“…it is he who is dead and not I.”
The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy is a powerful exploration of mortality. Through the story of Ivan Ilyich, a successful and respected lawyer, Tolstoy portrays the tragedy of a life lived without acknowledging the certainty of one’s own death. Instead, as articulated in the quote, denial is a staunch ally in the process: others die, not me.
A picture is worth a thousand words. At Eternity’s Gate by Vincent van Gogh conveys the overwhelming weight of grief. However, the title brings home the meaning of the work and, more surprisingly, the hope in the subject of the painting, death. Western art depicts death through numerous symbols and scenes: skeletons, skulls, scythes, apocalyptic scenes, the superhuman, the demonic,
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Existential-Humanistic Institute, Inc. A California Benefit Corp