To show them what can ideally happen when you abandon everything in your life when it “goes wrong.” You must put effort, patience, and care into it to make it grow. The reason that Tolstoy wrote this piece was almost like a guidebook for husbands and men. Vasya hasn’t seen the world like Ivan has. He is kind and caring innocent and uncorrupted. Before Ivan’s death, Vasya is the perfect representation of purity. With our conversations over Notes from the Underground, I believe Tolstoy plays with the idea of fate and purpose a little bit. He’s sorry for Vasya because he knows what is to come how corrupted society will make him. After Ivan comes to terms with his death, he looks at his son – whose future he sees will be just like him. He opened his eyes, looked at his son, and felt sorry for him” (777). “At that very moment Ivan Ilyich fell through and caught sight of the light, and it was revealed to him that though his life had not been what it should have been, this could still be rectified… then he felt that someone was kissing his hand. Or rather, in Ivan’s eyes, the innocent and uncorrupted version of himself. At the very end of Ivan’s life, it is Vasya who visits him. Ivan can see that, and inside Vasya, he sees himself. Ivan recalls, “Vasya was the only one besides Gerasim who understood and pitied him” (771).

When everyone is getting ready to go to the show, they stop in to see Ivan before they leave. During Ivan’s struggle, his memories are the only thing that doesn’t fail him – which means that Vasya won’t fail him either. I believe that Vasya (which is ironically close to Vanya), is used a symbol for Ivan’s past. On page 763, he goes in fairly in depth: “he had been little Vanya, with a mamma and papa, with Mitya and Volodya, with the toys, a coachman, and a nurse, afterwards with Katenka and with all the joys, griefs, and delights of childhood, boyhood, and youth” (763). When Ivan is struggling with understanding death, he often turns to his childhood memories. It’s not a coincidence that Vasya looks exactly like his father, but there could be another reason for him as well. On the other hand, I believe Tolstoy might have other options open for Vasya as well. Unfortunately, I believe that history is going to repeat itself. It’s also hard to say what life he will lead. With hurt “little Ivan” on the loose, it’s difficult to say when this bomb will go off. But remember that little thing called society? Yeah, that’s mixed in there too. He unfortunately lived with Ivan all his life – he knows what it’s like to have a horrible father who is never there. While many of us see Vasya as an innocent and pure young boy, he also witnessed some pretty horrific stuff before his father passed. Within this short introduction of Vasya, we can already see Ivan’s influence bubbling in the back of his mind. His tear-stained eyes had in them the look that is seen in the eyes of boys of thirteen and fourteen who are not pure-minded” (745). He seemed a little Ivan Ilyich, such as Peter Ivanovich remembered when they studied law together. The narrator introduces Vasya as follows: “under the stairs appeared the figure of Ivan Ilyich’s schoolboy son, who was extremely like his father. This is where we’re introduced to all the main characters before we know who exactly they are. In the beginning of the story, Peter attends the wake of Ivan. As for Vasya… well, he’s going to follow right in his father’s footsteps. For Lisa, she will constantly live with hatred for her father, his work, and society.

For Ivan’s wife, the only thing that she cares about is his pension – she never loved her husband. Ivan has made a lasting imprint on his family, his social standing, and how people perceive him. Of course, this thought doesn’t occur to Ivan until it’s too late. Everything that he held true to himself was a lie, while the things that he avoided should’ve been the things that he held the closest. At first glance, the moral of The Death of Ivan Ilyich is to live a true and caring life.

Like father like son struggle