The Death Of Ivan And Heart Of Darkness Essay

Modernism gave rise in the nineteenth century and went through the twentieth century. Modernism is classified as a philosophical movement to modify the old traditional beliefs with modern society. Modern literary writers often represent the world as a fragmented and chaotic place that has lost the faith the previous generations once had. Two such modern authors are Leo Tolstoy who wrote The Death of Ivan Ilych and Joseph Conrad who wrote Heart of Darkness. It may seem that these two novels have a lot of differences, but they are more similar than some would think. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Heart of Darkness may have differences, but they have more similarities. Notably the most profound similarity between Heart of Darkness and The Death of Ivan Ilych is that they both criticize the society the novels take place. In the Heart of Darkness, when Marlow goes to the Congo he witness’s horrible scenes not only from the natives that live there, but from the white men who work for the same company. He witness’s starving people and how poorly they are treated. “It was unearthly, and the men were- No, they were not inhuman. Well, you know, that was the worst of it- the suspicion of their not being inhuman” (Heart of Darkness). Marlow even had a hard time coming to terms with what he saw vs. what society taught. His societies formal and concrete attitudes towards life replaced the sympathetic and emotional connects many of the people should have felt in the novel. In The Death of…