What was ivan ilychs disease

To Ivan, the only important question is whether or not his case is serious. But ignoring Ivan's concern, the doctor focuses on the strictly medical question of whether Ivan's problem is a floating kidney or appendicitis. This question the doctor answers brilliantly, and as Ivan thinks, in favor of the appendix. Ivan gets the feeling that his case is very serious and he is struck by the doctor's indifference and utter lack of sympathy to a matter of such importance. Ivan heads home, depressed and fearful.

He begins to tell his wife about the examination, but before he can finish, his wife leaves with their daughter to go out. Ivan takes medicine and strictly follows the doctor's orders, but more tests reveal that the doctor's initial prognosis was incorrect. Ivan then attempts to deal with his sickness by forcing himself to think that he has gotten better, but any unpleasantness with his wife, lack of success in work, or bad cards at bridge bring to mind his disease.

Ivan goes to see more doctors, including a homeopath, but each doctor diagnoses his illness differently from the others. Ivan becomes annoyed with himself one day when he starts to believe that a wonder-working icon can affect miracles. Ivan realizes that those around him think everything is normal, and do not understand nor care to understand his condition.

Ivan's wife and daughter are annoyed at his depression and intolerance. Praskovya adopts a formal attitude to Ivan's illness. It consists of the beliefs that Ivan's condition is his own fault and that if he strictly follows doctor's orders he will improve. At the law courts Ivan notices people looking at him inquisitively as if his post might soon be vacant. At other times, his friends, and especially Schwartz, joke about his illness as if it were a trivial and temporary condition.

He has us think in a way we often try to avoid. He begs the question: what to do with this knowledge? And, what happens when people ignore that reality instead of using it to help themselves live the most meaningful life possible? Tell me about how you teach The Death of Ivan Ilyich. In my course we talk a lot about the ways in which doctors and nurses and other healthcare providers look at illness aka, with lots of science and terminology and jargon.

The world of medicine enters only very occasionally—in the form of several doctors who visit Ivan to diagnose and treat his illness. The ways that the doctors act towards their patient are very emblematic of the way that many doctors act towards their patients today.

Ivan leaves these visits feeling more worried and confused then when he got there. So, the book serves as a case study in the provider-patient conversation. But the book is much bigger than a case study. Throughout the novel Ivan remembers his life. Historically, Ivan lived just to please society and to move up in salary and position.

But as Ivan suffers through his terminal illness, he starts to see the ways in which his life lacked the meaning that he hoped for. The book really looks at the issue of living a life with meaning, living an examined life, and the sadness of not doing so. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Death of Ivan Ilyich , which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Related Themes from Other Texts. Compare and contrast themes from other texts to this theme….

Find Related Themes. How often theme appears:. Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9. Chapter Chapter 1 Quotes. Related Themes: Meaning and Mortality.

Page Number and Citation : Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis:. Chapter 3 Quotes. Related Symbols: The Bruise. Chapter 4 Quotes. Related Themes: Illness and Control. Chapter 5 Quotes. Chapter 6 Quotes.

Related Characters: Ivan Ilyich Golovin. Chapter 7 Quotes. Chapter 12 Quotes. Cite This Page. Home About Story Contact Help. Previous Greed, Purity, and Corruption. Illness and Control Theme Analysis.