Leo Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich is a bitter reminder for us that life is too short to be attached to materialistic things and how we are constantly chasing things that do not truly matter. Ivan was constantly worried about how he is representing himself to the society, he worked hard to attain things not to enjoy them but to show other people his achievements. He was too occupied showing everyone what he could accomplish that it never occurred to him how important building emotional and intimate connection with people around him really was and I feel like that is something that we commonly get to see around us on a daily basis now. Our motivational drive too often is not how having something would make our lives comfortable but what it would make others think of us. Tolstoy shows us that seeking everyone’s approval will lead you nowhere looking for happiness within yourself rather than materialistic things is what will make your life fulfilling. Life is so unpredictable considering the time we are going though right now during these times of uncertainty we should make sure we spend time with our family and friends rather than only focusing on our careers as our time in this world is not infinite. I felt sorry for Ivan when no one took his illness seriously because he was weak and that is when he required everyone’s support and care the most. Reading this novella made me shift my focus of how temporary and unpredictable our life really  is , we plan our lives and our future as if we are going to live forever rather than living in the present.