All forms of life have an end. Tolstoy gave us a wholly unsympathetic character in the form of Ivan Ilyich. Ivan Ilych is embarrassed that someone should see him is his condition, but just through this most unpleasant matter, Ivan Ilych obtained comfort. Ivan Ilych is touched by Gerasim’s unconditional caring, but it never occurs to him that he should act the same way. Even in Ivan Ilych’s death, Gerasim is at task. Ivan Ilych is dead, yet Gerasim feels compelled to maintain his aura of dignity to the last.