Week 11 Literary Analysis - Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich"

There are two parts in particular that I really liked and that seemed to hold some significance. In Leo Tolstoy's story, "The Death ofIvan Ilyich," he writes, "To Ivan Ilyich only one question was important: was his case serious or not? But the doctor ignored that inappropriate question. From his point of view it was not the one under consideration, the real question was to decide between a floating kidney, chronic catarrh, or appendicitis. It was not a question of Ivan Ilyich's life or death, but one between a floating kidney and appendicitis. And that question the doctor solved brilliantly, as it seemed to Ivan Ilyich, in favor of the appendix..." (756 - 757) This passage shows how nervous and vulnerable Ivan can be. And what torture it must be to have a few possible different things wrong with you and not know which one it is. Although this may not have been the worst of his pain and suffering, I sort of think it ties in to the ending, where he feels pity for his family.

Another passage I thought was interesting is found on page 759, "Praskovya Fedorovna's attitude to Ivan Ilyich's illness, as she expresses both to others and to him, was that it was his own fault and was another of the annoyances he caused her. Ivan Ilyich felt that this opinion escaped her involuntarily - but that did not make it easier for him." This obviously shows Praskovya's character - she is very self-absorbed, selfish, and doesn't give a crap about her husband. (In my opinion, he seems a little dramatic, so I'd get annoyed by him too.) I think it's typical that Ivan would try to come up with an excuse for her, saying that she said it involuntarily, but that is just so it doesn't hurt him as much. And he's trying to hide that she is truly selfish and doesn't care about him. Perhaps that is why he felt pity for her at the end of the story?