Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Illych follows the following plot outline:
Exposition: We see Ivan's life as "climbing a ladder." He's a "cog in a machine," a good member of a Czarist Russian bourgeoisie, getting married, having children--but totally unhappy, spiritually unfulfilled.
Complication: We realize he's dying spiritually. We realize that he's been living a life based only on social expectations, an unfulfilled life, never developing meaningful relationships with family or...
(The entire section contains 242 words.)
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