The Death of Ivan Ilych is a novella by the Russian writer Leo Tolstoy that tells the story of a dying man's moral and spiritual vacillations and eventual religious epiphany. Ivan Ilych is a wealthy judge dying after an accidental injury. As he approaches death, he reflects on his own life full of self-interest, superficiality and a fear of death, and, on the other hand, the life of a peasant named Gerasim who is compassionate and does not fear death.