Answer:
C. Neither as a boy nor as a man was he a toady, but from early youth was by nature attracted to people of high station as a fly is drawn to the light, assimilating their ways and views of life and establishing friendly relations with them.
Step-by-step explanation:
This sentence above shows that Ivan Ilyich from childhood formed the desire to associate with the rich in society. The statement that he was not a toady as a boy and as a man shows his outgoing and exuberant nature from childhood. This association with the rich helped him to learn and adopt their ways of doing things. Thus, he grew up to be a part of the elites because he had mastered their ways.