The Death of Ivan Ilyich was a novel that is very much relatable to the current world we are living in. Just as Ilyich is trying to climb up the corporate ladder, he is also trying to climb up the social ladder or pretending to be. Ilyich for the longer half of his life is obsessed with how he was presented to other people around him. He marries not for love but because of the connection he thinks his wife will provide. He gets a better job not because it’s fulfilling work to him but because he can show off his new and fancier apartment. It seems almost parallel to the world we are living in now. With the rise of social media, everyone is trying to take a snapshot of their life’s highlight in order to boast to their friends and families. But no one now talks about the behind-the-scenes and how most of it is a facade. It is incredible to see how easily someone can lose sight of what truly matters, not materials but meaningful relationships. Just like Ilyich who becomes isolated and ill, the world also gets isolated and ill due to the recent pandemic. During this quarantine, I certainly have realized that I lost sight of what really matters too. I too was caught up with the hustle and bustle and not realizing how I have been neglecting my meaningful relationships whether it be friends or family. However, I did find the lack of communications in the novel foreign. I understand it’s really easy to get sidetracked with your career especially when you have bills to pay and mouths to feed, but most of the conflict could’ve been avoided if Ilyich just spoke up. Perhaps because I am a “gen z” and feel entitled to speak up about how I feel, I think Ilyich should’ve spoken up about his distress and made his epiphany sooner.
Thanks for these thoughtful comments. I agree with you that the family, for a variety of reasons, is not able or willing to talk about what’s going on during Ivan’s illness. Each member of the family is probably keeping his fears and worries to himself. Because Tolstoy only allows us access to Ivan’s consciousness, we only know what he is thinking and feeling. He assumes that his wife and children don’t care about him and aren’t sympathetic to his suffering, but because of how the text is written, we don’t actually know what they are thinking and feeling. I don’t think Ivan actually has his “epiphany” until he is literally on his deathbed and then, when he does speak, he is barely able to utter an apology.