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Leo Tolstoy, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” – Assignment Due November 3rd
I am not posting my customary set of discussion questions about this text. Instead, please complete the following assignment before class on Wednesday, November 3rd.
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Identify a passage from “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” that seems to you to be significant, interesting, and/or worthy of closer examination. Share your passage here, being sure to include its page number.
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In addition to sharing the passage, please take a few minutes to identify your passage’s context, meaning, and significance.
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Context: Where in the text does this appear? (i.e. what’s going on?)
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Meaning: Using simple language, express the meaning of the passage in your own words.
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Significance: How is your passage connected to the larger themes of the work as a whole?
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In Chapter IX, when Ivan starts to reflect on his life and recall the pleasant moments of his life, he comes to a realization that his life wasn’t all that pleasant. This leads to him thinking to himself, “And in imagination he began to recall the moments of his pleasant life. But strange to say none of those moments of his pleasant life now seemed at all what they had then seemed…”(773). What this means is that once Ivan started to reflect on the pleasant moments of his life, what he deemed pleasant in the past no longer seemed pleasant to him now. All that he has thought as being pleasant, such as getting a higher ranking job, making more money, and getting a house, doesn’t seem pleasant to him anymore. This passage connects to the text’s larger theme of pleasing society, and how pleasing society and gaining public recognition does not equate to having a pleasant life. We see that Ivan constantly prides himself in his job and his house, and basks in society’s approval by showing both of them off. His life to him seemed pleasant because society approved of him and because he seemed to have a higher social ranking. But once he started to reflect on what he used to think of as pleasant in his life, he realizes that showing off and trying to gain society’s approval by throwing elaborate parties was not as pleasant as it seemed because it was all fake.
Chapter X is the text I am identifying. The context is that Ivan Ilyich is sick and is laying on his sofa being lonely and is thinking to himself. The meaning is that being sick can make someone feel lonely that they only have themselves to rely on. The significance is that throughout the reading, the theme that people are sometimes selfish is really highlighted in this chapter.
Mohammed, You were asked to select a specific passage from the text to discuss. It’s not enough to just identify a chapter. What line or lines from the text do you want to highlight. You need to add a quotation.
The passage “He suffered ever the same unceasing agonies and in his loneliness pondered always on the same insoluble question: ” What is this? Can it be that it is death?” And the inner voice answered: “Yes, it is Death.” (774). I find this quote interesting since it shows to the extent of Ivan’s sickness. It shows me that there is a point in which people know death is near.
In the first chapter of “The Death of Ivan llyich”, (pg. 741) the passage “Each one thought or felt, well he’s dead but I’m alive. but the more intimate of Ivan llyich’s acquaintances, his so-called friends.” I find this to be interesting because his death is not met with any grievance by his friends. throughout the chapters their is this lack of sympathy and becomes a topic of how society that Ivan llyich is a part of, does not value life and the lack of empathy for someone’s life. The meaning of the passage shows the lack of a human connection towards Ivan llyich and his friends seeing this as a beneficial scenario for themselves. Overall, this shows that they have never cared for their friend Ivan llyich because when he died, their was no sympathy shown and in the passage they view it as glad it’s him not me situation. This passage is connected to the larger themes of the work as a whole because of how society in Russia views everyone. Throughout this story we see how society in Russia is a dog eat dog and Ivan looks for validation from others. It becomes a theme where in the end, no matter how he want’s validation, people close to him saw his death as something they can benefit from and not think twice that is their friend who has passed.
In chapter XI, as Ivan struggles in bed, he thinks about his life and what has become of it. As he is lying in bed, “It occurred to him that his scarcely perceptible attempts to struggle against what was considered good by the most highly placed people, those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false” (776). This quote shows that Ivan was constantly living under society’s expectations of how a man should live. He was constantly trying to force himself to agree to such expectations, but he always knew he never enjoyed those experiences deep down. The meaning of the passage is to enjoy life without living up to anyone’s expectations. Ivan constantly tried to gain higher status, power, and wealth. He carried more about social gatherings than his family. He was greedy and wanted more that he didn’t enjoy what he already had or what could have become of it. All that left him with many regrets as he approached death. The larger theme of the work as a whole is that a person should live their life the way they want to without trying to please society’s expectations. So that a person, in the end, doesn’t look back in life with regrets like how Ivan did. Throughout the story, readers can see how Ivan is constantly trying to reach for more and when he falls from having everything to nothing, he realizes that everything wasn’t his desire. Sometimes expectations aren’t what someone truly desires, but it is so that they can feel accepted. Sometimes living life according to what a person wants is the best.
In chapter VII, Gerasim was introduced as the butler’s young assistant. On page 765, it says, “But just through this most unpleasant matter, Ivan Ilyich obtained comfort. Gerasim was a clean, fresh peasant lad, grown stout on town food and always cheerful and bright.” The context of this quote is a short and simple introduction for Gerasim. However, it gives me the thought that Ivan sees Gerasim as the young version of him. When Ivan was a young man, he likes to live an easy and pleasant way, meaning that he’s an easy-going and bright person. He might have seen his younger self in Gerasim because Gerasim is also a cheerful and bright person. In addition, their similar personalities might contribute to why Ivan only gets comfortable with Gerasim. This connects to a larger theme of memories and young adulthood/adulthood. There are various sections in the reading that mentioned how Ivan tries to play the card game, tries to continue his job in the law court, tries to light up a candle, etc… Yet, he can’t complete any of those tasks because of his illness. At a timing like this, it is possible that Ivan is yearning about his adulthood, the pleasant and easy lifestyle he lives by, how healthy he was, and how strong he was.
The passage that I found interesting is on page 773, where Ivan is recalling all of the moments in his life. “..all that had seemed joys now melted before his sight and turned into something trivial and nasty.” In this section, Ivan is reflecting on his mortality. He is trying to decipher whether or not this life was really worth it. This train of thought appears when Ivan is in deep pain, and I think he was fighting death. I believe that the meaning of this passage is that we strive for many artificial things in our lives, so much so that we make it our livelihood to obtain them. This sentence is sort of lifting the facade, and demonstrating that how he obtained the things, and the way they made him feel was ugly and empty. I believe this passage is connected to the larger theme of living life to the fullest and realizing the sort of chains we as a society are held to through Ican’s reflection and realization of his own life.
In “The Death of Ivan Ilyich”, there was a passage that seems to me the most significant: “It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up. And that is really what it was. I was going up in public opinion, but to the same extent, life was ebbing away from me. And now it is all done and there is only death.”(773) This passage was taken from chapter IX where Praskovya was late from the play and sent Gerasim away. After taking some opium, he was in a vulnerable state and began to question himself. This line represents when Ivan realizes that social status is not everything that is there in life. He felt his wish to take the path of aristocratic society had robbed him of his life. This has an implication of what is a right or wrong life and what makes life real.
A passage that I thought was interesting and worthy of closer examination would be towards the end of chapter 5 on pages 762-763. In this part of the chapter, Ivan has visitors over in his house but he decides to go to bed earlier. While in his room, he gets lost in his thoughts regarding his condition. At first, it seems as if he’s trying to convince himself that everything is going to be fine and even takes his medicine. However, just as he starts to think that “[everything] is much better already,” (pg 761), he starts to feel pain again and this triggers his negative thoughts. He starts to become angry with the fact that he is dying but no one seems to care or have pity for him. Then he presses down on his side until he falls. His wife comes in and sees that he’s laying down and leaves, but comes back to his side and states that when she kisses him, he “hates her from the bottom of his soul” (pg 763). This passage could possibly hint at the fact that Ivan is living out his life in way that doesn’t truly make him happy, especially when it comes to marrying his wife. In times of need, the wife he married does not provide him with comfort at all. This idea of being discontent connects to a larger theme in the work because there have already been numerous instances before this passage where we see that Ivan’s relationship with his wife is pretty rocky. Their arguments seem to be a defining feature of their relationship.
A passage that I thought was interesting and worthy of closer examination would be when Ivan justify marrying Praskovya. He “had at first no definite intention of marrying but when the girl fell in love with him he said to himself really why shouldn’t I marry” (749). Ivan was never in love with Praskovya yet he still willing to marry her due to her status. He even admits later on that he married her since his “social circle approved the match.” I think this is one of the parts that show that Ivan cares more about how others see him. He likes to put on an appearance for everyone. He would have never thought about getting married if it didn’t somehow benefit him in term of reputation. he thought getting married would give him a pleasant life but once his wife got pregnant, he saw that it wasn’t how he thought it would be. Ivan seems to only care about how others perceive him. For example, when they had a social gathering, he bought and spend a lot of money he didn’t have on cakes. He is trying to prove that he is better and wants approval from everyone. This passage connects to the text’s larger theme of living up to society expectations, Ivan is constantly trying to find a better job with more power and money. He expects that having more power and money will give him the pleasant life, he always wanted, but it caused more problems in his marriage, making life more unpleasant. this goes to show that making decision based on society expectation of you isn’t going to led to a pleasant life.
In chapter VI, Ivan realizes that he is dying and tries to understand it. On page 763, he talks about how he learns about death from Kiesewetter that “Caius is a man, men are mortal, therefore Caius is mortal”(763). This logic shows the relationship between a man and a mortal. He says that men are human beings who choose whether to live or die. In this situation, Ivan does not know whether or not the pain is going away or causing him to die. He still does not know how to live as a mortal, and he is trying to learn about death from the logic of Caius so that he can die like him. Ivan uses these thoughts in bed to know people can die someday. Right now, he is ill and unsure if he is going to die or not. This connects to the larger theme of death to show how it could happen in the past or the future. Ivan struggled to understand death because he did not know how it felt as he was experiencing pain. When he knew that the pain was getting worse, he understood how this might lead to death.
The first chapter of the passage “The Death of Ivan ilyich”, is a text I am identifying. On page 741 the context is explaining the intimate of Ivan llyich’s acquaintances. The theme is how many people are selfish. This foreshadows his death will not meet any grievance by any of his companions. Ivan llyich does not value life and the lack of empathy for someone else’s life. This passage’s meaning is to show the lack of human interaction towards his companions and himself. Ivan also looks for validation from others. This passage could be connected to the larger themes of the work as a whole because in Russian society everyone is being viewed.
You were asked to identify a line or passage from the text and provide a quotation. I don’t see that here. You’ve given us the page number, but no quotation.
On page 741, “it is he who is dead and not I” refers to the intimate of Ivan’s acquaintances. I find this quote interesting because it symbolizes how people have an inner feeling from death.
1. Page 743: “The dead man lay, as dead men always lie, in a specially heavy way, his rigid limbs sunk in the soft cushions of the coffin, with the head forever bowed on the pillow. His yellow waxen brow with bald patches over his sunken temples was thrust in the way peculiar to the dead, the protruding nose seeming to press on the upper lip. He was much changed and had grown even thinner since Peter Ivanovich had last seen him, but, as is always the case with the dead, his face was handsome and above all more dignified than when he was alive. The expression on the face said that what was necessary had been accomplished, and accomplished rightly. Besides this there was in that expression a reproach, and a warning to the living. This warning seemed to Peter Ivanovich out of place, or at least not applicable to him. He felt certain discomfort and so he hurriedly crossed himself once more and turned and went out the door- too hurriedly and too regardless of propriety, as he himself was aware.
2. This passage appears in the beginning of the story. Peter, Ivan’s childhood and lifelong friend, decides to skip his usual nap and head to Ivan’s house after hearing about his death. The text mentions that as a result of Ivan’s death perhaps he would “get her brother transferred to their circuit” (741). Upon entering Ivan’s home, Peter is amidst the grieving chaos, in which he sees Ivan’s family members like nephews leaving the room he was entering. It is within this passage that Peter comes across Ivan’s corpse and begins to feel uncomfortable.
3. This passage describes the grim reality of death. I say this, because Ivan’s corpse is described in extreme society and details. This passage is meant to express the uncomfortable truth of death. Especially because Peter grows visibly more uncomfortable the longer he stays in the rooms and looks at Ivan’s corpse.
4. I think this passage is connected to the larger themes of the work as a whole, because we know that in the last 3 days preceding Ivan’s death he was constantly screaming. His wife and family members thought he was in agony and suffering from pain, but on the contrary this was not truly the case. Ivan’s last days of his life were spent on him dying calm and perfectly happy, because he had let go of the fact that he lived his life according to society’s expectations, instead of the true desires of his soul. I think the fact that his corpse is described in such detail really demonstrates how this text was written in the Realism time period. Additionally, by adding how uncomfortable Peter felt adds an additional element of realism, because many people in real life tend to be freaked out by death. I think this paragraph is significant in capturing the essence of the time period, while also adding important details about Ivan and how he looked after he passed.
Page 745: “ … he recognized Ivan Ilyich’s daughter, a handsome young woman…She had a gloomy, determined, almost angry expression, and bowed to Peter Ivanovich as though he were in some way to blame… Ivan Ilyich’s schoolboy son… saw Peter Ivanovich he scowled morosely and shamefacedly.” I think that passage in some way showed how possibly Ilyich may think or feel that Peter could have done more when their father was dying or in last few days rather than just go to his funeral after. I think this passage connects more to the larger themes in the story because it shows how different everyone grieves Ilyich’s death and how it affects everyone.
“But just through his most unpleasant matter, Ivan Ilych obtained comfort… Gerasim smiled again and turned to leave the room. But Ivan Ilych felt his presence such a comfort that he did not want to let him go.” (765-766) This scene takes place when Ivan is on his deathbed and Gerasim comes in to take care of him. Gerasim adjusts Ivan’s position on the bed to make him more comfortable. As Ivan is on his deathbed, he can no longer enjoy the power and wealth that previously distracted him. These distracted avoided the acknowledgment of his life’s shortcomings. Throughout his adulthood, he has become attached to his work and less involved in his relationships, whether personal or family. For instance, anytime he and Praskovya had a fight, he distracts himself by turning his attention to his profession instead of trying to mend their relationship. As Iván Ilych grows more ill, the hypocrisy in his own home hurts him as much as his sickness. Consequently, he desires a relationship with Gerasim, a young servantwho remains untainted by the power-hungry energy that have consumed everyone else in Ivan’s home. This scene relates to the theme of corruption and purity seen within the book. During Ivan’s life, he learned to not only to not feel remorse for his dreadful actions but to also forget about them. On his deathbed, he cannot avoid these actions and has no choice but to sit and ponder. Gerasim may also be symbolic for a spiritual realization for Ivan.