— Anonymous
Reading “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Tolstoy opened my mind in so many thoughts and feelings. Spending most of our time in our homes due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I think some of us have lots of free time and either we want it or not, we spend some of it thinking about what is important and how we value things. In the text, Ivan is trying to live his life as he was supposed to by other people in the upper class, but this is not the point of life and he realizes this at the end of his life. Reading this and in coordination with the situation that we are going through, is a good opportunity to reevaluate yourself and understand better what makes us happy and most importantly healthy, physically and mentally. One thing that this reading made me realize is how important relationships are. And I don’t mean just the romantic ones, I also mean friendships and family as well. Ivan clearly didn’t have any deep connection with the character in the text. His colleagues at the day of his death were thinking about the position that opened for them and how he is dead and not them. His wife also was interested in the money that she can get. The only time we see some connection between Ivan and another character is with Gerasim and how being around him can make his suffering a little better and at his last moment with his son. I think it is very important to have healthy relationships with your family, with your friends and your significant others, especially now because with this pandemic, we all need to talk with someone that we feel close to and also listen to them.
