Ivan Ilyich is unable to accept his death because he is incapable of grasping the idea of death in his mind. He knows that he is human and that humans are mortal, but he has detached himself from the idea of mortality." Caius is a man, men are mortal, and therefore Caius is mortal-had always seemed to him correct as applied to Caius but by no means to himself" (Tolstoy, 79). He related to death as an abstract idea that did not apply to him. Death and Caius were relatable because both were abstract ideas. Ivan, in his concrete and unique form, could not believe that such an abstract concept could be so easily applicable to him.
Ivan regarded himself as a distinct man with distinct experiences. He did not consider himself an ordinary man that death could touch so easily. His childhood, youth, and adulthood had been marked by unique incidences that set him apart from other ordinary people. He had rioted in school because the pastries were bad, had presided well over a court session and been intensely in love at some point in his youth. He had grown up with a coachman and a nurse, privileges that the ordinary person couldn't possibly grasp in their minds. He alongside his friends has believed that they were not destined to die like Caius.