own death. Socrates wrote, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” and Ivan’s life mirrored this until the end (qtd. in Sansom 417) .
Russia’s extremely rich history of the 9th to 13th centuries has led us to recognize prominent leaders of Kievan Rus like Oleg of Novgorod, or Vladimir the Great. But of the many leaders that have ruled over Russian provinces, few are as distinct, complex, and memorable as Ivan the Terrible following the rise of Muscovite Russia. Ivan IV was captivating not only in his conflicting reign, but in his tumultuous personal feelings of paranoia and ruthlessness. For years, Ivan IV has been debated as being identified as either a tyrant or a reformer. It is this extremely fine line between these two identifications that classify Ivan IV as distinctly both a cruel tyrant and an advanced reformer.
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy is a cautionary tale about the titular Ivan Ilyich’s life and death that followed. The story unapologetically depicts Ilyich’s hollow life with commanding diction and portrays a realistic yet hopeful penance that comes at the end of his life. Throughout the story, we are shown Ivan’s actions through his perspective and the people around him and this allows the reader to get a clear sense of his mindset through his life and the ripples his actions create. Ivan isolates himself from his family at the first inconvenience they provide while submerging himself in his work. However, the time spent pleasing his superiors and the Russian elite is time spent in vain as we are shown how false the relationships
The death of Ivan Ilyich, explored by Leo Tolstoy is comparative to the Buddhists concepts of suffering. I shall begin to explain this through breaking down each Buddhist concept of suffering and comparing it to Ivan Ilyich. The first Buddhist concept we learn is from the Four noble truths. “All life is Dukkha” Dukkha is usually interpreted as suffering but is means more then this. It can be referred to the basic fact that something about human existence is ‘out-of-wack’.
Tolstoy shows that the attractions of materialism distract us from living a more purposeful and fulfilling life. Tolstoy begins the second chapter by stating, “Ivan Ilyich’s life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible.” (Page 11) This shows that Ivan cares more about what he has in life then what he does with his life. Ivan bought, "damasks, dark wood, plants, rugs, and dull and polished bronzes — all the things people of a certain class have in order to resemble other people of that class.”
The late nineteenth century gave rise to a new literary movement called realism. Realism is the attempt to create an accurate portrayal of life in literature without filter. The movement aims to portray the life of people from all walks of life, but especially of the working class and the poor. Two of the most acclaimed writers from this movement are Leo Tolstoy from Russia, and Guy de Maupassant from France. Their works, “How Much Land Does a Man Need,” and “The Jewels,” respectively, portray the life of two characters from different lifestyles.
The two novellas “The Metamorphosis,” and “The Death of Ivan Llych” both describe the stories of two men suffering from dramatic events in their lives. The two men both suffer from the feeling of alienation from their families. The two stories can be compared in many ways, and give insight into the way these two characters found peace in their deaths. In the novella “The Death of Ivan Llych” Tolstoy shares a story of a man named Ivan Llych, who gave all his time and attention to his career, that drew a wedge between his marriage and personal life. When decorating the new home for his family, he slipped and hit his side on the window knob, which caused the decline of Ivan Llychs life and health to begin.
“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.”
