One of the recurring themes in the Death of Ivan Ilyich is the two lives that people live in. One is the shallow way of life which consists of materialism and selfishness. The second is the real life which shows the truer meaning of life through deep human relationships, sense of belonging, and strength of character. The shallow life is said to be the one that overshadows the real life because most people only want what is on the surface. Another theme is the acceptance of death. This is seen when Ivan tries to accept death with great difficulty. The sooner he accepted his death, the happier he became and the more he saw the deeper things in life.
