Substance

"The Death of Ivan Ilych"

Ivan: This is the protagonist of the story and who the story is about. Ivan is a man who is emotionally detached from the world and the life that he lives. He takes pride in the fact that he is able to stay level headed and detached from his career and family. He works very hard to get his family to be living the kind of life that he wants to and tries very hard to climb the ladder of success and society. When he is moving his family to a new home after he gets a great new job, he falls and hits his side, the doctor's say it is nothing so he continues on but eventually falls very ill. No one is sympathetic because he family doesn't really care for or love him, especially his wife, and no one believes that he is dying. He knows better and his conditions gets worse and worse as time passes. While approaching death, he starts to reflect on his life and regret some things and wishes he would have lived his life a little differently. He finds a friend in his new caretaker and eventually dies after he has become bed and couch ridden for weeks.

Praskovya: Ivan's wife. A cold woman who doesn't believe that her husband is ill and dying. She feels no concern or sympathy for him and instead is just waiting for him to die. At Ivan's funeral all she can talk about is what she is going to gain from all this. She isn't really concerned with her husband and clearly doesn't care much for him.

Peter Ivanovich: Ivan's friend and fellow judge that helps him get his new job that brings him to St. Petersburg. He is the facilitator of Ivan's estate and hates awkward and uncomfortable situations.

Gerasim: Ivan's nurse that he grows very fond of through his sick time. Ivan begins to feel as if Gerasim is the only one who has ever really supported him because of the amount of care that he gives him during a time of need.

Schwartz: A co-worker of Ivan's who attends his funeral but does not like the sadness of it all and tries to stay happy and in high spirits with everyone. He is a well put together man and does exactly what he is supposed to all the time. This is the kind of man Ivan was before he became sick and Schwartz represents that old part of Ivan's life.

Vladimir or Vasya: Ivan's youngest child who has not yet been ruined by the negative things in life and has not yet figured out that he has to play into this social standard. He is the only child that is at his father's side and supports him as well. He believes his father's plight and wants to help and be there to love and support him.

Lisa: Ivan's daughter and her mother's clone. She is very annoyed with her father's condition and doesn't take it too seriously either. She is like her mother in the fact that she finds her father's illness to be a huge inconvenience and she wants things to just end already.

Fedor: Lisa's fiance is mentioned in the story as well but he isn't really an important character in the overall story.