Perseverance By Tolstoy

Viktor E. Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who also had survived the Holocaust, writes “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” (BrainyQuote). Frankl survived genocide against his own people and still chose to have a positive outlook on it because he understands that if he did not, he would continually live an unhappy, upset life. Like Frankl, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, the main character in One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, contains a similar outlook to that of Frankl. The novel takes place during Soviet Russia in a gulag in Siberia, or otherwise known as a labor work camp. The whole book is about only one day that Shukhov lives; from 5 in the morning to 10 at night and all that happens in between. In this labor camp, not only are the weather conditions very cold, making it difficult to work in such circumstances, but also the workers are punished and harshly treated if they do not obey the guards. When placed in this environment, it is easy to be discouraged and miserable, but instead of facing the negatives of his situation, Shukhov remains affirmative in his thoughts – which are most important in order to survive not only physically, but also mentally. This stoicism portrayed in the narrative can also be found in Epictetus’s work, The Handbook. In this text, Epictetus discusses how he believes people can live a happy life, despite the hard conditions they are put through

In In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, the device of juxtaposition is used to contrast the differing mental states of Dick and Perry, which is emphasized by the syntax, diction, and tone throughout the two passages. Capote uses opposing accounts of the same situation to add a deeper characterization of the two men, and to emphasize their differences psychologically. Throughout the book Capote attempts to show the true complexity of the killers, and how their backgrounds and psyches affected their actions. Although Capote is talking in the third person omniscient, he changes his style when describing the two characters.

    In the face of Morrie's overwhelming compassion and tenderness, Ivan Ilych presents an opposite lifestyle. After a pleasantly carefree childhood he turned towards ambition and pursued an ever-larger salary and an ever-increasing social rank. Ivan lived without values and without attachments, easily moving between cities and jobs. He cared little for the great inconvenience of his family, and even less for his wife: "he hate[d] her with his whole soul" (Ivn, 139). Commitment was a prison to be avoided at all costs, a detriment to his proper and official existence. Genuine love touched Ivan only rarely and certainly not during the dying moments when he needed it the most.

Ursula K. Le Guin is an award winning author who has made great contributions to the science fiction genera. Le Guin’s stories often evoke readers to view society through a different lens. In the short story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas Le Guin challenges societies conventions of imagination and believability within a narrative. I will argue, that the story The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Ursula K. Le Guin, intertwines two contradictory story worlds in an attempt to critique the limitations we impose on our imagination due to the understanding that we have never experienced a society that does not poses evil. I intend to analyze the rules of the two following story worlds that Le Guin presents; the first story world where happiness is the only thing that the inhabitants experience and the second story world where happiness is experienced when evil presents itself in the society. The two story worlds come together to push the readers to accept a world that simply functions on its own without evil.

Life is the toughest thing you will do in your life. It is the test on how well you can survive the world, and all of its cruel punishments. It is the assessment on how to cope with the bad, so the good times seem greater. Life can throw a enormous amount of cruel events that sometimes are unavoidable. Not everything in life is bad, but people tend to make things much worse than what they really are. People over exaggerate many events that could be easily fixed, but then there are the people who are not exaggerating the paing and irony they are facing. There is a number of ways of how to cope with tragedies, such as being with friends, talking with family, or just doing something fun to keep your mind off of the harsh environments

Fyodor Dostoyevsky paints Underground man as someone who is tortured in his novel Notes From Underground. Despite everything that Underground man says he is lost and has no sense of his identity. When the character of Liza is introduced the reader gains some hope that the Underground man can find love. Although Underground man ultimately pushes Liza away, he really loved her through his own idea of love. Underground man shows this love for her through his first conversation with Liza, his trying to save Liza, and, ironically, through his cruelty towards Liza.

Would you want to be thrown out of a window? In the novel, Notes from Underground, Fyodor Dostoevsky talks about a scene where the underground man wanted to be thrown out of a tavern window after seeing another man get tossed out of it. The social control theory does a good job at explaining the underground man’s need to fit in with society. Do you want to be constantly in debt that you never have money and are a burden to your friends? The strain theory explains really well the scene in the book where the underground man does not get invited to the going away party and does not have the money to pay for it. Both of the theories had interesting histories and more than one theorist has had some input on both.

In Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Margarita breaks the gender norm that is set by most of the female characters who portray themselves to be defined by men, thick-headed, and shallow. Unlike the rest of the women in the novel, Bulgakov illustrates Margarita as a dominant feminine power who breaks the gender norms through her tenacious mentality, intellectual behavior and compassion. However, it could be argued that Bulgakov induces a level of sexual bias against woman through Margarita despite her accomplishments as a woman; since her courageous character was defined through her unconditional love for the Master. Without the active male figure, the Master, Margarita could not have become a brave and courageous woman, thus restating that all woman are defined by males; the gender associated as a higher authority.

In The Death of Ivan Ilych Leo Tolstoy conveys the psychological importance of the last, pivotal scene through the use of diction, symbolism, irony. As Ivan Ilych suffers through his last moments on earth, Tolstoy narrates this man's struggle to evolve and to ultimately realize his life was not perfect. Using symbols Tolstoy creates a vivid image pertaining to a topic few people can even start to comprehend- the reexamination of one's life while on the brink of death. In using symbols and irony Tolstoy vividly conveys the manner in which Ilych views death as darkness unto his last moments of life when he finally admits imperfection.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel, Notes from the Underground Man, uses the idea of a modern dystopia by depicting a story that revolves around a distressed older man. Throughout the novel, the main character has a narcissistic belief that he is better than everyone else because of his acute sense of consciousness. His awareness however, also causes him to believe not only are people ignorant to the world around him but that they are also against him. In contrast, critics believe that the main character, the underground man, actually suffers from psychological disorders that causes him to reason this way. Psychological disorders are defined as a wide range of conditions that can affect mood, behavior and thinking, and based on his conduct in the novel, the underground man presents himself as an individual who is subjected to obsessive compulsive behavior, social repression and paranoia.

“Master and Man” by Leo Tolstoy is a story that explores the dynamics between a peasant, Nakita and his master,Vasillii Andriech. Andriech foolishly risks both of their lives, when they venture to another town in inclement weather to secure a business deal. Unfortunately, Andreich's impatience and greed ultimately leads to his demise. At the end of the story Nikita dies and is denied the same bliss that Vasillii Andreich experiences in death; in order to solidify the dichotomy between these two men, demonstrate how Andriech cheated Nakita, and he uses Nakita's lackluster death to amplify Andriech's extraordinary passing.

My reaction to this novel is that it is breathtaking. This book showed me that this is a part of history that isn’t well know but needs to be. I never really knew about the millions of innocents murdered on the orders of Stalin. This book showed the inside life innocent people that had been put into the Gulag camps and what life was like. This book also shows how some people stick together during these hard times and look at the better things in life, while others don’t. The main part that I didn’t like about the book was the ending and how it didn’t say how they left the Gulag. It left my wondering if they got rescued, or if they just stayed on the

We will begin with an analysation of his family situation. Praskovya, his wife, had been a love constructed from the start of an economic and sociological expectation rather than that of a true courtship. The happiness therefore of the union was derived solely of a necessity to fulfill a desire on the part of others for a “success” of sorts, surely her desire as well. “Ivan Ilyich could have counted on a more illustrious match, but even this one was quite good. He had his salary, and her income, he hoped, would bring in an equal amount. (Tolstoy, 56)” Tolstoy goes on to make several remarks on the benevolent nature of the relationship between he and his wife. The arrival of his children creates no great marker in his life, and proves to be little more than a factor in his ever-lengthening retreat into his life of solitude and work.

The spiritual life of each person in the world is as individual as a fingerprint. Thousands of different religions create a myriad of outlines for worship, but every personal belief system is unique. “The Three Hermits” by Leo Tolstoy tells of three holy men living a silent life of prayer on an island by themselves. When an Archbishop catches word of them, he insists on diverting his own travel route so that he may visit the hermits. With diligence, he teaches the men the Our Father and departs to return to his ship. Later, the three hermits chase after the ship as if they were running on ground, for they forgot the Our Father and wished to be retaught by the Bishop. Crossing himself, the Bishop assures the hermits that their prayers will be heard by God and asks that they pray for him and other sinners.

The book The Death of Ivan Ilych is a literary work by Count Leo Tolstoy published in 1886 and has been hailed as a masterpiece both by critics and readers. The author has been reputed as one of the people who changed how the subject of death is treated in society. In the novel, Leo Tolstoy presents the story of Ivan Ilych who lived a wasted life but who is not ready to imagine his own death. Through Gerasim, the peasant servant associated with Ivan, we are able to see the simple and gentle approach manner to which he serves his master. The Death of Ivan Ilyich is the first major work of fiction completed by Leo Tolstoy after his existential crisis. “The death of Ivan Ilych can be seen as true reflection of and an elaboration of Tolstoy’s