Tolstoy is a believer in life, and above all, defends life against death.

He defends the dying Ivan Ilyich against his own death, while not forgetting that even his "misery," the disproportion between his plans and the means at his disposal, are inseparable elements of the path that his life follows.

Inseparable elements of pain and injustice that complete life and make it prevail over death, or even confirm the eternal competition between life and death, with the triumph of life being indisputable.