Implications of Death: Analysis of the Death of Ivan Illych The Death of Ivan Illych by Leo Tolstoy has proven to be a profoundly important work in understanding of mortality. Reinforcing this understanding, Tolstoy implores readers to accept the ultimate reality that death is inevitable. If there's one thing Tolstoy makes very clear, it's that no one lives forever and that death can be a horrible, painful, and sobering experience. Ivan Illych, a successful lawyer, ends up fatally injuring himself while installing curtains. With his health declining, the reader experiences death through Ivan's eyes. Tolstoy tries to make the reader feel the same anxiety as Ivan and, in a certain sense, the same pain. And indeed, Tolstoy brilliantly conveys this agony to the reader. Specifically, Tolstoy decides to focus on two very important threads of the fabric that constitutes death. From Ivan Illych's point of view, Tolstoy focuses on the regret of his life and the entirely different mindset that the dying adopt compared to the living. For Ivan Illych, climbing the social ladder of entrenched Russian bourgeois society was the ultimate goal. Ivan would notably use his legal career to enable him to reach such heights. This led to Ivan putting his family on the back burner while his own career and ambitions would take the spotlight. However, once the end nears, Ivan begins to feel regret taking hold of him. “It occurred to him that what seemed perfectly impossible to him before, that he had not lived his life as he should have done, might after all be true...his professional duties and the whole of the organization of his life and his family, and all his social and official interests could have been wrong" (Tolstoy ...... middle of paper ......ty. Therefore, death can be a very lonely experience that isolates people. George RR Martin once said: “Death is terribly final, while life is full of possibilities” Indeed, death is the ultimate reality that we all must face. Leo Tolstoy's main character, Ivan Illych, himself faced this reality of regret. Although The Death of Ivan Illych is an exploration of mortality, it also sends a very distinct message. too difficult to understand that Leo Tolstoy wants his readers to live a fulfilling life instead of only focusing on their career and social life. status, it is more important to focus on family, love and friendship. Additionally, accepting that death is inevitable is a key part of life. It is simply unrealistic to live in denial while dreaming of immortality. In essence, living life happily because it's too short.