HL Essay Literature

Representations of death in Doctor Zhivago

Dr. Zhivago is Boris Pasternak’s finest work. It has received wide recognition

for its dramatic representation of Russian society throughout the first half of the

twentieth century. The novel thoroughly documents Yuri Zhivago’s life, which

unfolded in a historical context starting with the Russian Revolution of 1905 and going

all the way to the Stalinist thirties. This span of time allowed the author to cover many

radical societal changes. It is worth noting that Pasternak was alive and well

throughout the entire timespan his novel focuses on. While his novel is a work of

fiction, his writings have inevitably been shaped by all the events he witnessed.

Pasternak was therefore able to combine fiction with the social realities of his time.

One of these social realities he managed to capture extensively is the process of dying

and death. Pasternak manages to represent death in both religious and social stances,

but also as a mere literary device. Death is ever-evolving as the novel unfolds, and

each death focuses on different elements. This essay aims to examine the ways in

which the author has accomplished this.

The novel begins with death – Yuri’s mother, Maria, has passed on. The opening

chapter vividly and exhaustively describes the funeral proceedings; we are told of the

people on the street, who “cross themselves”1 upon seeing the funeral cortege.

Ordinary folks on the street briefly stop by to pay homage and make small inquiries

as to who the deceased was. The religious ceremony is described in great detail; the

author comprehensively presents us with the liturgical rites, including exact

quotations from Christian Orthodox prayers; the whole ceremony depicts Maria’s

ascension to God. The funeral has an almost poetic quality to it; “earth rained over the

coffin”2, the narrator explains us, shortly before describing how Yuri was “lashed with

cold gusts of rain”3. This creates a very powerful visual stimulus, with tangible

qualities that the reader can visualize. Little Yuri is further on depicted as praying for

1
Page 8, Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak, as translated into the English language by Pantheon books in the
1962 edition
2
ibid
3
ibidem
 HL Essay Literature
Representations of death in Doctor Zhivago
his mother to be received into God’s “heavenly mansions, where faces of the saints

and the just shine like the stars”4. This death is perhaps unique in the novel, for it

focuses not on the death itself, but on the ceremonial and deeply religious nature of

dying in Orthodox Russia. It is presented not strictly a death, but as a ritual. The reader

will not encounter a similar description again, for the novel distances itself from the

rites associated with death, beginning instead to take a much colder and pragmatic

approach to death.

Yuri had been a very unfortunate child – we find out that his father, Andrei, too

had died as a result of falling out of a moving train (the cause of the fall is a literary

mystery). As Andrei body’s lay on the tracks, the people’s reaction to his death is

radically different from crossing themselves or making inquiries. The bystanders were

rather critical; one passenger firmly explains that “…he died of rich living and mental

illness”5. The narrator describes the death as being a mere inconvenience to the other

passengers, whose main concern was to avoid being robbed of their belongings during

the train’s unexpected stop. The narrator informs us that the conductor had

telegraphed the authorities, as the deceased was a “prominent person”6 whose death

should be investigated. Once several public officials arrived, “questions were asked in

cold, businesslike voices”7. The only person who displayed any sign of remorse was a

“peasant woman who began to wail”8 as the corpse was being carried away; the other

passengers were caught up in their own affairs, and the authorities were too busy to

fulfill their bureaucratic tasks. Perhaps by using the term “peasant woman” Pasternak

attempted to symbolize the spiritual rupture between the peasantry and the urban

dwellers in early 20th century society. Even the bloodied face of the deceased is

deconstructed and turned into a thing of its own; “the blood looked like a cancel mark

4
Page 15
5
Page 17
6
ibid
7
Page 19
8
ibid
 HL Essay Literature
Representations of death in Doctor Zhivago
crossing his face … it looked like a foreign appendage”9, the narrator tells. This death

was far removed from the spiritual and profoundly compassionate context of Maria’s

death.

Death in Dr. Zhivago is also presented as a mere civil procedure to be dealt

with. Early in the novel, we find out that Dr. Zhivago’s mother-in-law, Anna, passed

away. “She had been dead for ten minutes. The cause of death had been … acute

edema … which had not been diagnosed on time”10, the narrator informs us. That

marks the extent to which we are told of Anna’s death; the novel carries on focusing

on the emotions of Tania, Anna’s mother. This cold, medical-style language reminds

the reader of an autopsy report and is far removed from previous instances of death

in the novel. Maria’s death had a religious overtone, Andrei’s death stirred lively

discussions among the passengers, and Anna’s death received a single sentence. “The

funeral service was over”11 is the extent to which the narrator describes Anna’s funeral.

The individuals attending the funeral described her as a “poor soul” 12 and “poor

cricket”13 before taking a taxi to get back home. This is in sharp contrast with Maria’s

funeral, marked by concerned passersby and elaborate funeral rites.

Pasternak lived in Moscow at the height of the Russian Civil War between 1918

and 1920; this perhaps explains the reasons as to how he managed to describe death in

war so pragmatically. In the context of Dr. Zhivago himself being mobilized to the

front as a Red Cross doctor, Zhivago sees his adversaries as “familiar … he’d

wondered if [the soldiers] were his classmates’ younger brothers”14. While this is

compassionate enough, the same paragraph informs us simply that “the bullets

mowed them down”15. This rapid switch between life and death manages to invoke

powerful imageries of a war to any reader. Dr. Zhivago himself is forced to pick up a

9
Page 17
10
Page 75
11
Page 77
12
Ibid
13
Ibidem
14
Page 276
15
Ibid
 HL Essay Literature
Representations of death in Doctor Zhivago
gun and shoot, but we are told that he deliberately aimed away from humans. “But

alas! … two of them he wounded, and one who fell seemed to have lost his life” 16, we

are told. Death in this extreme life-and-death situation is dealt with very

pragmatically, perhaps in order to remind the reader of the chaotic pace of war.

As Russia evolves, so does death. This evolution is best seen with Zhivago

himself, whose family – now in exile – and career – now in its final states – were fading

out. One day, “he collapsed on the stone paving and did not get up” 17. That was

Zhivago’s death. His “funeral service” is not described as a funeral (the word is

missing altogether); the secular nature of the ceremony is described at heights, with

flowers, books and pillows being extensively mentioned. There was no church service,

instead “it was decided …to have a civil cremation”18. This contrasts strongly with

Maria’s funeral, which was inherently religious. “…many more people than

expected”19 attended the funeral, with people “who had never met the man, but were

now coming to see him for the first and last time”20, we are told. This is reminiscent of

both Maria and Andrei’s deaths, which drew popular interest, albeit this time, the

environment was sterile and restrained. The totalitarian state in Russia was at its

height at the time Zhivago died. It suppressed the church and public gatherings;

perhaps death was the last connection with immemorial traditions that were

eliminated by the Revolution. Pasternak, who was critical of the Revolution,

doubtlessly used death in order to represent the destructive nature of the state

apparatus.

Death is, however, not viewed strictly in light of solemn circumstances with a

meaning that can be attributed to a certain setting. Pasternak also toys around with the

concept of death as a basic plot device that gives the novel its thrilling qualities. In part

two of the novel, we are presented with the story of Amalia (a minor character used to

16
Page 277
17
Page 406
18
Page 407
19
ibid
20
ibidem
 HL Essay Literature
Representations of death in Doctor Zhivago
consolidate the evil nature of another character, Mr. Komarovsky). Amalia is, in part

two of the novel, apparently on the brink of death; she had poisoned herself and was

tended to by a medical doctor. The atmosphere is very solemn, and reminds one of

stereotypical portraits of death; the reader is presented with a dark room, a dimly lit

oil lamp that barely functions, and poor Amalia herself, depicted to us as a sickly

woman “holding her head over a bucket and crying loudly”21. This otherwise dramatic

scene is quickly pushed aside when a literary bombshell is defused: we are told that

Komarovsky was the man who drove Yuri’s father to suicide. The gravity of that

revelation makes the reader completely oblivious as to Amalia’s dramatic encounter

with death.

It is precisely this sort of distinction between death as a more profound event,

and death merely being used as a literary device, that demonstrates Pasternak’s

deliberate choice to use death and dying as a broader form of social expression that

evolves alongside a totalitarian regime. The novel ultimately manages to enlighten the

reader as to the extent to which death is modeled by external circumstances beyond

one’s control in a very diverse and thought-provoking manner.

21
Page 54