I love it when Ivan Ilyich finally gets to that point, where he simply asks himself, “What do I want?” It is at this moment, the height of his suffering, that Ivan’s perception begins to change for the first time. It is ironic, because throughout his whole life, Ivan was seeking after pleasant things – things that he thought would surely change his world forever. But it wasn’t until all these things were gone, that he actually began to have a real, permanent change within himself. Ivan Ilyich’s whole perception, his entire worldview began to change – “all that had seemed joys now melted before his sight and turned into something trivial and often nasty.” This is the idea of Socrates’ Cave; this is the idea explored through Aeshylus’ Orestes; this is the theme behind Romantic thought – gaining truth through the rawness of human experience; and now, it is the realization reached in Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyvich. Suffering into truth… this is at the heart of human experience.
I commented on Jamie's "Mild Lunch Time Rant"
I like your post cause it was interesting to me to see Ivan seeking out these "pleasant" things and the point where those things don't matter anymore. When those things stop mattering his view changed, it really does tie into The Cave nicely. I love that you referenced that. I feel like everything in this class comes down to finding some sort of truth.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how some people wait to truly experience life until it's time to die. For Ivan he's not experiencing life per-say, he's actually realizing what life is. Too bad most people have to endure suffering to realize this. But in the end I guess we all kinda do, in our own way.
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