Every individual has a story, which is characterized by the kind of experiences they have undergone as well as their surrounding environment and the implication such an environment has had on them. Various articles and biographies have been written on some of the most famous artists, writers, novelists as well as an author, which give readers and insight into the experiences of such individuals. Depending on the kind of life one lives, right from birth to becoming fully independent, certain attributes or characteristics emerge about the person, which would be prominent in any piece of writing on the person. However, certain things are common to most people, which occur at least once or twice throughout a person’s life. Pain, dealing with grief as well as responding to death are some of the common or prominent experiences in the life of human beings that may feature in writings on individuals such as biographies. Leo Tolstoy is among the people who have written stories on experiences that may be characterized by pain and response to death as seen in his various writings. The aim of this paper is therefore to demonstrate instances of Tolstoy’s writings on pain, as well as how his character(s) responded to death, based on the provided reading.
As depicted in the book, Tolstoy describes Ivan Ilych’s experiences with pain, which can be characterized by the things he has to encounter. For instance, the first encounter that the character has with pain is described through Tolsoy’s depiction of the kind of life Ilych lives. According to Tolstoy, as opposed to living a life whereby one is free to choose and decide for himself, he lets other people, the aristocrats, dictate how he lives his life (Puchner, 2012). This translates into pain, as he is unable to keep up with the life he has chosen, which Ilych could have avoided if he simply lived the life he wanted rather than emulating that of others.
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Another instance of pain, as depicted by Tolstoy is shown when Ilych’s experience with the pain of loneliness, which he suffers from as a result of the personal decision he makes. Tolstoy writes,
Ivan Ilych felt himself abandoned by everyone, and that they regarded his position with a salary of 3,500 rubles as quite normal and even fortunate. He alone knew that with the consciousness of the injustices done him, with his wife's incessant nagging, and with the debts he had contracted by living beyond his means, his position was far from normal (Puchner, 2012).
It indirectly describes the pain that Ilych was undergoing as a result of the loneliness caused by his decisions (Puchner, 2012). Due to the inability for him to live conformably and for himself as initially intended, Ilych moved his interactions and activities away from people, starting with his nagging pregnant wife. However, this results in loneliness, which Tolstoy describes as resulting from his isolation.
Tolstoy portrays Ilyich's moral, mental, and existential pain as being greater than his physical pain which is attributed to the terminal illness he contracts (Puchner, 2012). For instance, the realization that the life he led is characterized by emptiness causes Ilych to suffer the pain of fear as depicted when Tolstoy writes, “What if my entire life, my entire conscious life, simply was not the real thing?” in the depiction of Ilych realization of a possibly empty life. In addition to that, Ilych experiences pain from contracting an illness, which is described by Tolstoy as having no known cure. This is the ultimate experience of suffering that causes physical pain in Ilych’s life up until his death, which the author depicts as his relief of pain. Tolstoy writes,
Oh, terribly! He screamed unceasingly, not for minutes but for hours. For the last three days, he screamed incessantly. It was unendurable. I cannot understand how I bore it; you could hear him three rooms off. Oh, what I have suffered! (Puchner, 2012).
It describes the amount of pain caused by the illness, which characterized the pain that Ilych experienced (Puchner, 2012). This illness doe not only causes him physical pain but also causes him to be susceptible to other experience such as irritability that led to painful experiences such as fighting with his wife. Other characters in the story appear to understand Ilych’s pain differently. For instance, Ilych’s wife has a somewhat selfish response to her husband’s pain.
The description of pain by Tolstoy depicted through the character Ilych, is similar to how many other patients react when they have a terminal illness. They believe that physicians, as well as medicine, cannot help them, which is why even in the story Ilych refuses to receive any help from his physician. Ilych answers his physicians by saying “You know perfectly well you can do nothing to help me, so leave me alone,” when the physician offers him help (Puchner, 2012). Many patients react like this because of being in denial over the fact that their death is inevitable. Some patients also become irritable and begin to isolate themselves, much as has been depicted by Tolstoy in as far as pain is concerned. Pain in others requires us to respond by being considerate and understanding towards how the pain is affecting a patient, thus being supportive of what the one in pain expresses or wants.
Responding to death is among the other issues that Tolstoy addresses in “the death of Ivan Ilych,” whereby the author demonstrates how certain characters feel about death and how they respond to it. For instance, Ilych responds to death at first by showing shock and disbelief of the fact that his death is inevitable. Ilych then responds to death by accepting the fact that it is inevitable and no matter what he does or whatever help he gets he will die, thus Tolstoy’s writing “You know perfectly well you can do nothing to help me, so leave me alone.” (Puchner, 2012). This goes to show that upon realizing he is going to die Ilych, responds to the idea of death by acceptance of the inevitable.
Similarly, Ilyich responds to death by reflecting on his past actions and the manner in which his life has turned out. The news about the terminal illness, which means that he is inevitably going to die sooner rather than later, awakens a certain realization in Ilyich. Tolstoy demonstrates Ilyich’s reflection and realization as responses to death by writing, “What if my entire life, my entire conscious life, simply was not the real thing?” (Puchner, 2012). Shock and disbelief are also common among close family and friends of Ilyich, which is also the author’s depiction of how they respond to death. Many people also encounter death in a similar manner because most people view death as a finality, thus the shock and denial.
The death of Ivan Ilyich is introduced in Chapter 9 by Tolstoy as the work’s central metaphor, which is meant to symbolize the reality of death as opposed to the falsity of life. As demonstrated in the book, Tolstoy explains that Ilyich, despite his stupefied misery, felt as if he was being pushed through a "narrow, deep, black sack," thus the element of symbolism with regards to the death of Ivan Ilyich (Puchner, 2012). The manner in which Tolstoy describes the events leading to Ivan Ilyich’s death depicts the element of metaphoric description. For instance, only after Ivan Ilyich falls through the sack does he regain his consciousness, which Tolstoy describes as a possible vision in a dream. The sack represents a metaphor, which is meant to symbolize or describe the deeply personal and spiritual journey that Ilyich undergoes in his life the act of breaking through the sack is also a metaphor, which can be interpreted as him finding atonement for having lived his life in a manner that he was not supposed to. In spiritual reference, the sack is metaphorically a representation of a woman’s birth canal. Therefore, at the moment of his near physical death, as described in the scriptures with regards to being “born again,” is when Ilyich becomes born again, which is why his death can be classified as a metaphor.
Reference
Puchner, M. (2012). The Norton Anthology of World Literature . Shorter Third Edition. Volume 2. W.W. Norton.
