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How Tolstoy’s autobiography “A Confession” is mirrored in The Death of Ivan Illych

“A Confession” is an autobiographical story by Tolstoy that discusses the intellectual crisis that he subjects himself to during the youthful years of his life and his efforts to recover from it. Initially, from this confession, it can be found that Tolstoy enjoyed a life that seemed, to many, as successful and comfortable. It followed that he began to develop a feeling plagued by meaninglessness and concerns of life. In particular, he reports his attempt to question why he should care about things that are already cared about, as well as, why he would do things at his discretion (Mutual, 124). At the end of his confession, he admits that it is almost impossibly challenging to get answers to these two questions. As a result, he reported his feeling to have been perpetrated by someone else, something that made him acknowledge every individual step that he undertook, and his life in totality to have no meaning. The Tolstoy’s book, “The Death of Ivan Illych” is about the consequences of leading a life without meaning, devoid of an abiding, real connection with spirituality. Overall, the autobiographical Confession goes side by side with The Death of Ivan Ilyich in its content that is coupled with a powerful dramatization of a grueling battle with death.

In “A Confession”, Tolstoy notes that before the crisis erupted, he found satisfaction when caring for his family. However, in the midst of the crisis facing him, neither science nor religion can answer or address his concerns (Mutual, 126). Therefore, it follows that caring for his family becomes insignificant to him abruptly. In fact, he finds no reason as to why he should care about them at any sense. After all, he argues that they are also facing the same challenges as those disturbing his inner peace. To be precise, his family members also cannot explain the meaning of life. Equally, art also, he confesses, lost significance as a result of the extreme triviality associated with the human life (Mutual, 126). These life forms include the artificial life, which is represented by Ivan and the authentic life which is represented by Gerasim. Hence, as Ivan gestures here, the service seems purely artificial. Notably, the artificial life is characterized by shallow relationships, materialism, and self-interest. In fact, it is ultimately incapacitated, insular and unfulfilling in providing answers to different significant questions of life (Mutual, 124). This is also mirrored in the Tolstoy’s autobiographical confession. From the two entries, it is found that the artificial life is marked by the deceptions that hide the true meaning of life, leaving one lonely and terrified at the moment when death strikes.

From The Death of Ivan Illych, the authentic life is marked by compassion and pity. It, therefore, perceives others as individuals exhibiting unique feelings, desires, and thoughts. Ivan’s colleagues, for instance, seem not to be disturbed so much by his death, but instead on the matters surrounding the inheritance of his position. “So on receiving the news of Ivan Ilych’s death, the first thought of each of the gentlemen in that private room was of the changes and promotions it might occasion among themselves or their acquaintances” (Tolstoy 2011). This is also found in the confession where Tolstoy stops to care for his family because he perceives them as autonomous beings who should strive to address the important questions of life independently. In summary, from the two book entries, it is notable that life is full of discontentment because its true meaning cannot be explained. Apart from that, science and religion are incapable of providing satisfying answers regarding the fundamental significance of the human life. Hence, at best, they provide empirical descriptions of what life is like and what it consists of, but however, they are not able to explain, in any meaning, what life is possessed of (Mutual, 125).

The story of The Death of Ivan Ilyich exhibits a steady approach towards death. Similarly, the autobiographical confession recognizes death and its superior position that shows the power that dreads and nullifies people’s efforts to evade it (Mutual, 125). Therefore, from the two books, it can be established that preparation for death starts with emulating a proper attitude and boldness towards life. To illustrate this, in his preparation for death, Ivan changes his attitude towards life, which is prompted by the prospect and pain of his death. Having this in place, his emotions, fears, and sad thoughts progress from sheer terror and suffering to utter enjoy. He realized the fact that death is inevitable and said: “Yes, life was there, and now it is going, going and I cannot stop it” (Mutual, 125). In fact, just like The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Tolstoy asserts in his confession that it is as a result of the attempts to avoid death that characterizes the social milieu of individuals, driven by a delusion inclined towards barring people from gaining proper insights about the unpleasant realities of life (Mutual, 127). Such a misguidance leads people to dissatisfaction, horror and emptiness. This is manifested in the two books whereby their arguments revolve around the reason for acceptable of death. The books, therefore, assert that recognizing the nature of life as truly unpredictable allows peace, joy and even confidence to prevail at the instant of death. More than anything else, hence, the two stories parallel in unveiling that death is inevitable, and the only way we can make sense of it is through living rightly (Mutual, 128).

The perception of A Confession on the inner and outer life is also mirrored in The Death of Ivan Ilyich. From the confession, it is notable that human existence exhibits a conflict amid the inner and the outer being, the physical life and spiritual life (Mutual, 126). Tolstoy, in his book, is also seen dedicating all his efforts towards physical satisfaction. In fact, his life is purely bodily and reveals no indication of any struggles to achieve spiritual satisfaction. Thus, it follows that this is the reason as to why he lives for the benefit of his own flesh throughout many chapters of the book. Parallel to this in The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the Ivan’s decision to withdraw his support from the family to further his physical satisfaction. In simple, at this stand, we see Tolstoy as a selfish person who is not willing to dedicate his hard earned wealth anymore to ensure progress of his family. As such, he affirms that each member of the family should strive to find the true meaning of life by amassing their own wealth independently without his intervention. In The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Ivan lives to benefit his own flesh and only relates to others when they are promoting his desires. We are told “He alone knew that with the consciousness of the injustices done him, with his wife's incessant nagging, and with the debts he had contracted by living beyond his means, his position was far from normal” (Mutual, 124). At this instance, Ivan is making efforts to acquire debts from his colleagues and friends to fulfill his physical life, which he lived beyond his means (Mutual, 124). He, thus, believes that such a lifestyle is a perfect representation of what he depicts as the “right” existence. In fact, it is for this reason that he utterly refuses to admit the existence of any form of error in his life. Such an action where Tolstoy denies his spiritual interests makes Ivan incapable of transcending the physical, making his life characterized by overwhelming unhappiness, excruciating pain and absolute error (Mutual, 126).

The importance of the spiritual life that Tolstoy emphasizes in A Confession is also stressed in The Death of Ivan Ilyich. From the book The Death of Ivan Ilyich, we are told “Peter Ivanovich, like everyone else on such occasions, entered feeling uncertain what he would have to do. All he knew was that at such times it is always safe to cross oneself (Mutual, 125). Equally, at the end of his confession, Tolstoy observes faith as the only virtue that can accrue human life the real meaning it deserves (Mutual, 78). For instance, he says that faith is the reason behind relief among people even when they are faced with the most tormenting circumstances in their lives. More so, during his conclusion, he states that a vast majority of people is not consumed by the absolute meaninglessness of the human life under extremely challenging situations that stand to deteriorate their inner peace. Hence, the significant feature that is commonly shared by these people, Tolstoy thinks, is their deep faith (Mutual, 128). He, therefore, asserts that faith provides suitable answers to the various questions that concern the value and purpose of the human existence.

Tolstoy believes that faith conflicts with reason, something that makes him embrace it because of its unique capacity in responding to the ultimate life questions that tended to consume his well-being. The significance of faith in human life is reflected in The Death of Ivan Ilyich where Ivan starts to see the fundamental role played by the spiritual discourse. This understanding becomes his source of energy that enables him to supplant the physical to embrace the spiritual, making him move beyond suffering to experience extreme joy towards conquering death (Mutual, 128). Therefore, such an illustration makes Tolstoy’s message clear and precise. Thus, his message from the two entries remains that individuals have a task of recognizing the duality of the self, to lead a life with a clear-cut conformity between the physical life and spiritual life. In fact, the two life forms are inseparable from one another. Relying entirely on one of them causes individuals to suffer as neither spirituality nor physique can respond to the questions concerning the meaning of life adequately. Afterlife, following Tolstoy, can only be accepted through faith.

A Confession chronologies the Tolstoy’s spiritual journey from where he rejects religion during his young ages, through his reformation and rediscovery of the Orthodox Church, to his final rejection and ridicule of the falsehoods, dogmas, and myths of the established church. Indeed, imperative to note is that Tolstoy embraces the moral lessons of Jesus Himself. A Confession, therefore, drives us to a crucial point of the turning point of the Tolstoy’s spiritual crisis from the world of philosophy and politics (Mutual, 124). This also leads us to the meaning of life, which is destroyed by death as portrayed in The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Tolstoy 2011). As mentioned earlier, both works are preoccupied with death, which reveals that human mortality is for human beings and does not respect the efforts of people in making their lives comfortable (Mutual, 125). Hence, taking a deep analysis of the two stories, the philosophical dilemma that Tolstoy portrays in A Confession is also manifested in The Death of Ivan Ilyich. From The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Gerasim says “It’s God’s will. We shall all come to it someday (Mutual, 126). Gerasim here portrays a genuine and an honest understanding of death as God’s will. The dilemma is evident because the two books feature an intimate exploration of the process of dying, which contradicts the purpose of living. It follows that this is a challenge that greatly intrigue the major characters in both stories.

Furthermore, at the end of A Confession and The Death of Ivan Ilyich, significant ethical and philosophical issues are notable. The terror and agony that faces the main characters in the two entries make them approach and face death with a high degree of equanimity (Mutual, 126). It is at this stage that Tolstoy from A Confession and Ivan from The Death of Ivan Ilyich recognizes the failures associated with their former lives characterized by crudeness, bourgeois aspirations, and vanity (Tolstoy 2011). They finally acknowledge their errors and are willing to change to lead a peaceful life devoid of fear that tormented them largely.

Overall, when A Confession and The Death of Ivan Ilyich are paralleled, many overlaps and similarities are notable. From the nature of the human self-admiration and deception to the inevitability of death, an important approach to mortality and life is revealed. In simple, pairing the two publications enable us to appreciate The Death of Ivan Ilyich as a perfect reflection and a fictional exploration of the different theoretical problems in the human life, including religion, mortality, and morality explored autobiographically in A Confession. In other words, the question regarding the meaning of the human life from A Confession is advanced and explained in The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Therefore, there are certainly many connections between the life issues, intellectual and religious dilemmas evident in the two accounts.

Work Cited

Mutual, David. The Confession as Subtext in the Death of Ivan IVich. Wright State University. The International Fiction Review Journal, 8, No. 2 (1981).

Tolstoy, Lev. The Death of Ivan Ilych. New York: Hyweb Technology Co. Ltd., 2011. Print.

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