The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Leo Tolstoy)
OVERVIEW
I set out intending only to read Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” but included in the book were six other short stories that explored morality, evil, and death as themes. My favourite of these other six was “Three Deaths,” which focused on the deaths of three subjects: a noblewoman, a peasant, and a tree. By Tolstoy’s own account, the story is about how the noblewoman, so divorced from living simply, dies badly and angrily. The peasant, who lived alongside nature, dies calmly. Lastly, a tree is felled in the forest to make a cross for the peasant’s grave – and Tolstoy says “the tree dies quietly, honestly, and beautifully. Beautifully, because it does not lie or break; it is not scared or sorry.”
This concept of a bad life making for a bad death, and a good life making for a good death, is present in “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” too. Ivan lives a materialistic, shallow life. He is defined by his work, which gives him a sense of gravitas and power. It is very important to him that society sees him as decent, dignified, and respectable. He measures the success of his life against the yardstick of how in control he is, how self-accomplished and important. He lives a life of appearances. And then, Ivan becomes sick. But his life goes on around him, unchanged – everyone expecting him to succeed, to accomplish… to maintain decorum. It is a cause of great unhappiness for his friends and family that he can’t live up to their standards in this regard. He becomes “an unpleasant incident, something rather indecent.” He’s treated like an infant who refuses to follow the rules. He is failing. His wife is condescending and makes a show of her disappointment. Everyone is unwilling to acknowledge that Ivan won’t recover, and he becomes isolated, alone in the knowledge of his dying. His only comfort is his servant, Gerasim, who doesn’t force him to live this lie. Gerasim understands what is happening and is sorry for Ivan. Ivan comes to realize that his failing to live an authentic life has made for a bad death, and there can be no setting it right except to die.
Even though this book was written in the 1880s, in a lot of ways this deathbed scene could have happened today. A dying man is surrounded by well-intentioned (or not so well-intentioned) friends and family who are unwilling to acknowledge what is happening – who rally and encourage and refuse to use the “d” word. And in doing so, they isolate the dying person. He is forced to keep up appearances, to conceal his existential angst behind a mask of feigned propriety. This book felt relevant, and I can understand why it continues to be referenced today.