Frattarola is a freelance writer and scholar. In the following essay, she discusses characterization and the theme of redemption in the story.

Though "The Death of Ivan Ilych" is an affective text which is still read with enthusiasm today, there are some difficulties which contemporary readers may have with Tolstoy's novella. The character of Ivan Ilych and the shallowness of his colleagues and wife are haunting for any reader. They come alive in their superficiality and their mundane worries. In many ways, these characters can be seen as the norm in our society when viewed through a pessimistic lens. However, Tolstoy does supply his readers with a few minor exceptions among the majority of pathetic characters. It is important to note that Ivan Ilych is depicted as being equally shallow and thoughtless in his "agreeable, easy, and correct" life, of which the reader is informed after reading...