An examination of the element of death in “The Death of Ivan Ilych” by Leo Tolstoy and “The Metamorphosis” by Frans Kafka.
Facing death is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks an individual can ever do. This paper shows how Ivan Ilych and Gregor Samsa both experience radical transformations in their lives that ultimately bring them to their deaths. Similarities between these two men and their circumstances include regret for living inadequate lives and the fact that their deaths lead them to a spiritual awakening. It explains that, while both stories emphasize personal revelation, they also focus on the lifestyles of these men as being major contributors to their deaths. This paper examines the cause of and the resulting revelation of death (and life) for Ivan Ilych and Gregor Samsa.
“This thought plaques his entire being and Ivan cannot escape the idea that everything he pursued while he was living was not the “real thing” 1412). He even tries to defend himself and his actions but realizes that “there was nothing to defend” (1413). Thinking of his family only makes matters worse for Ivan because when he looks at them, he sees himself and “all that for which he lived” (1413). He also realizes that that what he believed all of his life was a “terrible and huge deception which had hidden both life and death” (1413). It is interesting to note how Ivan cannot stop asking the question, “What is the right thing?” (1414). We are told that this revelation increased Ivan’s suffering tenfold.”