Week 11 Analysis: a Literary Analysis

Leo Tolstoy, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” (735-778)

            One character I have come across in this story is Ivan Ilyich, the dead man himself. He is a rather unexceptional and ordinary man. As seen in the story, “Ivan Illyich’s life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible” (746). This man absolutely admired individuals who were in a higher social position and actually adhered to their standards and rules. This is where the theme of society and class comes in because by the looks of it, those in the higher tiers of social status are more important in society.  As can be seen by Ivan Ilyich’s change in attitude: “in official manners, despite his youth and taste for frivolous gaiety, he was exceedingly reserved, punctilious, and even severe; but in society he was often amusing and witty, and always good-natured, correct in his manner, and bon enfant, as the governor and his wife-with whom he was like one of the family-used to say of him” (747). It is like he was two different people, one a normal, ordinary man while the other is a robot of his society. This is where the historical context comes in, which deals with social class in this case. For example, “Russian society was divided into three major groups: the aristocracy, which was small in number but exerted all of the nation’s political power; town merchants, who had fixed duties and privileges; and serfs, who made up the vast majority of the population but had no power at all” (738). This connects to the story through the way this character Ivan Ilyich views society as can be seen through his change in attitude. He basically views those in higher societal positions as entirely more important, which also reflects the time (or history) this story was written in. Therefore, society and class plays an important role in this story, as seen through the stories characters and mentioning’s of class.

"The Death of Ivan Ilyich". The Norton Anthology World Literature, Third Edition, Vol. D. Martin Puchner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. Pages 735-778. Fairfield Medium with the display set in Aperto.