Analysis of Death of Ivan Ilych Essay -- essays research papers

Letting Pain Be   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To many individuals the word â€Å"progress† has a positive meaning behind it. It suggests improvement, something humans have been obsessed with since the dawn of society. However, if closely examined, progress can also have a negative connotation as well. While bringing improvement, progress can simultaneously spark conformity, dependency, and the obsession of perfection within the individuals caught in its midst. It is this aspect of progress within modern society that negatively affects Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy’s main character in The Death of Ivan Ilych. Ivan’s attempt to conform to modern society’s view of perfection takes away his life long before he dies. Furthermore, his fear of death and reactions towards it reflects modern society’s inability to cope with the ever present reminder that humans still suffer and die, despite all attempts to make life painless, perfect, and immortal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although we as a society have advanced and made people’s lives easier, our mental suffering is as present as ever, due to our incessant need to have everything perfect. We seem to forget that the fascination of living comes from the imperfect and the unexpected. In her essay â€Å"On the Fear of Death† Elisabeth Kubler-Ross suggests that the modern age, while increasing life span and ease of life, has at the same time given way to a â€Å"rising number of emotional problems,† amongst the living (Ross 407). She also suggests that because of modern society’s progress, there has been an increased anxiety towards death. While Ross is writing for twentieth century society her ideas apply to the nineteenth century as well, when Tolstoy wrote The Death of Ivan Ilych.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ivan Ilych is living during the industrial revolution, a time of technological advancement, that mainly advances the upper class, which he is apart of. Ivan’s number one priority in life is to be comfortable and to do the correct thing at all times. Every decision he makes, including who he chooses to marry, is with the intent that it does not damage his â€Å"easy, agreeable, and always decorous character of his life,† (Tolstoy 213). Ivan is convinced that the best way to have an easy and agreeable life is to be wealthy, marry a woman from his own class, and live in a house full of modern conveniences and luxury. Ironically, it... ...roduction of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Vol. 44 it is stated that â€Å"Ivan Ilych’s passage from life to death also entails a passage from falseness to truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (326). One could also look at this in a different light. From a physical perspective Ivan does go from life to death, from perfection to imperfection, but from a spiritual perspective it is actually the opposite. It takes the death of Ivan’s physical self to finally see what is important, his spirituality, his ‘divine spark.’ This, he finally realizes, is what true perfection is. Hence, Ivan is able to see past the falseness of conformity in the end and no longer fear death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his last moments of life, Ivan sees light instead of death. His final audible words are â€Å"What joy!† despite the pain he feels. This epiphany that he has happens in a single moment and in a sense makes him finally come alive. Thus, right before his final breath Ivan is able to say to himself â€Å"Death is finished, it is no more!† Death no longer has a hold on him because the quest of perfection no longer does. Ivan has finally decided, after a lifetime of denying it, to â€Å"let the pain be.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Analysis of Death of Ivan Ilych Essay -- essays research papers Letting Pain Be   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  To many individuals the word â€Å"progress† has a positive meaning behind it. It suggests improvement, something humans have been obsessed with since the dawn of society. However, if closely examined, progress can also have a negative connotation as well. While bringing improvement, progress can simultaneously spark conformity, dependency, and the obsession of perfection within the individuals caught in its midst. It is this aspect of progress within modern society that negatively affects Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy’s main character in The Death of Ivan Ilych. Ivan’s attempt to conform to modern society’s view of perfection takes away his life long before he dies. Furthermore, his fear of death and reactions towards it reflects modern society’s inability to cope with the ever present reminder that humans still suffer and die, despite all attempts to make life painless, perfect, and immortal.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Although we as a society have advanced and made people’s lives easier, our mental suffering is as present as ever, due to our incessant need to have everything perfect. We seem to forget that the fascination of living comes from the imperfect and the unexpected. In her essay â€Å"On the Fear of Death† Elisabeth Kubler-Ross suggests that the modern age, while increasing life span and ease of life, has at the same time given way to a â€Å"rising number of emotional problems,† amongst the living (Ross 407). She also suggests that because of modern society’s progress, there has been an increased anxiety towards death. While Ross is writing for twentieth century society her ideas apply to the nineteenth century as well, when Tolstoy wrote The Death of Ivan Ilych.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ivan Ilych is living during the industrial revolution, a time of technological advancement, that mainly advances the upper class, which he is apart of. Ivan’s number one priority in life is to be comfortable and to do the correct thing at all times. Every decision he makes, including who he chooses to marry, is with the intent that it does not damage his â€Å"easy, agreeable, and always decorous character of his life,† (Tolstoy 213). Ivan is convinced that the best way to have an easy and agreeable life is to be wealthy, marry a woman from his own class, and live in a house full of modern conveniences and luxury. Ironically, it... ...roduction of Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism, Vol. 44 it is stated that â€Å"Ivan Ilych’s passage from life to death also entails a passage from falseness to truth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (326). One could also look at this in a different light. From a physical perspective Ivan does go from life to death, from perfection to imperfection, but from a spiritual perspective it is actually the opposite. It takes the death of Ivan’s physical self to finally see what is important, his spirituality, his ‘divine spark.’ This, he finally realizes, is what true perfection is. Hence, Ivan is able to see past the falseness of conformity in the end and no longer fear death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In his last moments of life, Ivan sees light instead of death. His final audible words are â€Å"What joy!† despite the pain he feels. This epiphany that he has happens in a single moment and in a sense makes him finally come alive. Thus, right before his final breath Ivan is able to say to himself â€Å"Death is finished, it is no more!† Death no longer has a hold on him because the quest of perfection no longer does. Ivan has finally decided, after a lifetime of denying it, to â€Å"let the pain be.†Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  

Productive Opportunity Essay

Productive opportunities depends on multiple things, the advancement of technology, the availability and access to resources, and also what producers and entrepreneurs can think of at the given time. Choosing a combination of productive and financial opportunities help maximize wealth. They key in finding a productive opportunity is a high degree of awareness of the factors that distort judgment A perfect capital market is when buying and selling do not affect prices. â€Å"In a perfect capital market the corporation is regarded only as a means of generating wealth, because the present value of the dollar returns it generates is the only feature relevant to its owners.† Understanding your resource, resources is a source or supply from which an organization gains profit. Typically resources are materials or other assets that are transformed to produce benefit and in the process may be consumed or made unavailable. From a human perspective a natural resource is anything obtained from the environment to satisfy human needs and wants. Organizations operate by people making decisions. A manager plans and organizes a team by executing decisions. The effectiveness and quality of those decisions determines how successful a manager is. With this being said â€Å"the goal of the manager and owner remain the same as long as market value is maximized.† Opportunity is all around us but yet at the same time sometimes we never see it. In business we look for new ways to market our business, reach our target market, build on online community and through this all we overlook the opportunity that is all around us. We are learning to create opportunity my maximizing our market value. In conclusion, â€Å"in a perfect capital market, the market value of the ï ¬ rm is determined only by the cash ï ¬â€šows it can generate and not by the source of funds used to ï ¬ nance those operations. The task of management is to create wealth by ï ¬ nding productive opportunities with average rates of return exceeding the market rate of interest.† Fabozzi, Frank J. (2011-12-01). Financial Economics (Page 46). Wiley. Kindle Edition.

China Golden Age Song Dynasty - 1297 Words

GLOBAL CHINA GOLDEN AGE: SONG DYNASTY A golden age is a specific time where peace, happiness and prosperity flourishes within a civilization. In China. This period was known as the Song Dynasty, which lasted from (920-1279). China’s Golden Age was followed by the Yuan Dynasty, which dated from the years (1271-1368). During this period the Song Dynasty was exciting to people. Agriculture flourished leading to the inventions of the moveable typewriter and magnetic compass, paper money, and even gunpowder. The Song Dynasty led to China’s most significant achievement, Neo-Confucianism. Despite the influential importance art and creativity had on the Chinese people, it did not perform as much of an important, helpful part to the Chinese people as Agriculture and Neo-Confucianism did. Advancements in China during the Song Dynasty caused this time period to flourish with peace, prosperity, and happiness. The Song dynasty was ruled by Zhao Kuangyin who was a chief-general in the dynasty before the Song, Hou Zhuo. Zhao Kuangyin unified china into a strong central government. He designed a strategy to conquer various kingdoms one by one, staring in the south, which was very rich in their production of items but weak in forces and protection. Zhao the ruler of the Song dynasty which lasted over 300 years believed in following short military dynasties. During the Song Dynasty, gunpowder was becoming more common to people to develop weapons. When theShow MoreRelatedHow the Tang-Song Era Is a Golden Age1507 Words   |  7 PagesThe definition of a Golden Age is a time of economic, political, technological, and social improvement and advance at a great level. The Tang and Song Dynasties are very important to the history of Chinese civilization. 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