The Death of Ivan Ilyich You never want to think about the die you will die. How will it happen? Will it be painful? Will you die with regrets? For Ivan Ilyich he had lived his life as if he was above death, never thinking about how he would want his life to be when he died. When Ivan realizes he will soon have an inevitable death, he becomes overwhelmed and unable to comprehend his feelings and thoughts. He is in pain and aware he will soon die, but no one except for his servant Gerasim has any will to try and give him the comfort he needs on his last days. Death is scary and for Ivan Ilyich it was very painful, but due to the life he lived and people he surrounded himself with, the comfort from those closest to him was not present. To me the way wants to be …show more content…
Gerasim is a servant, one seen as less or at the bottom of a community, and he is the only one able to give Ivan comforting words and support because he is able to understand pain is a part of life. Ivan Ilyich is bothered on his last days about the way he is isolated and in pain but throughout his life he has isolated himself and not been there to comfort others when they are in pain. Gerasim was the last person Ivan Ilyich ever would have respected or come to for help, but in his last days he is the only person Ivan has supporting him, and he gives Ivan the ability to acknowledge the death he will soon face. As the days to his death Praskovya becomes more and more frustrating to Ivan because he realizes she is doing everything for her own sake. However, I believe Tolstoy portrays her in this light to show how hard it is for someone to think about your feelings when you have shown no regard for theirs for the entirety