The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy - Essay Example

This essay discusses that through the torment and tribulations of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy is probing a problem all too common to humanity, namely, how one can live a life uncompromised. Indeed, it is the least controversial lifestyles are the most compromised in terms of essence. In other words, it is extremely difficult to live for one’s own aspirations and to fulfill one’s true calling with complete honesty, liberty, and integrity. The reason why Ilyich had attained high office toward the end of his career is in large part because he went along with the established social, cultural and political norms.

Had he dared question the flaws in the system and had he tried to distance himself from the corruption that is ubiquitous in society then he would have made a lot of enemies. As a consequence, his reputation and social goodwill will diminish. If he had chosen to be morally upright whenever confronted with the flaws inherent in society he would not have had a successful career. Hence, looking the other way is the basis for his material and social success. Tolstoy is unambiguous in his stance that such a life is not worth living.

In many ways, this authorial position is resonant with Plato’s famous claim that “an unexamined life is not worth living”. The story is also a metaphorical journey toward illumination, in that, Ilyich only truly understands the failure of his erstwhile existence upon the shock of facing death. In this sense, his approach toward his finality is an awakening to his own repressed reality.. Through the torment and tribulations of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy is probing a problem all too common to humanity, namely, how one can live a life uncompromised.

Indeed, it is the least controversial lifestyles are the most compromised in terms of essence. In other words, it is extremely difficult to live for one’s own aspirations and to fulfill one’s true calling with complete honesty, liberty and integrity. The reason why Ilyich had attained high office toward the end of his career is in large part because he went along with the established social, cultural and political norms. Had he dared question the flaws in the system and had he tried to distance himself from corruption that is ubiquitous in society then he would have made a lot of enemies.

As a consequence, his reputation and social goodwill will diminish. If he had chosen to be morally upright whenever confronted with the flaws inherent in society he would not have had a successful career. Hence, looking the other way is the basis for his material and social success. Tolstoy is unambiguous in his stance that such a life is not worth living. In many ways this authorial position is resonant with Plato’s famous claim that “an unexamined life is not worth living”. The story is also a metaphorical journey toward illumination, in that, Ilyich only truly understands the failure of his erstwhile existence upon the shock of facing death.

In this sense his approach toward his finality is an awakening to his own repressed reality. In his case the repression is so internalized and automatic that he carried a feeling of living a successful and responsible life. This feeling was nothing but an illusion which gave respectability to the mundane and trivial