Industrialization and the Conformist Man
The arrival of industrialization was without a doubt a clear turning point for mankind, in terms of technological development and in terms of the way mass society subsequently leads everyday life. For Tolstoy, industrialization in Russia came not as an advancement, but a danger to mankind. In The Death of lvan Ilyich, Tolstoy argues through numerous literary devices that modem society lacks an individuality and compassion it once had. The “everyman” character and superficial bourgeois highlighted by Tolstoy’s dispassionate writing style reflect his discontentment with materialistic, post-Industrial Revolution society and the threat it poses to individuality and true sentiment.
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