Chaining him to his bed, this event feels more like a prison warden than it should. Ultimately, what Ivan’s illness does is set him free from the bondage of his utilitarian routine. “A domestic tragedy, a deliberately trivialized punishment for his hubris, is now set earnestly in motion, for this innocent fall from the stepladder is the catalyst which brings to the surface Ivan Ilyich’s ‘incurable illness. “” (Engelberg 295) The “incurable illness” that Engelberg here refers to is the very same meaningless life that plagues Gregor just the same.
These illnesses that both Gregor and Ivan have contracted, whether they be literal illnesses or otherwise, serve a greater purpose than to simply awake these men from their comatose life. In fact, the authors of the texts inflicted very specific conditions upon both men in such a way that the conditions themselves reflect the men that they afflict. The true nature of these illnesses is not to cover the characters, but to reveal them. In The Metamorphosis, Gregor is transformed into a giant bug, a hideous creature that is hated by all those around him and has no real purpose in life.
This, while a tragic commentary to be sure, is a reflection of Gregor himself. Gregor lives a lowly life, with no real relationships or true meaning. Thus, one could say that even before he was transformed, he lived the life of a bug (Webster 220). The same could be said for Ivan. After several futile attempts at healing from the doctor’s, Ivan is labeled terminal. This, however, is again a mere extension of his former lifestyle. Ivan lived a life of pure vanity. He sought nothing with any sort of enduring value. The title of the story says it as clear as could be.
What Tolstoy writes is not a story of a man’s life, but rather a story of his slow, agonizing, death. Ivan had been terminal from the beginning. This inevitable mortality, as it turns out, reveals yet another similarity between the two men. Their deaths, though occurring for completely unrelated reasons, do resemble one another in their circumstances. For Gregor, his death came in a two-fold manner. After scaring his family and repulsing the renters, Gregor’s father begins the ultimate dehumanization and throws apples at him.
One of these penetrates the shell-like casing around Gregor’s insect body and leaves him fatally wounded. While this would have surely ended his life eventually, however, this is not what kills Gregor in the end. After being given time to reflect on his situation, his anguish, and his pain, Gregor dies of starvation. Gregor does not feel the pain of his starvation, however. His mind has been numbed by his reflection. In this way, Kafka signals to his readers that the death of Gregor Samsa was one of acceptance.
Rather than dying of his festering wound, he chose not eat, favoring death over his continued, miserable existence (Greenburg 228). Ivan Ilyich tragically experiences a similar process. As Tolstoy foreshadows in the title of his work, The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the story of a slow, agonizing death. Of course, unlike Gregor, Ivan has been terminal for weeks, since nearly midway through the story. Thus, in this tale, the protagonist is given much more time to reflect upon his impending death. Perhaps this was needed, however, as Ivan is still unable to come to his point of acceptance until the end of the novella.
During his final weeks, Ivan experiences the same excruciating level of pain that Gregor does. Like Gregor, however, Ivan’s reflections begin to drown out that pain. “In fact, in his last hours Ivan seems unaware of his screaming; he is oblivious to his physical condition, undoubtedly because of his new view of life. Ivan’s mindset in this last period of his life can be seen as a stage of dying, the end of his depression and the beginning of his acceptance of death. ” (Gutsche 262) In the end, Ivan, like Gregor, welcomed death in the midst of their suffering.
Perhaps the most significant similarity, and the one that the authors bring particular dramatic emphasis to, is not the outer transformations of the characters but the inner conversions that they experience. To the average reader, the conversion of Ivan Ilyich is the most obvious, as it is perhaps the climax of the entire novel. While the story may seem like, and is for the most part, a story about a dying man, the scope of the entire novel builds up to a renewal for a man who is dying physically and dead spiritually.
What Ivan Ilyich experiences in the final pages of the story is no less that purification. Not only does he see the error of his meaningless and utilitarian lifestyle, but he repents of them. In his final moments, he begins to think and live with the care and compassion of a man who has no selfish care for himself. “Ivan’s new understanding of life is reflected in a new interest in others, an attention not to his own personal wellbeing but to the feelings of those around him. ” (Gutsche 266) This newfound compassion allows him to find solace with his family and with himself.
He experiences the rebirth of unity and purpose. (Donnelly 88) With his last breaths, Ivan seeks to ask forgiveness for his failed life. While he does not manage to get these words out, one must assume that his message was communicated. Ivan is able to not only come to terms with his death, but to die in peace. Ultimately, the death of Ivan Ilyich can almost be treated as a celebration of new life. Unfortunately, not all deaths can be seen as such. While Gregor will experience a conversion, just as Ivan did, his will not come all the way to purification.
For some readers, the conversion of Gregor will go entirely unnoticed, as it is hidden underneath the calloused perspectives of his family. Kafka, however, hints at a conversion even in his title, as The Metamorphosis was never meant to refer simply to the initial physical transformation. Through the isolation and psychological anguish, Gregor is able to experience a kind of catharsis. This will not amount to the same purification that Ivan experienced, but rather it will be more accurately described as purgation.
Gregor will come to understand the painful reality of his existence. In giving up all hope of re-entering the human circle, Gregor finally understands the truth about his life—which is to say he accepts the knowledge of his death, for the truth about his life is his deathin-life by his banishment and self-banishment from the human community. ” (Greenberg 228) This purgation, while certainly eye opening and a positive shift in Gregor’s remaining life, is not exactly the dynamic change for which readers would hope. Gregor is able to realize the errors in his life, but is unable to find resolution from them. He hungers for acceptance by his family, his society, and perhaps most of all, himself.
In his isolation, he has at last come to understand his fruitless existence, but he cannot bring himself to accept it or move on from it (Greenburg 230). Thus, while the cathartic experiences as a whole offer a key similarity between the two short stories, the extent of these conversions do serve as a difference. That being said, however, the conversion experiences of both Gregor and Ivan act together to bind their stories closer together rather than tear them apart. Two dying men, on the outs with their societies, came to realize the error of their ways.
This realization did not come soon enough to save their lives. however, but it did come in time to assure acceptance in death. For one, that meant a peaceful death to end a meaningless life. For the other, it meant a meaningful death to catalyze a rebirth. The stories compliment each other in their commentary on acceptance and repentance. They simply tell that story from alternate perspectives. Altogether, the similarities between their conversion experiences outweigh the differences. These differences, however, seem to stem more from the environments surrounding the men than from the men themselves.
Both men had poor relationships with their family, friends, and community, and as such it was easy for them to become isolated and distant. This is where the variances between Ivan and Gregor become clear. During the last days of Ivan’s life, while he might not have the comfort of his wife and friends, he does have his servant, Gerasim. This man, while entirely unknown to Ivan prior to his illness, becomes a key positive influence in his life. Gerasim, not daunted by the concept of death, as the rest of the people in Ivan’s life are, is able to stand by Ivan and exemplify selflessness and strength.
This virtue comes in stark contrast to others in his life. “While Gerasim is content to spend the entire night with him, Praskovya Fodorovna, Ivan’s wife, makes only routine, perfunctory visits and is careful, despite Ivan’s worsening condition, not to let his illness interfere with her social life. ” (Donnelly 81) Gerasim provides Ivan with the genuine care that is typical of peasant figures in Tolstoy’s works and is key in the significance of Ivan’s conversion. Without Gerasim’s integrity, Ivan would not have had any examples of compassion in his life and may never have found new life in his death.