In the book Existentialism is a Humanism, Sartre argues that all men, make themselves based on their decisions, therefore one could look at another person’s life and judge them for their actions. They can also be judged based on their consequences or outcomes in certain situations because they constructed their lives in a certain way. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy is about a man named Ivan Ilyich, who suffered a painful death, not only physical but also emotionally and spiritually. If one was to judge the life of Ivan Ilyich based his decisions during his life one can conclude that he lived a very wasteful life, empty life, and unfulfilled life. One’s life should be critically analsiszed before passing judgement. Sartre claims that…show more content… Continuing to judge the life of Ivan Ilyich, based on the information that his told about him one can conclude his lived a very artificial life, with artificial relationships. He is a man who never had the thought of dying while he was living his life but he should have known that one day he will day and that people will look at the life that he lived and judge him based on all his actions. When death becomes a big part of Ivan’s life, it forces him to re-evaluate his life and also his self-worth. According to Sartre we can define a man by whatever he commits himself to in life. Sartre would have looked at Ivan Ilyich’s life and would not judge Ivan on one area but rather his full life because he claims that a man is defined by thousands of things. When Sartre quotes the rather famous saying, “you are nothing but your life” (Sartre 38), he’s saying that there are so many factors in one’s life that help to define the person that they are. “The death of Ivan Ilyich” shows how tough it is for Ivan to be going through different phases of life, from his high and supreme position to a very humble and self conscious state when death comes to say hello. Sartre will not expect one to judge Ivan Ilyich based on his state before death came because he underwent a transformation, just like other human beings end up doing. Although Ivan Ilyich had everything, including a family that is presentable to society, a position that is well respected and admired, and an appearance of a member of the high class society, Tolstoy specifically details Ivan’s shallow