Extra Credit 2

Ivan Ilych gets married because of money and social approval. His wife, Praskovya Fedorovna, has “some property” and is “well connected.” The marriage is “considered the right thing by the most highly placed of his associates.” Because Praskovya has property, which means that her family has money, Ivan decides to marry her. Her money fulfills his “personal satisfaction.” Praskovya is also connected to others who Ivan sees as potentials to advance in his work life. Ivan’s highly placed associates approve of the marriage and Ivan therefore believes that the marriage will aid him in his work life.

However, he begins to live an unpleasant life with Praskovya. Praskovya gets “jealous without any cause, expected to devote his whole attention to her, found fault with everything, and made coarse and ill-mannered scenes.” If Ivan had not married Praskovya for her money and the opportunities to obtain a higher status in his work life, he would not have to deal with his wife’s unpleasantness.

After becoming more ambitious, Ivan starts to spend time with his colleagues as a way to block out his problems at home. Praskovya’s temper worsens as she delivered her first child, causing Ivan to seek external comfort. But because Ivan chooses not to face and attempt to solve the problems at home, his wife grows “more irritable” and two of their children die. If Ivan had focused on his family and not on his social life, he would probably live a better life.

Soon after, Ivan begins to have conflicts in his work life. Ivan has “declined several proposed transfers while awaiting a more desirable post.” He declined the jobs that did not offer as much money as he had wanted. Unexpectedly, Ivan’s desired position was not given him; he then “became irritable” and perceived his superiors as cold. If Ivan did not chase after the higher position, he would not have been disappointed when the position was given to someone else.

Ivan’s quest for status has caused him to have high expectations. People around him, including his father, regard “a salary of 3,500 rubles as quite normal and even fortunate.” However, Ivan sees this as the “most cruel injustice.” Ivan expects to get paid a lot based on his high status and spends more than he earns which leads him into debts. His journey for status in society drives him to expect a higher salary. Ivan becomes depressed when he gets unemployed. He moves in with his brother in law in order to save money. His ambitions are keeping him from sleeping at night.

After getting reemployed with a salary of 5,000 rubles, Ivan wanted more, buying a house and decorating like how other houses are. He concentrated on his work rather on his family. The distance between Ivan and his family is getting farther away and more fights happened between the wife and husband. The family doesn’t seem to care about Ivan much except for the money that Ivan brings back. As his health gets worse, Ivan became depressed, and knows that the family is having a hard time around him. He feels lonely and knows that he had given a bad time to his family.

Ivan bought a house for his family and made a great effort to decorate it. One time when he was putting up the drapes, “he made a false step and slipped.” Ivan’s house represents his status and his fall represents his downfall from attempting to obtain the status he wants. He spends a lot of time decorating his house, flaunting his status to society and in the end, it will become his downfall.

Ivan finishes decorating his house and suddenly feels empty. The rest of his family has come back from Ivan’s brother in law and took part in decorating the house. After both Ivan and his wife were satisfied with the house, “it became rather dull and something seemed to be lacking.” As the house continues to represent Ivan’s status, the completion of the house seems to be a metaphor for Ivan’s success in achieving his desired status. After obtaining the status, Ivan will get dull and his life will still be incomplete. It is useless for Ivan to complete his goal because it will make no difference in making his life meaningful.

Not only did Ivan feel empty, the house also seemed to bother him. After spending so much time and “trouble to arranging it all that every disturbance of it distressed him.” Ivan now has a house and has devoted so much attention to it that it suddenly became Ivan’s downfall. His status, like his house, will become a downfall for Ivan and will not contribute to Ivan living a meaningful life.

Ivan’s quest to seek approval from society continues to become a downfall for him. Ivan and his wife hold a party and while Ivan wants “expensive confectioners,” his wife wants to save money. He wants society to know that he can afford to order too many cakes but this only led to problems with his wife. Ivan and his wife get into a fight involving her name callings and his threats to divorce. His need for approval causes disputes between him and his wife, leading Ivan to a meaningless life.