The Death of Ivan Ilyich: Spiritual Awakening He went to his study, lay down, and once again was alone with him. Face to face with It, unable to do anything about it. One has only to look at it and one becomes numb with horror" (Tolstoy, 97). Death takes on an insidious character as it devours Ivan Ilyich, a man horrified by the prospect of losing his life. Even more terrifying is the realization that, despite his importance and prosperity as a judge of the Russian high court, Ilyich did nothing to make his life worth saving The death of Ivan Ilyich begins at the end, with his associates receiving the news of his death. Here Tolstoy emphasizes the he wary attitude the living often have towards the dead and their involuntary insensitivity towards what they cannot understand His colleagues are more concerned about the type of staff who changes the causes of his death and involvement in a game of whist that from the loss of this individual, even his wife playing on her status as a grieving widow, ponders how to profit from his passing Aside from the realistic portrayal of the truly devastated son, those who survive the dead man seem to regard him as an inconvenient corpse. The story then circles back to develop Ivan Ilyich. like a living man. At first, the indifferent attitude of his loved ones seemed justified, since he leads a rather empty and superficial life, typical of the late 1800s. It seems that if someone else died, his first thoughts would also turn to whist. Correctness, not morality, dictates his actions and he values ​​power and glory. He is an absolutely impervious individual, impervious to conscience, empathy and understanding. This does not make him an evil man. Plus me... half of the paper... the back has the family. Both suffer from false expectations caused by their commitment to correctness over conscience or morality. As Ilyich's condition worsens, he begins to notice the hypocrisy on which he has based his life. At first, he sees those around him as perpetrators of a "big lie", insisting that he will get better and making light of his condition. Later, he comes to accept that he has lied to himself in the past and forgives his family all their small grievances. His realization and spiritual awakening in the moments before his death ultimately attract the greatest sympathy from the public. We feel its rejection and its fear, its endless physical pain and its emotional misery, and we are able to accept, as Ilyich does, the unalterable course of our lives. Tolstoy, Leo. The death of Ivan Ilyich. Translated by Lynn Solotaroff. Bantam Books:New York, 1981.