Ivan Ilyich is dead. His death is hardly what one would call "mourning," and his family and friends are only thinking about how to profit from his timely passing. He led a terrible life and suffered a generally meaningless existence. You might wonder how the title character of Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych" manages to find redemption in the process of his death. And indeed, his death is a process in which he denies the meaninglessness of his life, questions it, accepts it, and attempts to redeem himself for it. It may seem a little ridiculous that Ivan, who has led a life not unlike that of a self-centered lemming, can be forgiven for all his sins in a matter of hours. However, through the process of death, Ivan is redeemed. Although his death is certainly painful and he struggles "as a condemned man struggles in the hands of the executioner, knowing that he cannot save himself" (166), it ends with revelation, forgiveness and joy. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayIvan Ilych leads a banal life, as do his peers: conventional in every sense of the word. It is only in death, however, that he realizes it. Ivan not only allows himself to follow social standards, but follows them with such precision that he seems to lose any individuality he may have had to begin with. His house is "precisely what is usually seen in the homes of people of moderate means who want to appear rich, and therefore succeed only in resembling their fellow men" (138). While this may seem unintentional, it is not; tries, sometimes with difficulty, to fit in. When he begins to have marriage problems, he compares his marriage to life, in which his duties are "to lead a dignified life approved by society" (134). Only in the midst of his death does he begin to question his life. Ivan wonders for the first time if his life was useless and if perhaps he could have lived better. The question comes to mind: “what if my whole life has been wrong?” (164) Ultimately, he realizes that just because society thinks something is correct, doesn't necessarily make it "right." He wonders if he has spent his life as he should have and comes to the conclusion that he has not. While this is not the beginning of his dying process, it is certainly the beginning of his revelation. Ivan evolves beyond the simple awareness of having lived his life inadequately. He sees that he has sucked his family into his mean world and may have ruined their lives too. The indifference with which he treats his family before his death is astonishing. He simply wants to maintain the cover of a normal, functional family; even when he married his wife, his thoughts were not on love, but on himself and his image. He just thought, "Really, why shouldn't I get married?" (133) knowing that she would eventually have to marry in order to "fit in" properly. He conveyed his air of indifference, one might even say insensitivity, to his family. His wife falls in love with him before they get married, then begins to hate him over the years. He wants him dead, "yet he didn't want him to die because otherwise his salary would stop" (141). Ivan's newly engaged daughter is annoyed by his illness because it brings with it a melancholy that clouds the brightness she feels in light of her impending marriage. Even Ivan's friends don't feel bad when he dies. Everyone related to him feels only sorrow or annoyance that they now have to perform the unpleasant duties associated with a death. On his deathbed, Ivan finally realizes".