1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
2. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is full of French words. What purpose do they serve?
3. How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
4. On his deathbed, Ivan asks, “Why, and for what purpose, is there all this horror?” Does the text provide an answer to this weighty question?
5. Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
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Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
The treatment exuded by the family and friends of Ivan are somewhat synonymous to modern day society and how we handle deaths and tragic occurrences in that we attempt to make light of the situation by avoiding the obvious so as to not face reality or upset our loved ones further. Much in the way that Ivans wife, tries to reassure him in the earlier stages of his illness that he will be just fine, so do we often times when faced with tragedy seek that silver lining against our better judgement. It is kind of a coping mechanism that keeps the treacherous air of death at bay until the very end.
How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
Ivan Ilyich’s family act distant towards his illness. Ivans illness is looked upon almost as a bother and blame is placed upon him instead of having his family provide him with support him through his suffering. Through several events, we are able o see that it is a harsh reality that Ivans family were not ready to accept and instead carried on as if it were not a big issue and that his health would improve His family gives him little sympathy. Instead, Ivan’s young son seems to show him some care. Their reactions show how people react to something that is not thought upon due to its frightening nature, death.
3. How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
Ivan Ilych’s family behaved very strangely toward him, and appeared not to take his illness seriously at all, whether or not that is how they truly felt. They continued to tell Ivan to keep following the doctors orders and that he would be fine. They are very distant from Ivan and really do not do much at all to help him around the house. Ivan’s wife only fears what will come of Ivan’s death in terms of financials, showing that she is extremely selfish and may have grown apart from her husband. Ivan’s family may also be in denial of Ivan’s imminent death and that’s why they have been distancing themselves.
Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
Tolstoy introduces the beginning of the story with the death of Ivan Ilyich for various reasons. One reason in specific is the way Tolstoy tries conveying the message. Unlike most stories, Tolstoy does not leave any suspense in what will occur in the reading. Like how the title indicates, the readers know Ivan Ilyich passes away. So Tolstoy goes with this style of writing to show readers the way he passed away rather than leaving a suspense on what occurs to him. Another reason why he starts with his death is to show readers the way Ivan Ilyich’s peers thought of him. By introducing this in the very beginning, the readers get an insight on the way his family and friends thought of him after his death.
5. Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
In the “Death of Ivan Ilyich”, death comes to a surprise to some of the characters and is avoided by his family. When his colleagues were informed of his death they seemed shocked as well as relieved. Society is reminded of death in many ways and at different times, but it is not a thought that individuals dwell upon. When we experience a death in the family, or of a friend we are reminded of this idea of death that we bury deep in our subconscious. Furthermore, Ivan’s family may know that he is dying but prefer not to accept it. Often, the topic of death is avoided to ease the conscious of the dying person, as well as ease our own conscious about the known effects of the person’s death.
Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
Ivan’s family see his death as both an inconvenience and a release. They keep telling him that he’ll be alright because it’s easier for them to accept the fact that he’s dying. In my own experience it’s easier to convince yourself that your loved ones will be alright than to accept the fact they will pass away. Ironically, my family members who were gravely ill seemed to know that their time had come and had accepted that fact. It was me and the rest of the family members who on the one hand wanted them to get better badly and on the other were relived that their suffering had ended.
Society sees death as mostly tragic and puts a somber tone around it. People tend to become more religious around death, maybe because it reminds them of the fact that dying is a fate we all will eventually come to.
. “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is full of French words. What purpose do they serve?
The French used in “The Death of Ivan Ilyich points to the socioeconomic status of Ilyich, his family, and friends. Members of the Russian aristocracy and upper-class would speak French to show that they were wealthy and educated. It was not uncommon for French to be spoken among the Russian elite.
How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?
Even after getting to know about Ivan’s illness, his family seemed kind of indifferent towards his condition and did not appear take it seriously. They considered the unfortunate circumstance (Ivan Ilyich’s death) nothing more than a mere burden if nothing. Moreover, all his wife cared about was how her financial condition is going to get worse after his death. Nevertheless, compared to the modern day society, it could also be seen as if they were trying to avoid the truth/fact that he is going to die as it brings nothing but sadness and negative vibes in the family.
Compare the attitude toward death we see in Ivan Ilyich’s family and social milieu to that of our own society. How do we treat illness and death?
The attitude towards death is shown to be avoided by everyone that is in contact with Ivan. There is a sort of censorship to the idea of death and illness. It is shown when Ivan’s wife simply shrugs off his illness by saying to remember to take his medicine. It is something grotesque and uncivilized you can say to live with something was powerful and horrible as death and illness, so many turn a blind eye to ill fortunes. Ivan himself doesn’t accept death until the very end, since it was something so distraught and terrible.
1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
I think it’s because he wants to use this as a window for the reader to learn some details about Ivan Ilyich’s social circle, and the way others thought about him and how everyone reacted to his death, it was simply a way to show the things that didn’t have a significant meaning in his main character’s life. I believe he didn’t organize it chronologically because to me the climax of the story happens right at the end when Ivan Ilyich is agonizing not after he’s gone. The whole process of dying for him was a time of questioning that led him to the answers he needed to find closure, to get an understanding and acceptance of the life he had and the way he lived it. It was then a few hours before he died that he realized what he had done wrong, he kind of reconciled with the idea of dying, what really died in there was his wrong self and at the end he saw the Light.
How does Ivan Ilyich’s family react to his illness? What do their reactions tell us about them?I
Ivan’s wife tryes her best to minimize the illness of Ivan, which is very interesting. We all know thier post-marriage life is not very happy , but why Ivan’s wife begins to care about Ivan? I think it’s because Ivan’s wife is trying to cover her fear through minmizing the illneess. She can’t let Ivan die , if Ivan dies , she will lose his salary, and she can’t let this happen.
1. Why do you think Tolstoy begins his story with the announcement of Ivan Ilyich’s death, rather than organizing it chronologically?
I think its a little confusing at first but in the end makes for a better story as it makes the reader pay attention. Since we the reader know the outcome of the story now we are trying to figure out what brought us to that point especially to a death of a man at a young age. It overall just makes the story more interesting and less predictable. In many stories you will start with the protagonist in his life and will lead it into death towards the end of the story. Despite that in this story Tolstoy the author leads us with the death of the protagonist and then follows that after with the beginning of Ivan Ilyche’s life.