Leo Tolstoy Biography; or Was Death of Ivan Ilyich His Own Life?

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Upon completing Anna Karenina, Tolstoy life fell into despair and spiritual crisis. It caused him to see that life is meaningless without love and God. He was first drawn to “the Russian Orthodox church into which he had been born, he rapidly decided that it, and all other Christian churches, were corrupt institutions that had thoroughly falsified true Christianity” (Encyclopedia Britannica). Tolstoy thought he had found the true meaning of Christ message. He devoted the rest of life to developing and propagating his new faith. This put a lot of strain on his marriage. While the world might have viewed him as a saint his wife saw more of a devil in him (Encyclopedia Britannica). He wanted to give his wealth away but Sofya would not hear of it. They reached a compromise, according to Encyclopedia of World Biography in 1884 Tolstoy assigned to is wife the copyright to all his works before 1881. In 1886 Tolstoy worked in his most power novella, The Death of Ivan Ilyich; a forceful confrontation with the problem of death, and through death, the meaning of life. Ilyich character falls ill and he finds that he isn't able to enjoy many, or any, of the things he once did. Ilyich finds that the friends he'd made aren't real friends, that his family doesn't really love him, and that he's totally alone. He finds that barely anything he's done in his life means anything to him. He questions his existence and the rationale behind his suffering (Tolstoy 42-49). Ilyich slowly sees that his life was not as it should have been. The illness shows him the true nature of life.

Leo Tolstoy, “final years were filled worldwide acclaim and great unhappiness, as he was caught in the stride between his convictions, his followers, and his family” (Encyclopedia of World Biography). He sets out on a pilgrimage October 1910 with one of his daughter Alexandra and his doctor and during the trip falls ill and dies of heart failure at the small depot at Astapovo on the 9th of November 1910.

In conclusion, The Death of Ivan Ilyich brings my attention to the unpleasant fact that we all have to die, and that I might have to suffer. Ilyich character made me think about how I may want to live my life. Even if we all have different experiences in life with death, wealth, believes, and even when our trivialities are different; we all come to the same crossroad and face death at some point. We all need to examine and see how we what we want to leave behind in this world. As I have gotten older and perhaps wiser, I have come to learn that we only have one life to live on this earth. I don’t believe there is another one to live after we are gone. However, I do have a strong belief that compassion and love are true life values by which to live by.

Works Cited

"Leo Tolstoy." Encyclopedia of World Biography, Gale, 1998. Biography in Context. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017.

"Leo Tolstoy." Encyclopedia a Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2017. Web. 25 Apr. 2017

Tolstoy, Leo. Trans. Bill DeWess. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Audible.com. Simple Media, 6 June 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2017. .