The Death of Ivan Ilyich
Themes
Death
colleagues who feel joy that it was he who died and not I (ch. I), the night of the discovery (ch. V), the syllogism about Caius (ch. VI), Gerasim, who says that everyone will die (ch. VII), the slope he went down imagining he was climbing (ch. IX), and the...
Truth and Lies
the widow's question about the pension (ch. I), the doctor who argues over kidney and appendix (ch. IV), the wife's kiss (ch. V), the lie that he is only ill (ch. VII), the silence before the theater (ch. VIII), the suspicion before Gerasim (ch. XI), and the...
Appearance and Reality
the gestures of the wake (ch. I), the yardstick of the best-placed people (ch. II), the house like everyone else's who want to look rich (ch. III), the doctor who wears the judge's air (ch. IV), the room as a screen (ch. VI), and the talk about Sarah...
The Meaning of Life
life as the simplest, most common, and most terrible (ch. II), the joys of play (ch. III), the voice of the soul (ch. IX), the luminous point of childhood (ch. X), the life that was not that (ch. XI), and that which can still be done (ch. XII).
Compassion and Charity
the question put to Gerasim, whether he feels pity (ch. I), the vint partner whose suffering does not matter to him (ch. IV), Gerasim and the wish to be consoled like a child (ch. VII), Vasya, the only one in the family who understands (ch. VIII), self-pity...