How do you Keep Warm in Russia?

Many aspects of the structure and story of The Death of Ivan Ilych are designed as to easily allow the author to comment effectively and profoundly on the position of Ivan in his culture, how he is thought of by his acquaintances, and even on Russian society on a whole. Tolstoy opens the story of The Death of Ivan Ilych with Ivan’s funeral specifically for this purpose. This entry will focus on the use of the funeral as a way for Tolstoy to characterize Ivan.
All of descriptions of the people and the reactions of the people who attend the funeral focus around their lack of connection to Ivan. This trend shows the reader that Ivan has failed to—or was unable to—create meaningful personal relationships in his life. Even his wife, the person whom the reader would most expect to be seriously affected by Ivan’s death, only cries because she feels as though it is the expectation of society for her to do so. The only person who actually sheds true tears is Ivan’s son, who has retained the true feeling and sympathy of a child. His empathetic psyche has not yet been iced over by the unfeeling, unfriendly formality of Russian culture. Those, such as Gerasim, who are actually sad about Ivan’s passing, don’t even really lament his death. They just accept it and move on.
This whole scenario indicates that Ivan cannot form personal relationships. He reduces things, such as his marriage, to equations. He treats his personal life as if it were a business. Tolstoy suggest Ivan’s dealing with his life and personal relationships this way is a symptom of having to deal with life in Russian society. The coldness of the culture and the people mean that people, such as Ivan, must themselves become cold. Ivan’s personal lack of meaningful personal relationships is of course his own fault, but he is a product of a society that produces people such as him.