Tedium Extraordinaire - Literature Essay Samples

It is as if I had been going downhill while I imagined I was going up. And that is really what it was. I was going up in public opinion, but to the same extent life was ebbing away from me. And now it is all done and there is only death.The Death of Ivan Ilych, Leo Tolstoy (144-145)In American society in particular, it is often difficult to fully register the moral point made by Bergman and Tolstoy about the true meaninglessness of public repute; but Ivans commentary on his life awakens that nagging awareness in the recesses of ones conscience, that while basking only in the glory of public opinion we risk a moral regression of equal magnitude the more terrible reality that a meaningful, thoughtful life is ebbing away. The Death of Ivan Ilych and Wild Strawberries each shed light on the danger of mechanical living. Isak Borg and Ivan Ilych undergo the ironic tragedy of social success. Ivans life tells the story of a typical bourgeouis social climber; focused on doing everything that is expected of him, his lack of attention to personal virtue renders him ultimately le phenix de la famille (Tolstoy, 102)- the phoenix to the failing. Comparably, Bergmans professor Isak witnesses the ugly paradox of his academic nobility. While traveling forward in his car to receive his honorary degree a seeming climax to his lifelong climb up the social ladder we see Isak all the while riveted to the past as he becomes spiritually enlightened to the implied falsehood and deception of his life to date.The banal nature of the lives led by Isak and Ivan is portrayed as inexcusable; they cannot be regarded without horror and disgust, thanks to Tolstoy and Bergmans powerful account of a disgraced life. The spiritual breakthroughs which come to pass in the aged lives of Ivan and Isak are imbued with a great sense of immediacy, and with the pain of lost opportunity. The issue at hand in these works can be identified, to a certain extent, with Pascals wager one must make a choice fo r his life to bear any semblance of meaning. A particular scene in Wild Strawberries comes to mind, where an old man takes the fifth rather than offering any insights into a debate over Gods existence. He remains silent, but his silence has incredible impact. The two opposing characters freely discuss the magnanimous issue, while the old mans silence reveals his lifelong failure to broach the all-important question. In this scene, the old man, aside from Isak, exemplifies le phenix de la famille, and his nonparticipation in the discussion, remaining silent, has a wholly saddening affect on the viewer.Furthermore, the damage falls in various corners of the existences of Isak and Ivan. While the lateness of their resurrection from a spiritually devoid lifestyle is certainly shameful, Tolstoy and Bergman show that even their characters death may not be sufficient to end the consequences of his lifes sin of moral disregard. As the characters confront not only death but the foreboding qu estion, What if I have done everything all wrong?, we see their shaky spiritual footing seeping into their childrens generation. Evald, no doubt resentful towards a pervasive sense of meaninglessness from his upbringing, has claimed to hate his father Isak, despite Isaks belief that their relationship is strong. Specifically, it is Evalds fathers refusal to submit to human sympathy or any sort of familial sentiment that remains with Evald. Isaks son accordingly comes to believe, Its absurd to bring children into this world, reflecting his fathers relentlessly practical reasoning. It is just as Ivan, after the birth of his child, responds only as if he is irritated by its presence, and whats more refers to the baby primarily as it. In these moments of Bergmans film and Tolstoys novella, the extensive dangers of an unexamined life are most unsettlingly palpable.Ironic timing makes Ivan Ilychs reflective journey particularly brutal. Redemption from a life most simple and most ordinary and therefore most terrible (Tolstoy, 102) can release Ivan only unto death. Isak Borgs spiritual crisis, beautifully rendered in Ingmar Bergmans film, Wild Strawberries, resonates similarly to the realization of Tolstoys famous protagonist. The life-examination that faces each character is a redoubtable blessing, a process whereby Ivan and Isak undergo a vital enlightenment to the bleakest realities of the triteness of their lives; the brutality which complicates what might otherwise be cause for a healthy, conscientious transformation, we find, lies in the characters realizing each of their lives to have been mistakenly lived and to be, incidentally, nearly over. Tolstoy and Bergman each make the choice that his characters epiphany should come to pass when death is imminent, thereby emphasizing how indispensable it is to evaluate ones life while one is living it. The irreparable crime of a wasted life is left for Isak Borg and Ivan Ilych to remorsefully acknowledge, and left for u s as a most pressing and cautionary message: take pause on the social ladder and reflect before it is too late.