The Death of Ivan Ilych Lesson Plan

"In law school he had committed acts which had formerly seemed to him of great vileness...but subsequently, seeing that such acts were also committed by highly placed people and were not considered bad, he, without really thinking them good, forgot all about them...."

What is Ilyich's moral code? What drives his ideas of right and wrong? Do you see any echoes of Ilyich's morality in our own society?

The short answer is, he doesn't have one. Ilyich's morality is entirely dictated by those above him.

A more in-depth discussion might consider the ways in which power and morality intersect. Who gets to decide right and wrong, and why, and how are such norms enforced? These are big...