SINCERITY AND SPIRITUALITY
$ OLIH EDVHG RQ VXSHUILFLDOLW\ LV QRW D UHDO OLIH ,Q /HR 7ROVWR\œV The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Ivan leads such a life, and he seems to pay for it when he becomes ill and lonely. Everything he does in his life he does to maintain a façade. He never actually likes his job or his wife, and his so-called happiness is based on what others around him think happiness is. Once he is on his deathbed, he becomes miserable when he realizes his whole life has been false. Not only has he failed to find his own passions rather than pleasing others, but he has completely excluded spirituality from his life. He focuses so much of his time on keeping up appearances that he does not consider the meaning his life really has. He is miserable because his life lacks sincerity and spirituality, and I believe that both are essential to happiness.
From his relationships anG KLV ZRUN WR KLV KDSSLQHVV ,YDQÂśV OLIH LV VKDOORZ One of the first matters we learn about him is that no one seems to miss him after he is dead. This starts to make sense as we continue in the novella and discover that he never does anything to satisfy his passions, only what will make him look good to others. He likes the jobs he takes up only because of the money and power they give him, not because they are actually enjoyable. He marries Praskovya FĂŤdorovna only because it is the respectable thing to do, and not because he loves her. He has children with Praskovya for the same reason, respectability, and even though all of them are miserable, Ivan claims he is fine as long as the public perceives them as a happy family. The one matter he says he is passionate about, bridge, he pretends to like because everyone else does. Ivan does not realize until he is on his deathbed that he has virtually made himself miserable by leading a false life.
This falsity is simply the making of unhappiness; without sincerLW\ LQ RQHÂśV
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KDG EHHQ PRVW VLPSOH DQG PRVW RUGLQDU\ DQG WKHUHIRUH PRVW WHUULEOH´ +H LV VR focused on his image of who he is that he forgets to live, and this causes him to lose touch with himself. He says he is popular, but all those relationships are superficial.
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