The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy’s book is opened with the sudden death of its protagonist, Ivan Ilych, and with the reactions of those who surround him – his so-called friends, his family and mainly of his colleges. Tolstoy immediately drills down into the despicable feelings, hidden thoughts and reactions which arises among every human being, as if uncontrollably, when they are facing death of another for the very first time:

“Just think, it could happen to me any time, now,’ he thought, and he felt that momentary pang of fear. But immediately he was saved, without knowing how, by the old familiar idea that this had happened to Ivan Ilyich, not him, and it could not and would not happen to him”

This is where Freud’s intellectualization and rationalization mechanisms come in action, in our need to distance ourselves from the psychological threat which terrifies us so much. This person is somewhat right, as death never encounters us - rather, faces us by the death of others. One does not aware of the fact that he/she is dead, yet he/she certainly sees, experience and aware of the death of others.

Following this prolog (which is merely the inevitable end for each and every one of us), Tolstoy begins describing the world of Ivan Ilyich from childhood to his end. Pay attention to the opening phrase of this chapter:

“The past history of Ivan Ilyich’s life was simple, commonplace, and most terrible.”

Tolstoy hiddenly inserts here his ideas and thoughts by exhibiting a surprising and miraculous contrast – how is it possible to have a simple and normal, yet horrible, life? On the one hand, it seems like other people’s lives are special, yet eventually, most of us live “by life” (compared to how do we picture it). We live generic lives which are bounded by the guidelines of external forces, without truly choosing our own paths. And so, Ivan Ilyich as well, at the end of this life, realizes that he was ‘a simple person’ without any meaningful or genuine achievement, rather - was obsessively aspiring after what was socially accepted around him.

Following Ivan’s illness, he began meeting with doctors who treated him the way he himself treated his defendants in court. The great power he possessed over other people for so many years in court is now meaningless to him. He now lacks all influence and suddenly he is subjected to the thoughts and decisions of the medical staff. He suddenly meets inferiority – the delicate fragility of being human.

As his condition gets worse, he is more desperate for any advice that will sound reasonable for his lost soul. He tries to follow his doctor’s orders as accurately as possible:

“Nevertheless, Ivan Ilyich began following the instructions meticulously, and even found some comfort in this at first.” It seems like at this point of crisis, it becomes significant for a person to rely on knowledgeable personas, as the person feels abandoned, left out… human. It is such a huge absurdity that during his lifetime, as he ‘holds onto life’ Ivan Ilyich (and most of us) does not notice that he still relies on knowledgeable personas who, in most cases, dictates his destiny, ambitions, searches and decisions for him on the most meaningful themes of life (occupation, marriage, family, faith etc.). If we think of our life’s scenario; of our parents’ views on major issues, of how society influences us, of how religion influences us might mig ask: how much of this even belongs to us? Have we ever done anything which is not linked to them/their demands? Have we expressed anything from within ourselves?

As said, there is not such thing as ‘good answer’. It is a question with which one must confront.

But unlike the healthy life he has known for his entire life, during which it is so hard to spot the ones who make the decisions which makes your life not yours; now, when his body struggles against all consensuses; now, when his body unthoughtfully betrays him; now he realizes that he has nothing to hold on to. He can look back – a month or two back – and see how the illness has gone worse, how he is in decline in spite of all of the knowledgeable personas’ advices and all of the so-called experts.

Not only that, the absolute loneliness of being ill faces Ivan Ilyich with his deepest sensations regarding the suffer of others. He takes onto himself some kind of an existential guilt – “a new discomfort he causes his wife”, which rises the great question: what is the meaning of the suffer and why do we struggle so hard to save and protect others who are experiencing an immense suffer when there is no cure and the suffer keeps getting greater and greater? This question disturbs many around the world as well as has numerus answers. Some in Sweden see no meaning in suffering and seek to dive into deep sleep. Others find a religious refinement in suffering such as redemption for sins. There are also the vast majority who is simply unwilling to give up on life and is willing to live life no matter what. Pay attention to the harsh words in which Tolstoy uses to describe the infinite suffer:

"And he had to live in this way, on the very edge of destruction, without a single being who might understand and pity him."

As his condition gets worse, Ivan Ilyich’s denial and repression regarding his upcoming death are getting weaker. He begins to realize that “It’s not a matter of the blind gut or the kidney but of life and . . . death. Yes, there was life and now it’s going, it’s going, and I can’t hold it back”.

He faces something inevitable to which one is seldom able to prepare (unlike an unexpected death). He faces his own death – who can possibly imagine his own death? Each of us behaves differently when confronted with the idea of his/her death and it is interesting how it affects us and stirs our decisions throughout our lifetime. As his denial gets weaker, Ivan Ilyich begins to face life as it is, without all the lies and false purposes he has hold onto for his entire life and begins asking existential, hard and complex questions… so terrifying yet finally so deep and human:

“I’ll be no more, and then what will there be? Nothing. Then where will I be, when I will be no longer? Is this really death? Go away, I don’t want you.”

Then, Tolstoy exhibits a model example to the essential denial for extreme challenges such as extinction. He describes how Ivan Ilyich remembers in the logical term of syllogism – 2 premises from which a single inference must be yield.

“Caius is a man, men are mortal, therefore Caius is mortal.” It had always seemed to him correct only in relation to Caius, not to himself.”

As I’ve said in the beginning, it is easy for us to believe that only others die and we are so special, so beloved – immune from this reality. We can easily and secretly convince ourselves that the light is dark, and the darkness is full of light. This self-distortion can become a psychological treasure and even, in some cases, a never-ending shattering.

Ivan Ilyich has already realized that his end is near and all of his self-comforting and self- denial are useless. Now he must face the human beings who still possess this denial, this common fictions, this manners, this respect which insults his existence so much… he is tired of their lies, tired of their lack of courage to express the truth before him – the truth about his upcoming death.

“He found this lie insufferable; he was tormented by the fact that nobody wanted to admit what he knew—what everyone knew—but chose to lie to him about his dreadful state. They wanted, even forced him to participate in the same lie. Lying—the lie inflicted on him on the eve of his death, the lie which was bound to degrade the fearful, solemn scene of his death to the level of all those visits, curtains, and sturgeons for dinner . . . this was a dreadful affliction for Ivan Ilyich. And—it was strange—many times when they were doing their stuff over him, he was within a whisker of shouting at them, “Stop lying! You know and I know I’m dying, at least you could stop lying to me.” But he never had the spirit to do so”

A few hours later, as he realizes in agony how “the world keeps on turning”, Ivan Ilyich “could see that the terrifying, awesome act of his dying was reduced by everyone around him to the level of a casual unpleasantness, to some extent an offense against propriety (rather in the way people behave to someone who brings a bad smell into the room with him)”.

Ivan Ilyich keeps sensing the human fragility - he is already a part of it, capable of looking at the small steps which leads to the end. He is afraid to look at the mirror when he changes his shirt. He is afraid of being alone. “It is dreadfully sad on his own; he longs to call somebody but knows in advance that it is even worse with others there. “If only I could have some morphine, I might lose consciousness”.

Forgetting ourselves often provides us a so-called(?) solution to the human dread that might touch us at moments we are on the edge. Being in those moments is such an unimaginable horror, therefore it is so pleasant to simply ‘not be’. And as if all of this seems not enough, and if it seems as if Tolstoy has already wrote his deepest thought regarding the world - there he continues to lead us through the delicate and mysterious paths of the soul – while Ivan Ilyich is in deep sorrow. Thought about god in which he does not believe “invades” him:

“He was crying for his helplessness, his terrible loneliness, people’s cruelty, God’s cruelty, the absence of God. Why have You done all this? Why did You bring me here? What have I done that You torment me so dreadfully? He did not even expect an answer, and cried because there was no answer, and could be no answer. The pain rose up again, but he did not stir and did not call out. He said to himself, go on, batter me! But what for? What have I done to You? What is it for?”

Tolstoy ingrains us with the fact that there is no such thing as an ethic answer to the question “why do we suffer?”. He emphasizes that the suffer is merely an intrinsic part of being human, without any option of eliminating it, resisting it or even expecting it to be otherwise. This helplessness of dealing with the suffer is a given in the game-rules of life. Within the silence that surrounds his questions, he began asking himself questions – “what do you need?”, “what do you want?”

Therefore, an inner discourse has begun regarding what kind of life does he wish to live from now on? Yet even before that, and because of that – he is forced to examine this previous life through a sharp pair of glasses - an introspection which arises within our souls often only at extreme times of horror. Ivan Ilyich tries to go through all of his life’s happy moments, and apart from a few very basic happy moments from his childhood – it seems that all of his grownup life has been a chase after common fictions: “In public opinion I was climbing up, and at just the same rate life was slipping away from under me. . . . It’s all up now—time to die”.

Towards the end of the story, using different tones, Tolstoy expresses an essential point to his readers – about life, and most importantly – about life without a present self.

1. “Everything you once lived by and now live by is a lie, a fraud, hiding life and death from you.” 2. “He experienced that sensation he sometimes got in a railway carriage, when you think you are moving forward while actually going backward, and suddenly realize your true direction.”

The great danger and painful lesson which Tolstoy tries to teach his readers is, in my opinion - facing life before horrible illnesses and degrading old age arrive. He asks people to observe their choices and to not willingly (even if unconsciously) go lost towards an entire life scenario which has not emerged from within themselves!

It is most defiantly one of the most memorable books that left their impression on me, I would very much like to hear your thoughts, feelings and emotions regarding this brilliant book by Tolstoy.

You are welcome to comment here on my blog and share it with your friends – for more reviews on wonderful books (:

U can find this beautiful book here