Implications of Death: Analysis of the Death of Ivan Illych The Death of Ivan Illych by Leo Tolstoy has proven to be a profoundly important work in the understanding of mortality. Adding to this understanding, Tolstoy implores readers to accept the ultimate reality that death is inevitable. If there's one thing Tolstoy makes quite clear, it's that no one lives forever and death can be a horrible, painful, and sobering experience. Ivan Illych, a successful lawman, ends up mortally wounding himself while putting up tents. With his health in decline, the reader experiences death through Ivan's eyes. Tolstoy tries to make the reader feel the same anxiety that Ivan feels and in a certain sense the same pain. And indeed, Tolstoy brilliantly conveys this agony to the reader. Specifically, Tolstoy decides to focus on two very important threads of the plot that make up death. From Ivan Illych's perspective, Tolstoy focuses on the regret of one's life and the completely different mentality that the dying adopt compared to the living. For Ivan Illych, climbing the social ladder of entrenched Russian bourgeois society was the ultimate goal. In particular, Ivan will use his legal career to enable him to achieve these goals. This led Ivan to put his family on the back burner while his career and ambitions would come under the spotlight. Once the end is near, however, Ivan begins to feel remorse take over him. “It occurred to him that what had previously seemed absolutely impossible, namely that he had not spent his life as he should have, might after all be true… his professional duties and the whole organization of his life and his family, and all his social and official interests, could have all been false” (Tolstoy ...... middle of paper ...... ty. Therefore, death can be a very lonely experience that isolates people. George R.R. Martin once said, “Death is so terribly final, while life is full of possibilities.” Indeed, death is the ultimate reality that we all face himself this reality. And unfortunately, Ivan Illych faced his end in a painfully full Although The Death of Ivan Illych is an exploration of mortality, it also sends a very distinct message. It is not difficult to understand that Leo Tolstoy wants his readers live a fulfilling life instead of focusing solely on career and social status life, it is more important to focus on family, love and friendship. Furthermore, it is a fundamental part of life to accept that death is inevitable. It is simply unrealistic to live in denial with dreams of immortality. Basically, live life happily because it's too short.