Why was Ivan Ilych life terrible? Is The Death of Ivan Ilyich a tragedy?

Leo Tolstoy’s novel The Death of Ivan Ilych tells the story of a high-court judge in 19th-century Russia and his suffering and death from a terminal illness.

Ivan Ilyich leads a carefree existence that is “most simple, most ordinary, and thus most terrible.” He spends his life, like everyone he knows, climbing the social ladder.

Ivan is diagnosed with a terminal condition and spends the remainder of his days in bed. As death draws near, Ivan begins to question whether he has lived a good life.

Ivan’s life is terrible because it is devoid of true freedom and individuality. Ivan’s moral life is not guided by his reasoning. Instead, he gets his beliefs from aristocrats. Ivan is, in some ways, a robot.

Ivan’s story is regarded as tragic throughout his suffering because he is left with no one to care for him except his poor servant boy.