Ivan Ilych - Suffering a Blessing

 April 19, 2023


The Death of Ivan Ilych - Question #2: Does Tolstoy present Ivan's suffering (and, by extension, suffering generally) as a good thing? Is this an overstatement? Why do you answer as you do?


My immediate response is yes. Tolstoy presents Ivan’s suffering as good, because, without it he would have never come to the truth that brought him peace. 

Before he was taken sick, Ivan Ilych believed that everything in his life was going well (end of Chapter 3). He had mastered the art of getting along as comfortably as possible and managing appearances. He knew exactly how to act at work, and to him, it was indeed an act (in Chapter 3, Ivan Ilych returns home “with the feeling of a virtuoso who has given a perfect performance”). He had learned to manage his struggles with his wife by escaping to the pleasant world of work. He believed that the most important thing about his married life was managing a decent appearance (Chapter 2). In social life, his goal was to free himself from “ragtag friends” and only be surrounded by the best society. In fact, his main goal in all of life was to preserve and exude a decent appearance — to appear well in the eyes of men. This period of false contentment and satisfaction is the most dangerous part of Ivan Ilych’s life. He has taken all the meaningless things to be the important ones, and he has disregarded the things that are truly important. The worst part is that he is completely unaware.

This is why Ivan Ilych’s suffering is a true blessing in disguise. It causes him to see that all is not well in his life. It gives him a chance to admit this truth, and at the very end, to see what is truly important. 


It reminds me of the lines from William Cowper:


Long unafflicted, undismay'd,

In pleasure's path secure I stray'd;

Thou mad'st me feel thy chast'ning rod,

And straight I turned unto my God.


What though it pierced my fainting heart,

I bless'd Thine hand that caused the smart:

It taught my tears awhile to flow,

But saved me from eternal woe.


Oh! hadst Thou left me unchastised,

Thy precepts I had still despised;

And still the snare in secret laid

Had my unwary feet betray'd.

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