The Death of Ivan Ilych and Exit West
- Memory plays a recurring role in all of the books we read. Chose two books and discuss how the role of memory serves the plot and theme of your selections.
Thesis
In literature, memory is an essential tool that relates characters’ present behaviors with their past experiences.
Books
- The Death of Ivan Ilych
- Exit West
In “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” when Gerasim learns of Ivan’s death, the sad news does not scare him (Tolstoy, 2019). When the story shifts thirty years back, the audience gets a glimpse of Gerasim’s reaction towards the death of Ivan. Ivan distanced himself from people after getting a well-paying job, and his death appeared as good news to some of his close friends like Gerasim. In the “Exit West,” Saeed becomes uncomfortable and estranges while in London. Reflecting many years back, Saeed’s behavior while in London can be explained by remembering that he left his father at a violent-hit country.
- Many of the books we read focused on mortality/death. Some characters underwent a radical change in their attitude towards death while others remained almost untouched. Choose two protagonists from our reading and compare/contrast if and how their attitudes about death changed in the course of the novel.
Thesis
Authentic and artificial are two types of lives that determine an individual’s attitude towards death.
Books
- The Death of Ivan Ilych
- Exit West
In “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” Ivan suffers psychologically after realizing that his illness is a question of life or death. Just before his death, Ivan looks back at his past life. Ivan found joy and peace upon reflecting on his past life experiences and actions. Artificial life is characterized by materialism, while authentic death is characterized by compassion. Ivan had lived an authentic life, which gave him comfort and courage before his death. In the “Exit West,” Saeed initially did not fear death (Hamid, 2018). Initially, Saeed considered death as a typical passage of life that everyone has to go through. However, after the death of his mother, Saeed developed a new meaning of death. The death of his mother disrupted Saeed’s entire life, and the cruelty of death made him develop fear towards mortality.
- Kurt Vonnegut said that he wrote novels without villains. Do any of the works thus far this year have Villains? Or is ‘Villainy’ human nature itself? Discuss ‘villainy’ in terms of two of the books we have read.
Villainy is a human nature that controls the actions of the wicked characters.
Books
- The Death of Ivan Ilych
- Exit West
In “The Death of Ivan Ilych,” Peter Ivanovich is interested in the death of Ivan because he is assured of inheriting his occupational position. Similarly, In the “Exit West,” militant radicles find joy in shooting and killing unarmed civilians. All these are evil behaviors guided by Villainy.
References
Hamid, M. (2018). Exit West: A Novel. Penguin.
Tolstoy, L. (2019). Death of Ivan Ilych. BLURB.