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The death of ivan ilyich themes
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The Inescapable Contention of Mortality The idea of fate is often hard to grapple when faced with a destiny that may not be as preferable as one may hope. But, people will soon recognize the need to accept this fate, or instead be trapped within their struggle to escape from the inevitable. In the texts, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, by Leo Tolstoy, and The Myth of Sisyphus, by Albert Camus, the main characters both are only able to move past the battles against their fate in order to only then find their own happiness. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy tells the progression of Ivan Ilyich’s death, which coincides with his descent into misery. For the duration of the story he struggles with the burden of his disease and death on both himself …show more content…
Due to his previous actions, the gods doomed him to the most dreadful punishment of “futile and hopeless labor” (Camus 1). The monotone requirement of rolling a stone up a mountain, yet never reaching the end of this struggle, left Sisyphus with a meaningless future. But it is his acceptance in the role of the “absurd hero” that permits him to overcome his fate. The role of the “absurd hero” is that where Sisyphus recognizes the lack of meaning in his life, and embraces this knowledge. He then uses this recognition to abandon hope and to instead find happiness in the reality he faces. In light of this truth, Camus explains, “There is no sun without shadow, and it is essential to know the night. The absurd man says yes and his efforts will henceforth be unceasing. If there is a personal fate, there is no higher destiny, or at least there is, but one which he concludes is inevitable and despicable” (3). This demonstrates how rather than attempting to change what cannot be changed, one must accept the negatives in their lives instead. While Sisyphus is destined to eternal torture in life instead of death, his myth continues to relate to the inevitability of death through his own struggle. Many people are tortured by the unknown pull of death, but this worrying anguish will not cease until they accept what will come. By doing this and seeing through the pain that they may face, people become the absurd hero similarly to Sisyphus, and instead find peace and acceptance that will therefore remove the agony brought on by
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy tells the story of Ivan Ilyich, a man who deals with a mysterious illness through introspection. Until his illness, he lived the life he thought he was supposed to live. Like Candide, he was living in blind optimism. He assumed that what he was doing was the right thing because he was told as much. He had a respectable job and a family. Happiness, if it did occur to him, was fulfilling his duties as a husband and father. It was his sudden illness that allowed him to reflect on his choices, concluding that those choices did not make him happy. “Maybe I have lived not as I should have… But how so when I did everything in the proper way” (Tolstoy 1474)? Ilyich had been in a bubble for his entire life, the bubble only popping when he realizes his own mortality. This puts his marriage, his career, and his life choices into perspective. Realizing that he does not get to redo these choices, he distances himself from his old life: his wife, his children, and his career. All that is left is to reflect. This reflection is his personal enlightenment. He had been living in the dark, blind to his true feelings for his entire life. Mortality creates a space in which he can question himself as to why he made the choices he made, and how those choices created the unsatisfactory life he finds himself in
Because Sisyphus betrayed “divine secrets to mortals”, he was sentenced to continuously rolling a stone up a hill and when it came down, he would have to roll it up again for an eternity. “We have the picture of meaningless, pointless toil, of a meaningless existence that is absolutely never redeemed” (Taylor p 20). Sisyphus struggle cannot even be redeemed through death or exhaustion. His sentenced is irreversible and there is no way out of this depressing and dark life. There is absolutely no hope for him, just more of the same. His reality is his nightmare that he can not be awoken
Leo Tolstoy, author of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, suffered numerous tragic losses such as his parents and his aunt, Tatyana Ergolsky who created a tremendous impact during Tolstoy’s childhood. Overtime, Tolstoy was cultured and for Tolstoy it was common within his community. During the 1840, Tolstoy developed a strong, eager interest for the studies of moral philosophy. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy suggests that although people can find happiness in materialism, they need spirituality during a crisis.
Picture a water-logged, bearded man floundering about in the ocean, yet never failing nor drowning. This is Odysseus, King of Ithaka, trying to survive. In The Odyssey by Homer, characters in the story were impacted by significant events, and emerged either more joyful, or more depressed than before. Telemakhos journeyed on a long voyage to find his father, enduring much pain in the process that eventually lead to reunion with his father. His father, Odysseus himself, the great Greek hero, suffered practically all his life, yet he returned to his home as the rightful king. These men’s experiences exemplify the fact that suffering leads to maturity.
We react to Sisyphus's fate with horror because we see its futility and hopelessness. Of course, the central argument of this essay is that life itself is a futile struggle devoid of hope. However, Camus also suggests that this fate is only horrible if we continue to hope, if we think that there is something more that is worth aiming for. Our fate only seems horrible when we place it in contrast with something that would seem preferable. If we accept that there is no preferable alternative, then we can accept our fate without horror. Only then, Camus suggests, can we fully appreciate life, because we are accepting it without reservations. Therefore, Sisyphus is above his fate precisely because he has accepted it. His punishment is only horrible if he can hope or dream for something better. If he does not hope, the gods have nothing to punish him with.
Tolstoy immediately absorbs you into the novel by beginning with Ivan’s death. The actual death scene is saved until the end of the novel, but he shows you the reaction of some of Ivan’s colleagues as they hear the news of Ivan’s death. You are almost disgusted at the nonchalant manner that Ivan’s “friends” take his death. They are surprised by his death, but immediately think of how his death will affect their own lives, but more importantly, their careers. “The first though that occurred to each of the gentlemen in the office, learning of Ivan Ilyich’s death, was what effect it would have on their own transfers and promotions.” (pg 32) As a reader, you have to wonder how Ivan must have had to live in order for people close to him to feel no sadness towards the loss or even pity for his wife. In fact, these gentlemen are exactly like Ivan. The purpose of their lives was to gain as much power as possible with n...
Sisyphus knows his fate. He to Because he has the opportunity and does rationalize his fate, he has consciousness. As the rock rolls back down, he is able to look back upon his life and analyze it. Nothing could be more existentialist. Sartre’s Garcin wants to meet his fate face to face. So, Sisyphus, embodies this desire of Garcin, and is thus a hero to him. Similarly, Charles Dickens’ scrooge has the unique opportunity to become an observer to his fate in the past, present and future. While Camus’ Meursault does not care about his past, he expresses the same feelings as scrooge and Garcin in their desire to confront their fate. Indeed, this is why they are every man and Sisyphus is our hero - he has and will always confront his fate. He has the conscious power to contemplate and control his fate. Therefore, if we know that everyone faces death as their fate, consciousness equals the ability to deal with ones fate.
Ivan has a strong disconnect with his family and begins feel like he is always suffering, while beginning to question if his life has been a lie. An example of this for prompt number three is when we are giving the quote "Ivan Ilych's life had been most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible." Leo Tolstoy implies through the quote that even though he lives an ordinary
Taylor is careful to identify exactly which features of Sisyphus predicament account for the lack of meaning. He argues that the facts that Sisyphus task is both difficult and endless are irrelevant to its meaninglessness. What explains the meaninglessness of Sisyphus’s life is that all of his work amounts to nothing. One way that Sisyphus’s life could have meaning, Taylor proposes, is if something was produced of his struggles. For example, if the stone that he rolls were used to create something that would last forever then Sisyphus would have a meaningful life. Another separate way in which meaning might be made present is if Sisyphus had a strong compulsion for rolling the stone up the hill. Taylor points out, though, that even given this last option, Sisyphus’s life has not acquired an objectives meaning of life; there is still nothing gained besides the fact he just ...
Several philosophers have made differing viewpoints regarding the outlook of life. Richard Taylor and Albert Camus are notably known for presenting their thoughts on whether life is meaningless or not through the use of the Greek myth of Sisyphus. The two philosopher’s underlying statement on the meaning of life is understood through the myth. The myth discusses the eternal punishment of Sisyphus who was condemned by the Gods to take a large boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down, forcing him to repeat this task endlessly. Each conceive the myth in their own way and ultimately end with a conclusion that differs from each other. Taylor’s ideals and his take on the meaning of life contrast with what Camus presents in his argument. While Taylor suggests that there is a subjective meaning to life, Camus states that life is ultimately meaningless.
In both of these tragic plays, “Macbeth” by Shakespeare and “Oedipus the King” by Sophocles, a catastrophic fate transforms the lives of the protagonists and ultimately becomes a sad reality for both of them whether they flee from it or pursue it. In this way, the authors present fate and destiny as the unavoidable reality every human will have to face, and whether it is a simple statement made by strangers or satirical act of unmerciful gods, it shows life is not in our hands but rests in the power of outside forces.
We are all condemned to death; it is inescapable. Even if a person doesn’t believe in the concept of destiny, it is undeniable that every person is fated to die at some point. Most people, however, are not aware of when exactly the inevitable will approach. Often in works of fiction, the reader, or sometimes even the character, is aware of their fate. There are many different understandings of destiny, which is one of the reasons why it has played such a large role in so many different literary works throughout the world and history. Fate is one of the principal literary devices used in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad, Shakespeare’s tragic play, Antony and Cleopatra, and Tolstoy’s pedagogical novella, The Death of Ivan Ilych.
The story of In "The Death of Ivan Ilych", was written by Leo Tolstoy around who examines the life of a man, Ivan Ilyich, who would seem to have lived an exemplary life with moderate wealth, high station, and family. By story's end, however, Ivan's life will be shown to be devoid of passion -- a life of duties, responsibilities, respect, work, and cold objectivity to everything and everyone around Ivan. It is not until Ivan is on his death bed in his final moments that he realizes that materialism had brought to his life only envy, possessiveness, and non-generosity and that the personal relationships we forge are more important than who we are or what we own.
To many individuals the word “progress” has a positive meaning behind it. It suggests improvement, something humans have been obsessed with since the dawn of society. However, if closely examined, progress can also have a negative connotation as well. While bringing improvement, progress can simultaneously spark conformity, dependency, and the obsession of perfection within the individuals caught in its midst. It is this aspect of progress within modern society that negatively affects Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy’s main character in The Death of Ivan Ilych. Ivan’s attempt to conform to modern society’s view of perfection takes away his life long before he dies. Furthermore, his fear of death and reactions towards it reflects modern society’s inability to cope with the ever present reminder that humans still suffer and die, despite all attempts to make life painless, perfect, and immortal.
The fear of death and the search for eternal life is a cultural universal. The ideology surrounding immortality transcends time and a plethora of cultures. The theme, immortality appears in stories from the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was composed by ancient Sumerians roughly around 600 B.C., to present day works of fiction in the twenty first century. Gilgamesh, a figure of celestial stature, allows his mortal side to whittle away his power after the death of Enkidu. Undeniably, defenseless before the validity of his own end, he leaves Uruk and begins a quest for Utnapishtim; the mortal man who withstood the great deluge and was granted immortality by the gods (Freeman 36). The search for immortality is a universal concept that has presented itself many times throughout the world; it is a concept that stands in hearts of mankind; The Epic of Gilgamesh illustrates humanity’s innate desire to break free from the constraints of the civilized world, while at the same time trying to find the meaning of existence; a theme that that is perpetrated many times throughout the epic. With that being said, The Epic of Gilgamesh is a story that should not be simply viewed as a text that was written by ancient human civilization thousands of years ago; it should be viewed as a text that highlights humanity’s struggle to overcome the limitations of mortality, and the acceptance of death. This is a theme