Question

What does the candle symbolize in this excerpt from Leo Tolstoy’s The Death of Ivan Ilyich?

“When I am not, what will there be? There will be nothing. Then where shall I be when I am no more? Can this be dying? No, I don’t want to!” He jumped up and tried to light the candle, felt for it with trembling hands, dropped candle and candlestick on the floor, and fell back on his pillow.

A.
Ivan Ilyich’s shallow lifestyle
B.
Ivan Ilyich’s troubled conscience
C.
Ivan Ilyich’s murky past
D.
Ivan Ilyich’s approaching death

Answer 1

The answer is D. Ivan Ilyich’s approaching death.

His life is “burning out”, he tries to light the candle but fails, he’s slowly dying and only fell back into the pillow, he can’t escape death.