# Two Old Men explained — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories

> Chapter companion for The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

## What happens

Two pilgrims, Efím and Elisha, journey towards Jerusalem. While Efím remains rigidly focused on the destination, Elisha is repeatedly distracted by human need. He stops to help a starving family, using his pilgrimage money to buy them food, a horse, and a cart, ultimately abandoning his own journey. Efím completes the pilgrimage but finds no spiritual peace. Upon returning home, he learns Elisha's family is joyful and prosperous, and he sees a vision of Elisha in his apiary, radiant like the holy fire in Jerusalem, revealing that true pilgrimage was fulfilled through selfless charity.

## Themes in this chapter

### Faith, Spirituality, and Redemption

Contrasts formal, ritual pilgrimage with a pilgrimage of the heart. Elisha's acts of charity are shown as the true fulfillment of religious duty, bringing redemption to a family and himself.

### Moral Philosophy and Virtue

Explores the conflict between duty to ritual and duty to fellow humans. Elisha's choice to help the starving family embodies the virtue of selfless love over ceremonial obligation.

### Hypocrisy and Social Pretense

Subtly critiqued through Efím, who performs the correct external actions of a pilgrim but is inwardly consumed by worldly worry and judgment, returning home unchanged and bitter.

## Character check-ins

### Efím Tarásitch Shevélef

The rigid pilgrim, focused on the destination and burdened by worldly cares. He completes the journey but returns home spiritually unfulfilled and angry.

### Elisha Bódrof

The compassionate pilgrim who abandons his formal journey to help a starving family, spending his travel funds. His true pilgrimage is one of charity.

### The Stranger

The gaunt, beardless man Elisha finds lying in the sun, part of the starving family he helps.

### Matryóna

The old woman (granny) of the starving family, who recounts Elisha's kindness and how he 'made human beings of us'.

## Key lines

> Elisha waved his hand. 'The evil habit is stronger than I,'

Elisha admits he is powerless against his minor vice of taking snuff.

_Highlights his humility and self-awareness, contrasting with Efím's judgmental nature._

> 'Had he not come we should all have died in our sins. We were dying in despair, murmuring against God and man. But he set us on our feet again...'

The peasant says Elisha saved his family from spiritual and physical death, restoring their faith in God and humanity.

_Shows the profound, transformative impact of Elisha's charity, which went beyond material aid._

> 'So that is how he got ahead of me,' thought Efím. 'God may or may not have accepted my pilgrimage, but He has certainly accepted his!'

Efím realizes Elisha's spiritual achievement through charity surpassed his own through ritual travel.

_The climax of Efím's understanding, acknowledging the superior value of compassionate action._

> There was Elisha... standing, under the birch trees... as Efím had seen him at the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem: and above him the sunlight shone through the birches as the flames of fire had done in the holy place...

Efím sees Elisha at home, illuminated by sunlight among his bees, in a vision identical to the holy fire in Jerusalem.

_The final, powerful image revealing that holiness and divine presence are found in selfless service at home._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/two-old-men
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters