The Death of Ivan Ilyich

by Leo Tolstoy

So, the first thought that occurred to each of the assembled gentlemen on hearing the news of his death was how this death might affect his own prospects, and those of their acquaintances, for transfer or promotion.

about, the very fact of the death of someone close to them aroused in all who heard about it, as always, a feeling of delight that he had died and they hadn’t.

squeeze your children a little tighter tonight vibe

Pyotr Ivanovich knew that just as he had had to cross himself in there, out here it was necessary to squeeze her hand and say with a sigh,

there is a routine to follow, which we all know intrinsically. But it serves to remove us from it somehow? To put a barrier between us and the event of death. A protection? A defense?

And he has to take this knowledge to bed with him, along with the physical pain and the terror, often to spend a near-sleepless night because of the pain. And next morning he has to get up again, put on his clothes, go to court, talk, write or, if he doesn’t go out, stay in with every one of those twenty-four hours that make up a day and a night, each one of them an agony.

such a good description of the inescapability of illness

In the depths of his soul Ivan Ilyich knew he was dying but, not only could he not get used to the idea, he didn’t understand it, couldn’t understand it at all.

Gerasim was the only one who did understand his situation, and he was sorry for him. This was why Ivan Ilyich felt comfortable only with Gerasim.

the frankness of the working class? more down to earth

what he wanted was for someone to take pity on him as if he were a sick child.

Why all this horror? What’s the reason for it?’

‘What if I really have been wrong in the way I’ve lived my whole life, my conscious life?’

sad that an inability to accept the meaninglessness of death, results in the destruction of his perception of his life. he fails to acknowledge that everyone dies, good or bad or indifferent.

what then?’

exactly. no changing it now!

deception that hides life and death away from you.’

a kind of idea that society/wealth/capitalism is an attempt to put barriers between people and death but also prevents proper living

one. This vindication of his lifestyle was holding him down, preventing him from moving on, and causing him the greatest suffering.

a battle with his soul. I wonder on Tolstoy's religious views.