Get Your Fears in Order

Throughout the story of Ivan Ilych, Tolstoy criticizes the Russian bourgeois view of death. Tolstoy opens the novel with an examination of the accepted view of denial and slowly transitions into the eventual reverse of belief through Ivan Ilych’s own personal decay into the acceptance of death. The first chapter of “The Death of Ivan Ilych” introduces the unique attitude towards death, one of disbelief and a feeling near indifference. What I found interesting was the bourgeois class’s evident lack of any fear towards death. While in today’s society death ranks ten among common fears, I doubt if the acquaintances and even Ilych himself would recognize any fear of death simply because of the sheer denial of any such inevitability. The acquaintances of Ilych in Tolstoy’s story shun death as an enigma and refuse to recognize it as an inevitable fate, even after the death of Ivan. To them, death is something that cannot and will not befall them, “an accident natural” to the dead but not to the living. The question is why? Why does today’s society possess more of a fear of death or even a greater acceptance of human mortality than Russian bourgeois society? But on the other hand, why is the fear of vomiting more common than the fear of death? (I’m sorry but that’s just weird!) Though I do not have enough training in psychology considering my two days so far in the class, I believe the customary sense that death is a far-off fear of the distant future in contrast to the less serious, yet current prospect of vomiting may explain their respective ranking. In this sense, Tolstoy’s criticism still applies today, though not as drastically or directly.

The character Ivan Ilych’s downward spiral past the denial of death into the fear and eventual acceptance of its occurrence provide a unique perspective into the triumph over these social beliefs. As his body decays and his mind subsequently follows suit, the prospect of death finally enters his newly- vulnerable mind. Ivan transcends from his immortal state atop some imaginary cloud of denial and realizes that just like Caius he is mortal and therefore has the ability and will die. Tolstoy demonstrates through the use of Ilych’ s condition that man, especially in his society, only is able to confront the prospect of his own personal death when faced with it himself. Yet his aloneness in this realization leaves him without anyone to understand him or pity his state and therefore he begins to separate himself from those around him because of a mix of envy, hate, and paranoia at their lack of care. Yet his loneliness is not only mental; there are actually few who care about him. His colleagues seek only to take his job; his wife desires only his income from the marriage; and his kids seem far-off and distant throughout the story. Though he pushes them away, there is no need; they have already left his side. His journey through the stages of death allows Tolstoy to criticize the insensibility of society’s views on death, not only then but also now.

That is not to say death should be the constant fixation of life, only that it should be recognized as a real, legitimate thing. No one should live in constant fear of death, but maybe an indirect recognition of the possibility of death, such as a my fear of my driving that with my skills will inevitably lead to my death, can actually create a greater appreciation of life. If humans cannot accept their mortality and live with the notion that time does not limit their dreams, then dreams will go unfulfilled. Maybe thoughts of death can only us to live life to its fullest. And I will end with a cheesy quote by James Dean: “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” (647).