‘The unexamined life is not worth living’

`The unexamined life is not worth living

language Plato wrote : The unexamined life is not worth living ' Apply this quote to the main characters of The Death of Ivan Ilyich (Ivan The Metamorphosis (Gregor , Death in Venice (Gustav ) and To Room 19 (Susan and Mathew . Focus on the quote as it relates to the characters and the stories . Do not retell the plots . Give specific examples to back up your responses

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I agree with the statement that unexamined life is indeed worthless People who are respected everywhere are those who follow the path of reason rather than allow themselves to be lead by moods and impulses Most people , however , are guided by their desires and impulses and come to grief . They never pause to think what they are doing - to critically analyze the consequences of their thoughts and action . They take life for granted and choose to follow the conventional path . Animals have to follow their instincts , but why should human follow them . All the evils of life spring from this unthinking habit . Even good characters have to suffer because of the wrong decisions taken uncritically . Examples and illustrations may be taken from literature in support of this argument

Leo Tolstoy 's hero Ivan Ilych is a good case in point . He is driven by excessive ambition for money and status which makes him insensitive to other important issues of life . Only after he falls ill he begins examining his life to discover a rationale for his suffering . At different situations of his life he reacts emotionally : frustrated at not being promoted to the post of presiding judge , he becomes a workaholic and neglects his relationship with family . Once he joins the rat race of success , he gives up thinking about the consequences of his actions . Being uncritical he makes a series of blunders which lead to mental depression and his ultimate death . Before the death of his body his mental decay sets in . All disastrous actions in his life are the result of his giving up of thinking habit . First , his impusive marriage to a woman , Praskovya , and her pregnancy prove to be a stumbling block to his career advancement . In reaction he turns into a workaholic and gets more and more isolated from his family . He leads a life of impulse and set his priorities in the wrong way . Again , when denied the coveted promotion , he irrationally takes leave to settle down in his brother-in-law 's country house and then faces financial hardship

Owing to his lack of self-knowledge , he always moves from the frying pan into the fire . His curious disease and mental depression further degenerate into an abnormal preoccupation with death . Even his estranged wife does not show sympathy which in turn antagonizes him Ambition , isolation and hostility spring from his clouded judgment . the confused state of...