Ivan Ilyich experiences “a queer taste in his mouth” and “some discomfort in his left side” (269). As his physical discomfort increases and his temper ignites, confrontations with his wife become frequent, and she wishes he were dead.

The nagging discomfort in Ivan Ilyich’s side becomes a constant ache. After multiple consultations, doctors cannot agree on a diagnosis. Even worse, no one answer directly whether his condition is fatal. Feeling dismayed when his wife and doctors downplay his increasingly serious condition, Ivan Ilyich tries homeopathic remedies and even considers faith, until he becomes alarmed by his own intellectual feebleness of this last-ditch effort.

The rest of the world continues its regular routines, and Ivan Ilyich can see that his condition and complaints annoy others because his suffering carries with it a gloom that everyone wishes to avoid. Ivan Ilyich tries to follow the orders of his doctors, though they sometimes contradict one another. His wife, however, accuses him of being incapable of following prescriptions.

Ivan Ilyich’s brother-in-law visits and immediately notices Ivan Ilyich’s physical deterioration, describing Ivan Ilyich as a dead man with no light in his eyes. His doctors are still unable to agree on a diagnosis.