In most cases, a simple life is believed to be great. However, Ivan’s life is ordinary and simple, but still terrible. His desires, behavior, and values are designed by the expectations and opinions of his social superiors. Such notion makes him conformist who relies on the outside world to reason. Besides, he chooses friends on social grounds and makes other life choices according to the impressions of the social environment. For example, he decides to marry because it is considered appropriate. Ivan’s life is terrible as it does not involve actual freedom and personal choices. Besides, he does not portray his true individuality as he does not use his ideas and personal reasons to direct the moral aspect of his life. Instead, he relies on the views created by aristocrats. Such lifestyle can be compared to that of a robot, and so the novel portrays Ivan as a living Robot. Ivan’s life is ordinary and simple, but terrible.
Ivan’s miseries extend to his work, especially in examinations. He comes up with a way in which he eliminates all the considerations that are not applicable to the legal aspects of the case. He as well reduces complicated cases to a form in which it can only be presented on the paper and ultimately excludes his personal opinion on every matter as he is concerned with the prescribed formality. Such an act further portrays him as a conformist as he works with the laid down structures of handling the affairs in his profession. The same way Ivan deals with the professional complications is the same way he treats his potentially emotional and personal situations.
Ivan handles unpleasant situations by eliminating them and isolating himself. The same way he reduces complicated issues to minor concerns in a piece of paper. For instance, he erects barriers between himself and the disturbing forces such as relationships. It is evident when Ivan spends more time at work because his married life is getting difficult. However, the few instances when he is obliged to be at home, he tries to keep his distance from his wife. He even invites guests to keep him company to ignore his wife. Ivan employs an artificial nature whereby he expects events to be predictable and in case this does not happen he retreats quickly like in the case of his marriage. Ivan personality is disconnected as he manages to shut himself in and leaves the rest of the world including his wife and son outside. Therefore, his life is terrible as he is isolated and alienated from every important aspect of life.
At the end of the novel, his life is portrayed as a mere form as he believes he is on the right path while it is evident that he is heading towards the wrong direction. Such submission is affirmed in chapter nine of the novel where Ivan hears the voice of his soul saying “It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up. And that is really what it was. I was going up in public opinion, but to the same extent, life was ebbing away from me. And now it is all done, and there is only death (Tolstoy 856).” At this point, Ivan realizes how he has been delusional about life. He starts to understand that social status does not guarantee fulfillment. Such realization makes him think he has been living a horrible life that is not based on reality. He disagrees with the laid down structure to deal with situations. In doing this, he opposes aristocratic society claiming it robbed him of life. However, Ivan seems to be undergoing some changes, but the question is on whether he truly understands the implication of his realizations. Later in the novel, Ivan decides to get back to his initial lifestyle instead of embracing his understandings. Such an outcome seems to have been triggered by his spiritual awakening. Therefore, Ivan gets back to being a conformist.
The last passages of the novel reveal how Ivan’s moral values were irrelevant. For instance, Ivan seems not to understand his past life, and this shows that he is growing in his understanding of the true meaning of life. He questions the correctness of his early life by trying to see whether there were real outcomes from whatever he did. Nonetheless, his inability to differentiate a proper act from right behavior prevent him from analyzing path his life has taken. Ivan could not tell whether he was doing the right thing since he had been consumed with the aristocrat ideologies which sets structures to manage operations. He believed as long as he followed the laid down regulations he was right. Even after questioning his correctness, he still thinks that there is happiness in embracing his social perspectives. Ivan is not informed of Tolstoy’s life values such as love and compassion and the ideas of living correctly and happily. However, Tolstoy’s notion that happy life mitigates all the troubles that an individual experience would have reinforced Ivan’s way of thinking. Ivan believed that aristocratic ideologies could guarantee him a happy and correct life and so with the Tolstoy’s submission, his beliefs could even get stronger.
The lines at the final chapter of the novel state “Suddenly some force struck him in the chest and side, making it still harder to breathe, and he fell through the hole and there at the bottom was a light. Just, then his schoolboy son had crept softly in and gone up to the bedside. The dying man was still screaming desperately and waving his arms. His hand fell on the boy's head, and the boy caught it, pressed it to his lips, and began to cry (Tolstoy 857.” The statement show that Ivan is spiritually reborn in the midst of his pain. As he gets weak, he finally admits that he has been living a lie and that is life was not what it should have. At this point, Ivan does what he did not do while he was healthy and much alive. He expresses pity for his son and wife. In conclusion, Ivan’s life is ordinary and straightforward, but terrible because he cannot dissociate what is proper and right. Besides, he firmly believes in his social superiors. However, the novel ends when Ivan has erected between himself and other people as his isolation disappears and he gains meaning of life.
Work Cited
Tolstoy, Leo. "The Death of Ivan Ilyich." Academic Medicine-philadelphia-
80.9 (2005): 856.
