Though ‘‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’’ was Tolstoy’s first piece of fiction after his spiritual conversion, and many critics have thought his post-conversion writing to be less art and more moralizing, this particular short novel has been respected as an intriguing work. Dennis Vannatta confirms this view when he states that, in ‘‘The Death of Ivan Ilych,’’ ‘‘the two phases meet in one of the most memorable short stories ever written.’’ This deeply affecting story has been Tolstoy’s most-praised post-conversion work, a topic of discussion, along with Tolstoy’s other major works, in literary courses and critical discourse. As Edward Wasiolek remarks in Tolstoy’s Major Fiction, ‘‘The story is great enough to support the weight of different critical perspectives. It has the ‘transparency’ that Roland Barthes has put forth as a mark of the greatest works of literature, permitting us to speak about it with the different critical languages of time, place, and critical intelligence.’’ The fact that ‘‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’’ is still meaningful today and is discussed within modern literary theory once again demonstrates its artistic merit.

The last moments of Ivan Ilych’s life seem to be a common focus for many critics. What is the light that Ivan Ilych sees as he is about to die? Most critics agree that after Tolstoy takes such pains in structuring the narrative, demonstrating the pathetic shallowness of Ivan Ilych’s existence only after ironically depicting the same shallow attitudes of his colleagues and wife, his last dying moments take on a much more significant meaning than when one first reads of his death through Peter Ivanovich. Irving Halperin traces Ivan Ilych’s struggle with death in his essay ‘‘The Structural Integrity of ‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’’’; he describes Ivan’s death as ‘‘the route of his metamorphosis . . . from despair (the black hole) to love (the son’s kiss) to redemption (the light). Thus Ivan Ilych’s dialectical direction, so to speak, is from nothingness to meaning: he has learned that the one thing necessary for a man is to be.’’ Dennis Vannatta similarly concludes, ‘‘The most somber and forbidding of stories, ‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’ is also the most optimistic. It shows that a man can live his entire life in darkness but in the final moment be resurrected into the light.’’ Wasiolek comments in Tolstoy’s Major Fiction that ‘‘it is the consciousness and acceptance of death that reveals the significance of life. . . . Without the consciousness of death, the things themselves become spectral, as indeed they become with Ivan’s consciousness of his impending death.’’ By way of contrast, Temira Pachmuss notes in ‘‘The Theme of Love and Death in Tolstoy’s ‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’’’ ‘‘that despite Ivan Ilych’s perception of the mystery of death and his ultimate calm acceptance of it, the whole story reflects an icy coldness.’’ As examples, he cites Gerasim acting only out of moral duty to his master, and not out of sincere love, and Tolstoy’s focusing on the emotions and experiences of Ivan Ilych only, as if no other characters mattered. He also claims that Ivan Ilych’s dead face fails to evoke pity in those at the funeral service, but rather gives a look of warning. Pachmuss resolves this inconsistency by asserting, ‘‘There is no need for us, however, to dwell on Ivan Ilych’s facial expression in death as perceived by his relatives and colleagues, for the constructive principle of ‘The Death of Ivan Ilych ’ requires concentration on the dying man rather than on those who surround him. The high point of the story is undoubtedly Ivan Ilych’s discovery of the ultimate reality which is love.’’ Most critics agree that though ‘‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’’ may seem like a dark and moralizing story, especially when viewed from the context of Tolstoy’s religious conversion, it is ultimately a liberating story about the power of love.