Friday, November 15, 2019
Analysis of Death of Ivan Ilych Essay -- essays research papers
Letting Pain Be      To many individuals the word â€Å"progress†has a positive meaning behind it. It suggests improvement, something humans have been obsessed with since the dawn of society. However, if closely examined, progress can also have a negative connotation as well. While bringing improvement, progress can simultaneously spark conformity, dependency, and the obsession of perfection within the individuals caught in its midst. It is this aspect of progress within modern society that negatively affects Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy’s main character in The Death of Ivan Ilych. Ivan’s attempt to conform to modern society’s view of perfection takes away his life long before he dies. Furthermore, his fear of death and reactions towards it reflects modern society’s inability to cope with the ever present reminder that humans still suffer and die, despite all attempts to make life painless, perfect, and immortal.      Although we as a society have advanced and made people’s lives easier, our mental suffering is as present as ever, due to our incessant need to have everything perfect. We seem to forget that the fascination of living comes from the imperfect and the unexpected. In her essay â€Å"On the Fear of Death†Elisabeth Kubler-Ross suggests that the modern age, while increasing life span and ease of life, has at the same time given way to a â€Å"rising number of emotional problems,†amongst the living (Ross 407). She also suggests that because of modern society’s progress, there has been an increased anxiety towards death. While Ross is writing for twentieth century society her ideas apply to the nineteenth century as well, when Tolstoy wrote The Death of Ivan Ilych.      Ivan Ilych is living during the industrial revolution, a time of technological advancement, that mainly advances the upper class, which he is apart of. Ivan’s number one priority in life is to be comfortable and to do the correct thing at all times. Every decision he makes, including who he chooses to marry, is with the intent that it does not damage his â€Å"easy, agreeable, and always decorous character of his life,†(Tolstoy 213). Ivan is convinced that the best way to have an easy and agreeable life is to be wealthy, marry a woman from his own class, and live in a house full of modern conveniences and luxury. Ironically, it... ...roduction of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Vol. 44 it is stated that â€Å"Ivan Ilych’s passage from life to death also entails a passage from falseness to truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (326). One could also look at this in a different light. From a physical perspective Ivan does go from life to death, from perfection to imperfection, but from a spiritual perspective it is actually the opposite. It takes the death of Ivan’s physical self to finally see what is important, his spirituality, his ‘divine spark.’ This, he finally realizes, is what true perfection is. Hence, Ivan is able to see past the falseness of conformity in the end and no longer fear death.      In his last moments of life, Ivan sees light instead of death. His final audible words are â€Å"What joy!†despite the pain he feels. This epiphany that he has happens in a single moment and in a sense makes him finally come alive. Thus, right before his final breath Ivan is able to say to himself â€Å"Death is finished, it is no more!†Death no longer has a hold on him because the quest of perfection no longer does. Ivan has finally decided, after a lifetime of denying it, to â€Å"let the pain be.†     Analysis of Death of Ivan Ilych Essay -- essays research papers Letting Pain Be      To many individuals the word â€Å"progress†has a positive meaning behind it. It suggests improvement, something humans have been obsessed with since the dawn of society. However, if closely examined, progress can also have a negative connotation as well. While bringing improvement, progress can simultaneously spark conformity, dependency, and the obsession of perfection within the individuals caught in its midst. It is this aspect of progress within modern society that negatively affects Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy’s main character in The Death of Ivan Ilych. Ivan’s attempt to conform to modern society’s view of perfection takes away his life long before he dies. Furthermore, his fear of death and reactions towards it reflects modern society’s inability to cope with the ever present reminder that humans still suffer and die, despite all attempts to make life painless, perfect, and immortal.      Although we as a society have advanced and made people’s lives easier, our mental suffering is as present as ever, due to our incessant need to have everything perfect. We seem to forget that the fascination of living comes from the imperfect and the unexpected. In her essay â€Å"On the Fear of Death†Elisabeth Kubler-Ross suggests that the modern age, while increasing life span and ease of life, has at the same time given way to a â€Å"rising number of emotional problems,†amongst the living (Ross 407). She also suggests that because of modern society’s progress, there has been an increased anxiety towards death. While Ross is writing for twentieth century society her ideas apply to the nineteenth century as well, when Tolstoy wrote The Death of Ivan Ilych.      Ivan Ilych is living during the industrial revolution, a time of technological advancement, that mainly advances the upper class, which he is apart of. Ivan’s number one priority in life is to be comfortable and to do the correct thing at all times. Every decision he makes, including who he chooses to marry, is with the intent that it does not damage his â€Å"easy, agreeable, and always decorous character of his life,†(Tolstoy 213). Ivan is convinced that the best way to have an easy and agreeable life is to be wealthy, marry a woman from his own class, and live in a house full of modern conveniences and luxury. Ironically, it... ...roduction of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Vol. 44 it is stated that â€Å"Ivan Ilych’s passage from life to death also entails a passage from falseness to truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (326). One could also look at this in a different light. From a physical perspective Ivan does go from life to death, from perfection to imperfection, but from a spiritual perspective it is actually the opposite. It takes the death of Ivan’s physical self to finally see what is important, his spirituality, his ‘divine spark.’ This, he finally realizes, is what true perfection is. Hence, Ivan is able to see past the falseness of conformity in the end and no longer fear death.      In his last moments of life, Ivan sees light instead of death. His final audible words are â€Å"What joy!†despite the pain he feels. This epiphany that he has happens in a single moment and in a sense makes him finally come alive. Thus, right before his final breath Ivan is able to say to himself â€Å"Death is finished, it is no more!†Death no longer has a hold on him because the quest of perfection no longer does. Ivan has finally decided, after a lifetime of denying it, to â€Å"let the pain be.†    Â
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