In Ronald Blythe’s introduction to The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy he states that it “is the tragedy of a man who is a death illiterate and who has to make his way out of the world through the ranks of other death illiterates.” In many regards, this statement is a reflection on Tolstoy’s use of social commentary in the story on how the lifestyle of Ilyich and his associates leaves them unfulfilled during their last moments and meaningless to the world as a whole.
Ivan’s government career placed him among a class of materialistic, social-climbing professionals, and in accordance to his life strategy to live “easily, pleasantly, and decorously,” he conformed to their values and ideals. An early example of this behavior is when Ivan commits actions and affairs that he believes to be morally questionable but upon those actions being approved by his colleges and superiors he pays them no more thought. This corruption continues in the workplace not through abuse of his powers -for that would be an inconvenience- but through Ivan’s new found hobby of turning his “humanity” on and off in order to accomplish his work and further his social career. His desire to appear normal also invades his personal life: Ivan takes time off from his personal leave to go to St. Petersburg in order to ambitiously seek out a new position, he buys the stereotypical house of a rising middle-class professional for his family and gloats over it and when experiencing uneasiness with his family he simply invites guests over to his home so that his family must act in an appropriate manner or avoids them altogether by escaping with his “associates” to play bridge.
It is only when Ivan Ilyich falls fatally ill that be begins to see the errors in his way of life. When in meetings with his doctor, Ivan feels isolated by the disinterest in which the doctor takes over his case – when, in fact, he is using the exact indifferent judgment that Ivan himself used when approaching many legal cases. Ivan also becomes extremely irritable and argues frequently with his wife because he feels alienated from the world and is dissatisfied with his life. Ivan’s final realization comes when looking at Gerasim’s face, the one character in the book that truly cares for others and is able to confront death because of his abilities to meaningfully connect with others. Ironically, in the final moments of his life, Ivan realizes how he should have lived –unfortunately, his knowledge cannot be passed on to the countless others just like him, who simply are thankful that they are not dead and continue on to collect from the demise of their fallen "friend" (453).
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Schooner--You do a good job describing the objectionable qualities of Ilych's life. And it seems to me that Tolstoy does an even better job of showing us what's wrong than he does in convincing me that such a man can redeem an entire lifetime by a few last-minute deathbed revelations.
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