We began by analyzing the known quote in Chapter 2 that Ivan's life was" simple ,ordinary and miserable." We discussed Tolstoy's meaning in classifying the "ordinary" as miserable and based on the text noted how Ivan's life is ordinary because he craves acceptance by conforming to upper class society's habits and fashions and hence had an empty or "miserable" life. In this regard, we examined that Ivan "married" only because those in high positions 'considered it the proper thing to do" . Ivan's emotional detachment from his wife and those he must sentence foretell the treatment he will receive upon sickness. Last, I explained the subtle bibilcal allusion to the Fall of Man as described in Genesis , enacted when Ivan injures himself falling off a ladder while decorating his "bourgeois " home. Matthew was impressed by Tolstoy's skill in embedding the allusion in the plot without a specific mention of the biblical event. HW- read next chapter/hand in essay revision.