Leo Tolstoy

Conversely, a protagonist who lacks the qualities of a hero is referred to as an antihero; he or she serves as an example of how one should not live. Leo Tolstoy contributes to the hero versus antihero archetype with Ivan Ilych, who, when faced with his own mortality, commits to an internal battle between right and wrong. In The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy, the protagonist Ivan Ilych overcomes his self-centeredness and cowardice to achieve the status of a hero by bravely confronting the…

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…

expectations can sometimes lead to an isolated and lonely existence. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Leo Tolstoy teaches his readers through the tormented characters that leading a life that is self centered, driven by the constructs of society, and lacking in compassion to one’s fellow man can ultimately lead to unhappiness at one’s death because of the realization that it was a mistake to live their life that way. Tolstoy demonstrates in various ways…

When I first started the semester, the only real exposure I had to any of the arts was the music I listened to, two art museums and Bharatanatyam, a classical dance from India. Many events and readings later, I find myself with more insight in the arts. I have much more appreciation for all of the various arts, specifically ballet, opera, and the orchestra. Prior to this semester, I always held a biased disinterest in these types of performances due to the fact that I didn 't feel the need to…

Ivan Ilyich’s Downward Spiral into Redemption The way Ivan gains redemption in the story is through a divine process that is able to save his soul. Through this redemption he comes to the understanding that he unwisely devoted his life to a value system that is devoid of actually accepting death as a possibility. He has lived a very simple, ordinary, and terrible life because he lives exactly as the value system of propriety and decorum wanted him to live and did not really live for himself.…

annoyance with the mundane of daily life, and in the case of literature, the eventual need to significantly improve said situation. Ennui, in many variations, is found in works such as Madame Bovary by Gustav Flaubert, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” by Leo Tolstoy, and the poem “To the Reader” by Charles Baudelaire from The Flowers of Evil. I will be discussing the prevalence of ennui within these stories and the importance of the subject in literature. In Madame Bovary, the tale goes as such: boy…

Thoughts on Tolstoy: A Confession Summary: Thesis: Tolstoy argues that all life is leading to death and without faith in God life has no meaning. Summary: The first part of Leo Tolstoy’s A Confession focuses on the telling of an old, Eastern fable. The fable describes a man retreating and trying to find refuge from a certain beast. He finds a dry well, and thinking the well will protect him, he climbs inside. At the bottom of the well there is another type of beast, a dragon. Not wanting to…

Leo Tolstoy said in Anna Karenina that, “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Why are all happy families alike? They are alike because to be happy, people don’t need much; if they have a loving relationship, health, and passion then it’s enough to be satisfied with one’s life. On the other hand, unhappiness is a much broader concept. Varying from an emotional discomfort to a distressing loss of a loved one, from a job loss to a natural catastrophe, and…

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…

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Desmond Tutu hold different beliefs on how to achieve justice for all. In his letter, “Letter From A Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King, Jr. implies that the nonviolent method is the ideal strategy to gain justice for all. On the other hand, Desmond Tutu, in the excerpt, No Future without Forgiveness, claims that forgiveness is the way to achieve justice for all because it helps create a better future. While both methods are uniquely effective, Dr. King’s…