Free Essay On Ivan Ilyich And The Living Death Of The Russian Bourgeoisie

Ivan Ilyich had been a simple and ordinary man in the sense that he spent most of his life cut off from all the harsh and unpleasant realities of life in Russian society, and instead concentrated on climbing the social and economic ladder, at least up to the point where he literally fell off. At first he thought this was only a temporary setback, but it gradually dawned on him that his injury was fatal, and even worse, he also became conscious of the fact that his life had no meaning. There was something rotten inside Ivan’s body, perhaps a cancer or an infection, just as the social class he represented was also diseased and doomed to extinction. Up to the point where Ivan realized that his illness was incurable and he was going to die, he had simply existed in an artificial bubble. Only when it was too late did he realize that most of his so-called friends and colleagues cared nothing about him, and thought only that his death might help them move up in their careers. He also came to understand that his wife Paskovya and daughter Lisa were heartless, selfish people who actually hoped he would die soon just to be over the inconvenience. Only the peasant Gerasim and his small son Vasya feel any real compassion and sympathy for him, and only on his death bed, when he dreams of being trapped in a black bag, does Ivan discover that the real meaning of life is based on love, humanity and compassion for others rather than money, status, and success in the material world.
Ivan had been a thoroughly modern and realistic man, a pragmatist and opportunist, who studied law and finally worked his way up to the chief judgeship of St. Petersburg, though contacts in the Ministry of Justice. By education and experience he was not at all typical, since the majority of people in Russia in the late-19th Century were peasants and workers, whose social and economic circumstances were quite harsh. In this respect, the peasant Gerasim knows a great deal more about life and death than Ivan and the members of his class, who have insulated themselves from reality. This was also Tolstoy’s view, and he regarded the peasants as the real heart and soul of Russia, rather than the Europeanized bourgeoisie and aristocracy at the top of the social pyramid. As a judge, Ivan is also the servant a highly authoritarian and unjust system, although he never gave these matters any serious thought in his quest for personal advancement. His wife and ‘friends’ like Peter Ivanovich and Schwartz (Black) are also quite similar in their preoccupation with money, success and personal advancement. They are all examples of a sort of living death or suspended animation, type of spiritual and emotional death even though they imagine that they will be able to avoid all forms of pain and unpleasantness. None of them had ever asked any of the serious and important questions about what the real meaning and purpose of life were, and neither did Ivan until he had no other choice.
For Tolstoy, the most important questions of all were whether humans achieved their full potential as spiritual beings, particularly in their abilities to show love and compassion. He rejected the dominant ideas of Darwinian evolution and scientific rationalism because he thought that humans had souls that survived death. Ivan Ilyich and members of his class acted like soulless creatures that had lost touch with real life. This is why Gerasim played such an important part in awakening the dormant soul of Ivan Ilyich at the end of the story, simply by staying up with him all night and helping to ease his pain. Finally, he emerged from the black bag into the light when he felt sorry for Vasya and touched his head. He wanted to ask his family to forgive him, but was no longer able to speak. This was the first time in his life that Ivan had ever felt and real sympathy or compassion for another person, and in the end it was probably enough to redeem him.
Ivan Ilyich had not found any of the answers to life’s important questions during his thirty years as a lawyer, judge and civil servant, nor had he even known what the questions were. Science, reason, materialism had not provided him with any real happiness or satisfaction, nor had his association with his empty and superficial professional colleagues and his loveless marriage. Only the values of a simple peasant and the tears of a small boy had saved him, for these were the only human and alive characters in his world. Like other members of his class, Ivan had in fact been a decrepit and pathetic specimen of humanity until he discovered these simple truths on his deathbed. Tolstoy was probably not optimistic that Ivan’s class could be redeemed, though, since even in the late-19th Century it was already quite clear to informed observers that revolution was brewing in Russia. In the end, Ivan and his class would be swept away by it, along with the system it served, although of course it did not turn out to be the kind of humane and compassionate revolution that Tolstoy would have desired.