“The Death of Ivan Ilych” (1886) by Leo Tolstoy compels readers to analyze what death and dying truthfully mean. Oftentimes, when people visit the dead, they try to detach themselves from the idea of dying, such as what Peter Ivanovich and Schwartz did when they attended Ilych’s funeral. They seek to preserve the illusion of living forever, because deep inside, they fear the process of dying; more so, they fear death. “The Death of Ivan Ilych” depicts that people should not be afraid of death and dying, if they have lived a full life.

The problem is that Ilych did not live the life that he wanted, but the life others expected of him. Still, in the process of dying, no matter how painful it has been for Ilych, he has regained a new perspective about living and dying. It is a perspective that enabled him to live, truly live, at the moments of his impending death. If Ilych could write a post-death essay, he would advice everyone to live as if they see and value themselves and others intrinsically (I-Thou), instead of squandering time using people as instruments (I-it), because only through choosing an intrinsic approach to life can they live a “full” life.

Ilych had moments of darkness during his death, but he also received the gift of grace; he realized that he has lived outwardly by having a completely instrumental (I-Thou) approach to life. This insight has been unacceptable to him, but soon, he proved that he was right about being wrong all his life. Tolstoy described Ilych’s dedication to decorum and material manifestations, as the latter’s measurement for happiness.Ilych symbolized the common man, who measured himself, based on how others see him: “As examining magistrate Ivan Ilych was just as comme il faut and decorous a man, inspiring general respect and capable of separating his official duties from his private life…” (Tolstoy, Ch.

2). His foremost concern in life was social acceptance, and so he acted: “easy, agreeable, gay and always decorous character of his life, approved of by society” (Tolstoy, Ch. 2). In fact, he even married to please the inner circle of his society: “…it was considered the right thing by the most highly placed of his associates” (Tolstoy, Ch.2).

Ilych lived for others and not for himself. At the same time, Ilych devoted himself to materiality, because he wanted so much and too eagerly to fit in the world of the upper class. He was concerned of his toilet and belongings, because he wanted others to think he was a well-off man: “…with his new and fashionable portmanteau, linen, clothes, shaving and other toilet appliances, and a travelling rug, all purchased at the best shops,” he believed he was made for success, because he dressed for it (Tolstoy, Ch.2).When Ilych felt that life was tumbling down, which he measured by his means of income, he decided to take action and demanded a better position with higher pay.

When he got this position, he focused on arranging a house that would “fit” the tastes of his visitors. Tolstoy revealed the superficiality of this house, which matches the superficiality of Ilych’s approach to others and his own life: “all the things people of a certain class have in order to resemble other people of that class” (Tolstoy, Ch. 3).Ilych even reinforced this materialistic view of living by keeping only the rich beside him: “they …were visited by people of importance and by young folk” (Tolstoy, Ch. 3). While, on the other hand, he kept the “shabby” acquaintances away.

For Ilych and his family, the shabby relations did not fit their definition of themselves as high-class citizens. Ilych’s dying moments also revealed how people, even those who were supposed to be closest to him, treated him as means to their ends (I-it).Tolstoy said: “Peter Ivanovich sacrificed his usual nap, put on his evening clothes and drove to Ivan Ilych's house” (Ch. 1). The word “sacrifice” highlighted the burden of visiting a dead friend. If Peter saw Ilych as “Thou,” he would not have thought of this visit as a great sacrifice.

He and other friends at the court also thought about promotions and employment changes, now that Ilych was dead. It is ironic how Ilych’s friends feel nothing for him. For them, Ilych’s funeral is only a hindrance to their normal lives.These people no longer considered, even for a moment, what Ilych’s death means for their life in the more spiritual sense.

They are more concerned of using his death as a means, and thereby, even at death, they have reduced Ilych as “it. ” Ilych’s family and doctors also used him as an instrument. Praskovya Fedorovna wanted Ilych dead, but also feared losing his income: “She began to wish he would die; yet she did not want him to die because then his salary would cease” (Tolstoy, Ch. 4).

Still, when he died, Fedorovna only thought about his pension.Lisa also used Ilych as means to her end. She got a wealthy and influential fiance, because of his father’s connections. She also enjoys enough material comforts. But instead of helping take care of her father, she saw him as “it,” a huge obstacle to her happiness. She told her mother: “It’s as if we were to blame! I am sorry for papa, but why should we be tortured? ” Lisa did not realize that she was also to blame for his father’s behavior, because she never treated his father as an intrinsically important human being, someone who needed love and attention.

The doctors further treated Ilych as a means to their need for power and money. In one of his check-ups, Ilych felt that he was in a trial, as he was examined. It was a reversal of life roles that Ilych detested. What Ilych loathed the most was that the doctor gave him the same condescending and indifferent attitude, which Ilych gave to his inferiors and people he examined: “From the doctor's summing up Ivan Ilych concluded that things were bad, but that for the doctor, and perhaps for everybody else, it was a matter of indifference, though for him it was bad” (Tolstoy, Ch. 4).The doctors also cared more for the money they get from Ilych, instead of telling him the truth- that he would no longer get well, because he was a dying man.

In the story, Tolstoy demonstrated how people used each other for their different ends. Praskovya Fedorovna used Ivanovich as means to getting more from Ilych’s pension. This is why she called him to stay with her: “She made it appear that she was asking Peter Ivanovich's advice about her pension, but he soon saw that she already knew about that to the minutest detail, more even than he did himself” (Tolstoy, Ch. 1).Everyone used everybody else in Ilych’s society.

When people discovered that Ilych would be promoted: “…how all those who had been his enemies were put to shame and now fawned on him” (Tolstoy, Ch. 3). The main lesson to be learned here is that society also influenced Ilych to live instrumentally. Ilych found true human connection with Gerasim and his son.

Gerasim saw Ilych as “Thou,” a person worthy of time and understanding, because he is also a human being like him. Ilych believed that Gerasim thought: “We shall all of us die, so why should I grudge a little trouble? ” (Tolstoy, Ch. 7).Gerasim followed Ilych’s orders “because he was doing it for a dying man and hoped someone would do the same for him when his time came” (Tolstoy, Ch. 7). Ilych’s son also did not partake in the lies of his family.

He knew that his father was dying and he dared face it: “Then he felt that someone was kissing his hand. He opened his eyes, looked at his son, and felt sorry for him” (Tolstoy, Ch. 12). These people treated Ilych as “Thou,” a person worth their compassion and time. In his post-mortem essay, Ilych will tell people to stop living like life takes forever and all people are things.

Life does not last forever, so it important to live for what will truly make them happy, and not follow the orders and expectations of society. Ilych will tell the people to strive for an intrinsic (I-Thou) approach to life, where every human being is important, so they should treat each other as equal mortals. He would tell them to use his life as a grave lesson. He did not live life as he should have had, but according to what society dictated to him. He made choices that pleased other people, and not for his own happiness.

He would not want others to live and die like him.In reality, Ilych died before he died, because of his instrumental view of life: “And what was worst of all was that ‘It drew his attention to itself not in order to make him take some action but only that he should look at ‘It,’ look it straight in the face: look at it and without doing anything, suffer inexpressibly’” (Tolstoy, Ch. 6). He could no longer do anything to address his mistakes in life, because he was too near his death. Ilych would caution others to follow an opposite path, so that they would truly live a full life. And a full life is a life lived for oneself, a life that accepts others as “Thou.

”Ilych lived too late. He lived while he was dying, but even in that, he resisted it. He resisted the knowledge that he had been wrong all his life, and he messed up his life because he thought he was doing the right things. Ilych, through a post-death essay, will tell the world to stop thinking about life as something eternal. Life is too short to be spent pleasing society.

Life is too short to treat other people as instruments. In order to make the most out of this short and fleeting life, Ilych leaves one last message: Live and let live; everyone has a right to happiness and respect.