Question

What does the candle symbolize in this excerpt from Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich?

“When I am not, what will there be? There will be nothing. Then where shall I be when I am no more? Can this be dying? No, I don’t want to!” He jumped up and tried to light the candle, felt for it with trembling hands, dropped candle and candlestick on the floor, and fell back on his pillow.

a. Ivan Ilyich’s shallow lifestyle

B)Ivan Ilyich’s troubled conscience

C)Ivan Ilyich’s murky past Ivan

D)Ilyich’s approaching death

Answer 1

The candle symbolizes Ilyich’s approaching death in the above excerpt from Leo Tolstoy’s “The Death of Ivan Ilyich.”

At the end of the novella “The Death of Ivan IIyich,” written by Leo Tolstoy speaks about the materialistic nature of the physical world. At the time of his death, Ivan says “ Death is finished, he said to himself. It is no more!” This line gives an insight into his perspective about life and death.

It shows that Ivan continues to fight for his life and gives the plot an open ending.

For Ivan death has caused an end of his life in this physical world but this has rewarded him a path towards spiritual world.

His death not just gives an end to the story but also a beginning of a new life and story of Ivan.