Ivan illych
Professor Enke
English 68
11 September, 14
What Joy Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych takes you inside the life of a man who is suffering and dying. Before the suffering Ivan Ilych was a man of status. Ivan was a judge with power and value. And was headed down the right path with his loving family, so he thought. Then a normal day incident caused Ivan to go through a horrific deal of physical, emotional, and mental hardships.
“He screamed unceasingly, not for minutes but for hours. For the last three days he screamed incessantly.” (Tolstoy 93) Through out The Death of Ivan Ilych you witness Ivan goes through horrible nights with physical pain from his terminal illness. The first physical pain Ivan experiences, is when he slips on a ladder and slams his side into a corner of a frame. Fortunate for him, he was strong at the time and was able to hold on to the ladder and not completely fall off. He was only bruised and the pain passed quickly. As time went on the ache reappeared until it was something of an irritant. “The pain in his side was always dragging at him, seeming to grow more acute and ever more incessant;” (Tolstoy 115) Along with that Ivan started losing his appetite and strength. And developed an odd queer taste in his mouth. As more time passed the non-stop pain could only mean death. He was now to weak to get up on his own, and his skin looked as if it was being stretched over his weaken muscles. Time for Ivan was now nearing the end, but the suffering only grew stronger. It got so bad that he now screamed in agony that was so loud, that even behind closed doors he was heard. “…and was so awful that through two closed doors one could not hear it without horror.” (Tolstoy 142). Ivan suffered down to his last breath. Death being the only cure for his horrible pains. Physical pain was just one type of pain he felt. He also had to deal with the emotional pain that came with it.
The terminal illness that Ivan experiences was not just
English 68
11 September, 14
What Joy Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilych takes you inside the life of a man who is suffering and dying. Before the suffering Ivan Ilych was a man of status. Ivan was a judge with power and value. And was headed down the right path with his loving family, so he thought. Then a normal day incident caused Ivan to go through a horrific deal of physical, emotional, and mental hardships.
“He screamed unceasingly, not for minutes but for hours. For the last three days he screamed incessantly.” (Tolstoy 93) Through out The Death of Ivan Ilych you witness Ivan goes through horrible nights with physical pain from his terminal illness. The first physical pain Ivan experiences, is when he slips on a ladder and slams his side into a corner of a frame. Fortunate for him, he was strong at the time and was able to hold on to the ladder and not completely fall off. He was only bruised and the pain passed quickly. As time went on the ache reappeared until it was something of an irritant. “The pain in his side was always dragging at him, seeming to grow more acute and ever more incessant;” (Tolstoy 115) Along with that Ivan started losing his appetite and strength. And developed an odd queer taste in his mouth. As more time passed the non-stop pain could only mean death. He was now to weak to get up on his own, and his skin looked as if it was being stretched over his weaken muscles. Time for Ivan was now nearing the end, but the suffering only grew stronger. It got so bad that he now screamed in agony that was so loud, that even behind closed doors he was heard. “…and was so awful that through two closed doors one could not hear it without horror.” (Tolstoy 142). Ivan suffered down to his last breath. Death being the only cure for his horrible pains. Physical pain was just one type of pain he felt. He also had to deal with the emotional pain that came with it.
The terminal illness that Ivan experiences was not just