Ivan's Ilyach

What purpose is served by placing Ilyich’s funeral at the beginning of the novel rather than at the end?
In The Death of Ivan Ilyich the first chapter is the end of the story. Tolstoy essentially tells the reader the outcome of the book, taking away possible suspense. Ivan gets injured in the book, and the reader already knows that he is going to die. If the end of the book was actually at the end, then the reader wouldn’t know Ivan was going to die until he/she actually finished the book. Maybe Tolstoy put the end at the front to educate the reader. In this book, by putting the end in the beginning, Tolstoy gave the reader some information about Ivan Ilyach. He did not give personal information until the next chapter, but the reader does start to ponder what Ivan might have been like. Another important reason why the first chapter is the end of the book is that is shows the reaction of Ivan’s coworkers. The best way to sum up how they felt is this quote on page 33, “ he’s dead, but I’m not,” “ was what each of them thought or felt.” The coworkers also are more concerned with who is going to get promoted instead of being in a state of mourning for their so-called friend. It also shows how Pyotr Ivanovich and Schwartz are more concerned about their card game than mourning for Ivan. Pyotr goes to Ivan’s funeral and feels a sense of sorrow, but after he looked at Schwartz and was reminded about their card game, he immediately forgot about his current mournful state. I think it was a cool and different that Tolstoy put Ivan’s death at the beginning. A person might think that the whole story would be ruined because the ending is already known, but in this book, already knowing the ending doesn’t spoil the book. I think that knowing the ending enhanced the book in a way that the book could be evaluated from a different perspective than a normal book in which the ending is unknown until the end.

What is the source of Ilyich’s illness? Discuss the significance of his symptoms? How do his physical problems affect him psychologically? Is his illness symbolic?
The source of Ivan’s illness is his fall off the ladder. Ivan was working on the draperies in his house when he missed his step on the ladder and fell against the knob of the window frame. Because of this fall Ivan Ilyich suffers from a “constant pressure in his side,” which always causes him discomfort, especially when he eats food. The pressure is on his left side and “could hardly be called ill health.” Ivan has also complained about a strange taste in his mouth. His symptoms are bad because they are internal and the source is unknown. Ivan thinks the fall did not hurt him much because he is an agile man, but it has evidently hurt an organ inside him. Ivan has pain when he eats, and when a person has severe pain when they eat it is a bad sign. Ivan's symptoms also affect his social life at home. Whenever he eats dinner at home, he gets angry with his wife because of the pain he feels. Praskovya thinks that she has good self-restraint and that is the reason she has been able to deal with her husband even though he is angry a lot. Because of the pain Ivan feels, he is totally irrational and is affected psychologically. He blames his wife for every fault at dinner, even if it is not Praskovya's wrongdoing. If the children do something wrong at dinner, such as put their arm on the table, then Ivan goes crazy and blames Praskovya because of his mindset when he is in pain. Ivan's illness may be symbolic of the growing pain he is going to feel, and eventually his death. The illness may symbolize a started downfall, not in his job, but for his health and mindset. The illness may also be symbolic of Ilyach’s life. Ivan’s life is twisted and not normal. He spends more time at work than at home, and cares more about his work than for his family. Ivan also prefers material objects such as houses and draperies because they make him look good. This is a twisted mindset that might be symbolized by his illness because he receives the cause of his illness while working on a material object he has in his house.
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