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Pyotr Ivanovich
A young man from a peasant family, Gerasim is one of Ivan Ilyich’s servants. Unlike everyone else in the house, Gerasim is more than willing to empathize with Ivan because he isn’t afraid to try to understand what it must be like to die. While the other servants, along with Praskovya and Liza, are all unable to sympathize with Ivan because they don’t truly want to understand what it must be like to be in his position, Gerasim doesn’t mind because he accepts that everyone will someday face a similar fate. In turn, he becomes Ivan’s favorite caretaker, often staying up all night and letting Ivan rest his legs on his shoulders, elevating them in such a way that alleviates the dying man’s pain. A gentle and kind man, Gerasim is quite wise, reminding Pyotr Ivanovich at Ivan’s funeral that death will come for everyone someday.
Gerasim Quotes in The Death of Ivan Ilyich
The The Death of Ivan Ilyich quotes below are all either spoken by Gerasim or refer to Gerasim. 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 9 Quotes
He waited only for Gerasim to go out into the next room, and then he could restrain himself no longer: he burst into tears like a child. He was weeping because of his own helpless state, and his loneliness, and other people’s cruelty, and God’s cruelty, and God’s non-existence.
‘Why hast Thou done all of this? Why hast Thou brought me to this point? Why oh why dost Thou torture me like this?...’
He was not expecting any answers; he was weeping because there were not and could not be any answers.
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Gerasim Quotes in The Death of Ivan Ilyich
The The Death of Ivan Ilyich quotes below are all either spoken by Gerasim or refer to Gerasim. 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 9 Quotes
He waited only for Gerasim to go out into the next room, and then he could restrain himself no longer: he burst into tears like a child. He was weeping because of his own helpless state, and his loneliness, and other people’s cruelty, and God’s cruelty, and God’s non-existence.
‘Why hast Thou done all of this? Why hast Thou brought me to this point? Why oh why dost Thou torture me like this?...’
He was not expecting any answers; he was weeping because there were not and could not be any answers.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
