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Gerasim
Vasya is Ivan’s young son, who is perhaps the only person in his family who truly cares about Ivan’s failing health. Unlike Praskovya and Liza, Vasya hasn’t been corrupted yet by fixating on social status or reputation. Similarly, he also hasn’t lost his innocence by entering the professional world. For this reason, Ivan admires him for his authentic, untainted goodness. While Vasya is crying and flailing his arms on the last day of Ivan’s life, Ivan’s hand touches Vasya’s head, and Vasya kisses his father’s fingers, flooding Ivan with sorrow and regret as he suddenly sees that his suffering is harming his family members. In fact, it is this tender exchange that inspires him to ask for his family’s forgiveness just before dying.
Vasya Quotes in The Death of Ivan Ilyich
The The Death of Ivan Ilyich quotes below are all either spoken by Vasya or refer to Vasya. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12
Quotes
‘Yes, I’m hurting them,’ he thought. ‘They feel sorry for me, but they’ll be all right when I’m dead.’ He wanted to tell them this, but he wasn’t strong enough to get the words out. ‘Anyway…no good talking. Must do something.’ He looked at his wife, motioned to their son and said: ‘Take him away…sorry for him… and you…’ He tried to say, ‘Forgive me,’ but it came out as, ‘For goodness…’ Too weak to correct himself, he waved his hand knowing that he who needed to would understand.
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Vasya Quotes in The Death of Ivan Ilyich
The The Death of Ivan Ilyich quotes below are all either spoken by Vasya or refer to Vasya. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 12
Quotes
‘Yes, I’m hurting them,’ he thought. ‘They feel sorry for me, but they’ll be all right when I’m dead.’ He wanted to tell them this, but he wasn’t strong enough to get the words out. ‘Anyway…no good talking. Must do something.’ He looked at his wife, motioned to their son and said: ‘Take him away…sorry for him… and you…’ He tried to say, ‘Forgive me,’ but it came out as, ‘For goodness…’ Too weak to correct himself, he waved his hand knowing that he who needed to would understand.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
