Tolstoy: The Death of Ivan Ilyich & Master and Man characters

Appears from the start

A respected examining magistrate whose death is announced to his colleagues at the opening. His career has been built around propriety, advancement, and keeping unpleasant demands at a manageable distance. The story then turns back to examine the life that produced the formal funeral his acquaintances attend.

Appears from the start

Ivan Ilyich's colleague and long-standing acquaintance, who attends the funeral and speaks with the widow. His discomfort, social calculations, and continued concern about his evening card game establish the ordinary self-interest surrounding Ivan's death.

Appears from the start

Ivan Ilyich's widow. At the funeral she combines real agitation with practical questions about obtaining money from the government. The retrospective account presents a marriage that began conventionally and became increasingly strained as domestic life interfered with Ivan's preference for order and ease.

Appears from the start

Ivan's daughter, a self-possessed young woman preoccupied with her engagement and the social life continuing around her father's illness.

First appears in chapter 7

A healthy young household servant assigned to assist Ivan during his worsening illness. Direct, patient, and unembarrassed by bodily weakness, he treats care for a dying person as a natural human duty rather than an inconvenience to disguise.

First appears in chapter 8

Ivan's school-age son. Quieter and more vulnerable than the adults around him, he is frightened by his father's decline and remains emotionally responsive to suffering that the household usually avoids discussing plainly.

First appears in chapter 13

A prosperous innkeeper and grain merchant who leaves home after a church festival to secure a profitable purchase before rival buyers arrive. Energetic, boastful, and accustomed to treating labor and generosity as parts of a bargain, he sees the dangerous winter journey chiefly as another chance to prove his business ability.

First appears in chapter 13

Vasili's hired laborer, a capable peasant who has lost much of his earnings through drinking but is currently abstaining. Poorly equipped for the cold and unable to bargain as an equal with his employer, he nevertheless understands horses, roads, and winter danger far better than Vasili does.

First appears in chapter 13

Vasili's strong bay gelding, harnessed to pull the sledge through the storm. Nikita reads the horse's movements and instincts as valuable warnings when wind and snow erase the road.

First appears in chapter 13

Vasili's practical wife, who fears the worsening weather and presses him to take Nikita rather than travel alone. Her caution contrasts with her husband's confidence that money and determination can overcome ordinary limits.

First appears in chapter 13

Nikita's wife, with whom he has an unhappy and complicated marriage. Before the journey he asks that his pay be used to buy a needed horse, though Vasili controls the accounting between them.

First appears in chapter 16

The hospitable head of a large household in Grishkino. When the travelers arrive after losing their way, he offers warmth, food, drink, directions, and the chance to remain safely indoors until the storm passes.