Our Conflict Within in Leo Tolstoy´s The Death of Ivan Ilych

In his acceptance speech for the 1949 Nobel Prize for Literature, the American laureate writer, William Faulkner provided insight to what he felt is the only important subject worth writing about; â€Å"the human heart in conflict with itself.† After reading the entire speech and putting that phrase in context, I believe he was referring to a shift authors were making at that time in writing about external forces, which are not universally relevant. William Faulkner believed it more important to write about the struggles each of us face with the human spirit and the lessons available through reflection. This struggle or conflict within us creates interest by providing an instrument in which the reader can relate to what the character is experiencing. I believe this is what draws the reader into the story and keeps their interest. To help examine this this probability, I have chosen two stories from this course’s reading requirements. The first story I have conside red is by Leo Tolstoy titled â€Å"The Death of Ivan Ilych†. Sixty-three years before Faulkner received his Nobel Prize, Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy wrote the novel titled the â€Å"Death of Ivan Ilych†. In this story, Tolstoy tells us of the life of the protagonist Ivan Ilych Golovin. An unremarkable man in most every way, Ivan is a judge, who values material possessions and social standing above all else. Ivan’s passion lies with his career and the material objects his salary provides. His family is nothing more than an