Character...

In the story “The Death of Ivan Ilych” the author uses Ivan Ilych as a major character to deliver the overall meaning and theme of the story. Ivan Ilych’s character develops at the beginning of the story, where it starts off with his background and childhood. This sets the stage for the development and change in Ivan’s character. The main theme expressed throughout the story is of death and the inevitable. The change in Ivan’s character clearly shows the recurring theme of death and its effects on a human being.
The author introduces Ivan Ilych as a man who lived a simple and ordinary life, giving history about his schooling and family background. Ivan was described as being the “pride of the family,” and that he was an amusing and witty social person. Ivan’s outlook on life was that of a carefree person looking to enjoy life without having to constantly deal with problems and matters that took the “fun” out of life. He always found a way to avoid problems and confrontation, rather than dealing with them. Once he gets married to his wife, the problems seem to work themselves out and everything seems merry. This was short lived, as after a while, Ivan begins to avoid his wife and always has company over to distract him from his wife and children. Although this was the case, Ivan remained happy and optimistic about his life and everything that takes place around him. He was open minded and believed that everything is the way it should be.
All this changes when Ivan discovers that he will soon face death. Ivan’s character changes from open minded ness and optimism to pessimistic and dismal. Once he finds that he will eventually die, his outlook on life changes drastically. At home, he constantly argues and quarrels with his wife and children. Everything they say seems to annoy him and get on his nerves. His calmness is now replaced with anger and snap judgments. All these changes stem from the thought of death, which Ivan soon has to face no matter what he does. The thought of death and the inability to escape its path transforms Ivan into a whole new character. This change in character from the beginning of the story to the end stems shows the theme of death and its effect on a person.