Death of Ivan Illyich [Extra Credit 1]

How does Ivan's quest for status, advancement, prestige, and generally the approval of others endanger his chance to live a more meaningful life?

Ivan Illyich, for the most part in his part, did not create meaning in his life. He was playing by the rules of societies, and rode along the expectations of others. His desire to become successful and live the life that was considered the standard. Every decision that he made was his attempt to satisfy his desires for happiness and success (in other words, success and success). And by following his lifestyle, he became a puppet of society, just moving as society tells him to, and never able to make his own path (well, making his own path that will lead him to the mainstream).

His marriage, to him, was a stepping stone towards his success story. "The marriage gave him personal satisfaction, and at the same time it was considered the right thing by the most highly placed of his associates." We always hear the cliche that marriage should occur when two people love each other. But in Ivan Illyich's case, it's when his "associates" love the situation. This aspect of life, that is often considered sacred, is just part of Ivan Illyich's approach towards the normal life- the life that would be considered as honorable by others.

Once his married life extended, he developed "the need of securing for himself an existence outside his family life became still more imperative." Once he accomplished his momentary goal, he did not take grasp of it. What he had was not enough for him, because it was never his true desire. Having something we don't really want and that's in our faces, we naturally avoid it. And that is what Ivan Illyich did with his wife. It was as though, the only purpose of his marriage was the status. Once the status was his, there was no reason to maintain a healthy relationship with his wife. His attempt to get status degraded his marriage, in that he saw marriage as just a piece of his success, rather than something that he values. For some people, marriage is their ultimate goal, and being successful is a way to support that marriage. But for Ivan Illyich, it's the opposite: he gets married as a way to support his success. Marriage may not necessarily be the most important thing, but his aspiration for success is alienating him from that experience.

In attempt to create a successful life, Ivan Illyich jumped from place to place, and thus created a meaningless life. In hopes to find a chance to improve his life, economically, Ivan Illyich was constantly moving in his life. Until he got his house, which was just a palate for him and his decorous needs, he went from one job to another, and one home to another. As a result he never got attached to anything, any place, or anyone. And when something attached to him (e.g. his wife and his family), he avoided it. There was nothing that held true value in his life, other than the ambition to create a success story. In a way, you can say that this ambition was so up in his face, that he could not see anything else. He constantly strive to win the approval of society, and therefore was blinded from what he actually had.

The life of Ivan Illyich was an arbitrary one. Rather than living his own life, he lived a life that was generic and mapped out by society. He was always trying to live up to standards that he could not meet. He was trying to live a life that would best fit the story of the hero. As a result, his life was meaningless. He was playing the role of the dog chasing the car. And by having his sights set on nothing but the car, he could not appreciate his own life, just constantly moving and chasing something that he will never obtain, and render as useless even if he had it.