Two books, The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy and Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, give insight two men’s consequences of leading a specific life when faced with the thought of death. Their deaths mean more than just passing off from the mortal world, it reflects and questions their morals and behaviors in their lifetimes. Although Ivan realizes how meaningless the pursuits of his life have been in his final moments before death while Willy dies still delusional and dwelling in pleasant past events, both men crave for solace from people and die for redemption of their failures.
Ivan comes to the realization that all his achievements and pursuits for happiness did not any long-term satisfaction, but Willy constantly thinks of past …show more content…
This proves unsuccessful as he finds himself unsatisfied in what mattered to him most in his life, his work, his house, and his relationships. When his job’s income cannot provide for his expenses one time, he sees that period of his life as “the most painful one in (his) life” ( 15) and goes out of his way to leave his highly reputable job just for a higher income. The job that he takes so much pride in and garners so much respect in distraughts him greatly with just the arrival of a miniscule problem. The house he spends so much time, effort, and passion on creating only agitates him when he sees that some furnitures are not perfect. His relationships with friends and family give him only loneliness and despair as no one cares much of his death. As he dies and his left alone in his home when his family go outside to enjoy their own social lives, he “longs to be petted, kissed, and wept over, as children are petted and comforted”, revealing that he never acquired personal love (37). He then understands that all he ever desired was mutual love and comfort from his friends and family during hardships. In …show more content…
In his death, Ivan realizes that his mannerisms in imitating people of high class leaves him with no true close relationships with his friends or family. From childhood to adulthood, his lives “with the approval of people of rank” (10), like marrying his wife only because everyone around him approved of their relationships. That leaves him with only hatred for his wife toward the end of his life and no family member to feel genuine love from. His colleagues care less about his death as seen when they brush off his funeral procession and go play cards instead of attending it. The lack of close relationships leaves him clinging to Gerasim for some comfort. When his family leaves to go out for dinner, he desperately desires for them to stay despite reassuring them to leave. Willy also is lonely as he wants to find someone to talk about his financial problems to. As he starts to fail in his job and becomes financially broke, he believes that he has no one to shoulder his problems with. Willy cannot tell Linda that he cannot make payments due to the fear of burdening her with more problems as shown when he continually says that “the woman (Linda) has suffered,” and does not want to tell Charlie due to his pride (Act 2 125). Instead, he confides in his affair with a woman for affection, stating to Biff that he only was in a
Ivan comes to the realization that all his achievements and pursuits for happiness did not any long-term satisfaction, but Willy constantly thinks of past …show more content…
This proves unsuccessful as he finds himself unsatisfied in what mattered to him most in his life, his work, his house, and his relationships. When his job’s income cannot provide for his expenses one time, he sees that period of his life as “the most painful one in (his) life” ( 15) and goes out of his way to leave his highly reputable job just for a higher income. The job that he takes so much pride in and garners so much respect in distraughts him greatly with just the arrival of a miniscule problem. The house he spends so much time, effort, and passion on creating only agitates him when he sees that some furnitures are not perfect. His relationships with friends and family give him only loneliness and despair as no one cares much of his death. As he dies and his left alone in his home when his family go outside to enjoy their own social lives, he “longs to be petted, kissed, and wept over, as children are petted and comforted”, revealing that he never acquired personal love (37). He then understands that all he ever desired was mutual love and comfort from his friends and family during hardships. In …show more content…
In his death, Ivan realizes that his mannerisms in imitating people of high class leaves him with no true close relationships with his friends or family. From childhood to adulthood, his lives “with the approval of people of rank” (10), like marrying his wife only because everyone around him approved of their relationships. That leaves him with only hatred for his wife toward the end of his life and no family member to feel genuine love from. His colleagues care less about his death as seen when they brush off his funeral procession and go play cards instead of attending it. The lack of close relationships leaves him clinging to Gerasim for some comfort. When his family leaves to go out for dinner, he desperately desires for them to stay despite reassuring them to leave. Willy also is lonely as he wants to find someone to talk about his financial problems to. As he starts to fail in his job and becomes financially broke, he believes that he has no one to shoulder his problems with. Willy cannot tell Linda that he cannot make payments due to the fear of burdening her with more problems as shown when he continually says that “the woman (Linda) has suffered,” and does not want to tell Charlie due to his pride (Act 2 125). Instead, he confides in his affair with a woman for affection, stating to Biff that he only was in a