The Use of Point of View in The Death of Ivan Ilyich

According to the German philosopher Karl Heinrich Marx, “In bourgeois society capital is independent and has individuality, while the living person is dependent and has no individuality”. Marx defended this idea in chapter 2 of his Communist Manifesto, which is a criticism of bourgeois society, just like Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.” This book’s main theme is the purpose of life, and Tolstoy uses Ivan Ilyich to personify the bourgeoisie and criticize their way of life. Besides that, the book is related to the criticism made by the manifesto at various points in the story. In the book, point of view is an essential tool for the readers to understand the society in terms of bourgeois values in comparison to proletarian values, and for Tolstoy to ramp up his criticism of it in a profound way.

In the first few chapters, the story is told from Peter Ivanovich’s point of view, and this is essential for the readers to understand the superficiality of friendship in bourgeois society, as Tolstoy introduces the character as false already at the beginning, as it is clear that he thinks something, but says another:

“‘Now I must apply for my brother-in-law's transfer from Kaluga,’ thought Peter Ivanovich. ‘My wife will be very glad, and then she won't be able to say that I never do anything for her relations, “I thought he would never leave his bed again,’ said Peter Ivanovich aloud. ‘It's very sad.’” The story continues and, after Peter tells his wife about his friend’s death, he had to “sacrifice” his nap to go Ivan’s house: “Peter Ivanovich sacrificed his usual nap, put on his evening clothes and drove to Ivan Ilyich's house. ” In this excerpt, we can see that Ivan is more worried about sacrificing his nap, than with his friend’s death. Later, talking to Ivan’s wife he hears how Ivan suffered during his last days: 'Oh, terribly! He screamed unceasingly, not for minutes but for hours. For the last three days, he screamed incessantly. It was unendurable. I cannot understand how I bore it; you could hear him three rooms off. Oh, what I have suffered! ' This excerpt of this conversation shows how superficial the bourgeois society was, since not even Ivan’s wife cares about him, as she cares only about her own suffering and boredom while Ivan screamed in pain. Therefore, we can conclude that the point of view used by Tolstoy in the first few chapters was essential to start to develop criticism about the bourgeois society and its superficiality.

Secondly, we shall look at Ivan’s Ilyich point of view from chapters 5-8. During chapter 5, Ivan finally realizes that he is dying and that everyone has been lying to him: “'It's not a question of appendix or kidney, but of life and... death. Yes, life was there and now it is going, going and I cannot stop it. Yes. Why deceive me? Isn't it obvious to everyone but me that I'm dying, and that it's only a question of weeks, days...it may happen this moment. There was light and now there is darkness. I was here and now I'm going there! Where?' A chill came over him, his breathing ceased, and he felt only the throbbing of his heart.” This excerpt describes how he starts to think about the falsity, and when he complains to Praskovya that he is feeling worse and she speaks about the specialist, he begins to hate her for being so false to him: “While she was kissing him he hated her from the bottom of his soul and with difficulty refrained from pushing her away.” Then, Ivan talks to Gerasim and he tells the truth to Ivan, that he is dying, and that everyone is dying, a day or another. Ivan Ilyich now feels positive about Gerasim and feels even more angry to the falsity of his life: “And in Gerasim's attitude towards him there was something akin to what he wished for, and so that attitude comforted him. Ivan Ilyich wanted to weep, wanted to be petted and cried over, and then his colleague Shebek would come, and instead of weeping and being petted, Ivan Ilyich would assume a serious, severe, and profound air, and by force of habit would express his opinion on a decision of the Court of Cassation and would stubbornly insist on that view. This falsity around him and within him did more than anything else to poison his last days.” Therefore, in these chapters, Tolstoy builds up Ivan’s change and acknowledgment through Ivan` own point of view. Tolstoy treats it as a process and using Ivan’s point of view of despair, hating, and loving is essential for the reader to understand the progress of Ivan inside this process and to understand the criticism Tolstoy is trying to make.

Thirdly, in the last few chapters, when Ivan is closer than ever to death, the story is still told by his point of view, but unlike before, his point of view is now used to represent his change and his acknowledgment of the superficiality of his life, and then he could face death, accept death, and die peacefully. Gerasim, who represents the proletariat, is the foil character to Ivan Ilyich, as he has an authentic and purposeful life, and he’s honest and emphatic. Late in the story, Ivan realizes that Gerasim is the example and that his whole life had been wrong: “His mental sufferings were due to the fact that night, as he looked at Gerasim's sleepy, good-natured face with it prominent cheek-bones, the question suddenly occurred to him: ‘What if my whole life has been wrong?’.” After this point, Ivan starts to think about life. He thinks about his son kissing his hand and feels sorry for him, who was a good child, but he also feels sorry for Praskovya, because she does not know how it was to live an authentic life. He starts to think about doing the correct thing, and he also starts to accept his mistakes, as we can see in: “At that very moment Ivan Ilyich fell through and caught sight of the light, and it was revealed to him that though his life had not been what it should have been, this could still be rectified. He asks himself, 'What is the right thing?' and grew still, listening. Then he felt that someone was kissing his hand. He opened his eyes, looked at his son, and felt sorry for him. His wife came up to him and he glanced at her. She was gazing at him open-mouthed, with undried tears on her nose and cheek and a despairing look on her face. He felt sorry for her too.” When Ivan finally accepts his death, the pain became inexistent and he now could die: “For those present, his agony continued for another two hours. Something rattled in his throat, his emaciated body twitched, then the gasping and rattle became less and less frequent. ‘It is finished! ’ said someone near him. He heard these words and repeated them in his soul. ‘Death is finished’, he said to himself. ‘It is no more! ’ He drew in a breath, stopped in the midst of a sigh, stretched out, and died.” Tolstoy uses Ivan’s point of view in these chapters, especially in the last one, to show how he changes, and how he finally accepts death: he forgives, he loves.

To conclude it all, the novella “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” is an attempt by Leo Tolstoy to make people aware of the importance of living an authentic life, and he uses point of view during the story to represent the thoughts and the actions of the bourgeoisie the best way he could. Therefore, his excellent use of point of view adapted to the different points of the story is essential for the readers to understand the criticism built up during the whole book. However, “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” is not the first, neither the only book to criticize the bourgeois society. Another example is “Animal Farm,” by George Orwell, which criticizes the bourgeois society through a metaphor, using animals which represent real figures of the history. Thus, concluding “The Death of Ivan Ilyich,” has a deep and very important message, which is as relevant to us in our present day society as it was at the time it was written, as a reminder to us on how to live an authentic life.