I love this post so much ❤️ I volunteered at a hospice in the bereavement support team and the most common regret bereaved people had was not being honest about what was happening. There’s a tendency in our culture to see death as some kind of medical failure so family and friends keep saying ‘you’re going to be fine’ when everyone, including the person dying, knows that’s not true. Dr Kathryn Mannix in her book With the End in Sight says “There are only two days with fewer than twenty-four hours in each lifetime, sitting like bookmarks astride our lives; one is celebrated every year, yet it is the other that makes us see living as precious”.
I used to teach this story in my advanced lit courses, and have always loved it. Yes, the curtain has literally come down on Ivan Ilyich, and for me anyway, the most important character was always Gerasim. I thought his character contrasted starkly with any other character in the story except perhaps Ivan's son. Only these two characters show any compassion at all, but Gerasim's regular exercise of massaging Ivan's legs and feet is very Christ-like, and establishes him as the kindest and most giving of the people in Ivan's orbit. His wife and daughter are pretty horrible people, and it's not until he's facing his mortality that he realizes -- too late, of course -- that his life has been wasted, that he has not in fact experienced love, that he's -- yes -- messed things up himself. A comparison to King Lear would make a great master's thesis!
The scenes in which Gerasim holds Ivan Ilyich's legs up for hours on end to give him respite from the pain are so moving. I agree that Gerasim is a key character. He's important because he is honouring the gravity of what's happening to Ivan through compassion, while everyone else lies.
Yes, Ivan is surrounded by his "family," the ones who should ideally be supporting him, caring for him, caring at least that this is happening to him, but only a house boy, a servant, cares. This also represents a theme with Tolstoy, one he revisits in another story, "Man and Master," wherein a servant risks his life for his employer, only to be strangely saved by the same employer/master, when it's obvious the servant is dying of hypothermia. So this whole idea of caste systems in Tolstoy seem to reflect his overall belief in the inherent goodness in people who have less -- less money, less hope, less future -- they are the true heroes of Tolstoy's stories.
Absolutely loved this!!! In my case the struggle has been what you describe as becoming morbidly obsessed with death. It happened to me in my early twenties, I was 22 then, and somehow that as if stopped my life for a while. Later on, as I grew older, I've been able to break free from the paralysing fear, the biggest help has been books, in my case Camus' The Stranger really helped me. I still do think a lot about death, it's just something I can't help. But it's not as bad as it used to me, I think always judging everything in light of death really helps me pick my battles, what is actually important and what isn't. Maybe it's not the most ideal way to live, but at this point, this is what works for me. This is why I've bought Death Of Ivan Ilyich, I think I'll love it.
Thank you Joyie! Actually, I think it's healthy to think about death and be aware of it - everything in life these days seems to shield us from this undeniable part of existence - but it's the part that makes existence so precious!
Re Camus - I recently read and loved The Plague. What an incredible book. However, it's been many years since I read The Stranger - I'd love to give it another go. Thanks for reminding me!
Totally agree that our culture in a way seem to shield death, but I personally find that very absurd because one day we'll have to face it. I've seen people around me, as they approach old age, there's been a shift, and it's clear that so far in their life, they didn't consider the fact that they'll have to get old, lose their power and ultimately die one day. I'd rather not end up like that.
Also, always happy to promote The Stranger 😂 (I haven't read The Plague though)
I love this post so much ❤️ I volunteered at a hospice in the bereavement support team and the most common regret bereaved people had was not being honest about what was happening. There’s a tendency in our culture to see death as some kind of medical failure so family and friends keep saying ‘you’re going to be fine’ when everyone, including the person dying, knows that’s not true. Dr Kathryn Mannix in her book With the End in Sight says “There are only two days with fewer than twenty-four hours in each lifetime, sitting like bookmarks astride our lives; one is celebrated every year, yet it is the other that makes us see living as precious”.
What an great quote! So true.
I used to teach this story in my advanced lit courses, and have always loved it. Yes, the curtain has literally come down on Ivan Ilyich, and for me anyway, the most important character was always Gerasim. I thought his character contrasted starkly with any other character in the story except perhaps Ivan's son. Only these two characters show any compassion at all, but Gerasim's regular exercise of massaging Ivan's legs and feet is very Christ-like, and establishes him as the kindest and most giving of the people in Ivan's orbit. His wife and daughter are pretty horrible people, and it's not until he's facing his mortality that he realizes -- too late, of course -- that his life has been wasted, that he has not in fact experienced love, that he's -- yes -- messed things up himself. A comparison to King Lear would make a great master's thesis!
Must've been a fun story to teach! There's so much going on, so much to talk about.
The scenes in which Gerasim holds Ivan Ilyich's legs up for hours on end to give him respite from the pain are so moving. I agree that Gerasim is a key character. He's important because he is honouring the gravity of what's happening to Ivan through compassion, while everyone else lies.
Yes, Ivan is surrounded by his "family," the ones who should ideally be supporting him, caring for him, caring at least that this is happening to him, but only a house boy, a servant, cares. This also represents a theme with Tolstoy, one he revisits in another story, "Man and Master," wherein a servant risks his life for his employer, only to be strangely saved by the same employer/master, when it's obvious the servant is dying of hypothermia. So this whole idea of caste systems in Tolstoy seem to reflect his overall belief in the inherent goodness in people who have less -- less money, less hope, less future -- they are the true heroes of Tolstoy's stories.
Yes, there are definitely parallels with Master and Man - another excellent story!
Absolutely loved this!!! In my case the struggle has been what you describe as becoming morbidly obsessed with death. It happened to me in my early twenties, I was 22 then, and somehow that as if stopped my life for a while. Later on, as I grew older, I've been able to break free from the paralysing fear, the biggest help has been books, in my case Camus' The Stranger really helped me. I still do think a lot about death, it's just something I can't help. But it's not as bad as it used to me, I think always judging everything in light of death really helps me pick my battles, what is actually important and what isn't. Maybe it's not the most ideal way to live, but at this point, this is what works for me. This is why I've bought Death Of Ivan Ilyich, I think I'll love it.
Thank you Joyie! Actually, I think it's healthy to think about death and be aware of it - everything in life these days seems to shield us from this undeniable part of existence - but it's the part that makes existence so precious!
Re Camus - I recently read and loved The Plague. What an incredible book. However, it's been many years since I read The Stranger - I'd love to give it another go. Thanks for reminding me!
Totally agree that our culture in a way seem to shield death, but I personally find that very absurd because one day we'll have to face it. I've seen people around me, as they approach old age, there's been a shift, and it's clear that so far in their life, they didn't consider the fact that they'll have to get old, lose their power and ultimately die one day. I'd rather not end up like that.
Also, always happy to promote The Stranger 😂 (I haven't read The Plague though)
Tremendous.