The Myth of Immortality and the Experience of Dying: A Comparative Analysis of Balzac's the Elixir of Long Life and Tolstoy's the Death of Ivan Ilyich

This paper explores the ontological status of death through a comparative analysis of two diametrically opposed literary narratives: Honoré de Balzac’s short story The Elixir of Long Life and Leo Tolstoy’s novella The Death of Ivan Ilyich. Proceeding from the hypothesis that the attitude toward death is not merely a biological fact but a constitutive principle of subjectivity, the author analyzes how the attempt at a technical overcoming of death in Balzac’s protagonist leads to existential stagnation and a condition of a "living corpse," whereas Tolstoy’s protagonist reaches existential authenticity through pain and the acceptance of finitude. The methodological framework integrates Heidegger’s concept of "being-toward-death" (Seinzum-Tode), psychoanalytic insights on narcissism and the death drive, as well as a phenomenological analysis of the body. Particular focus is placed on the symbolic opposition between the eye motif—as a figure of external surveillance and judgment in Balzac—and the light motif—as a sign of internal transformation and ethical opening toward the Other in Tolstoy. The paper’s conclusion indicates that the negation of death results in an ontological void, whereas its integration into the structure of the subject enables a meaningful and authentic existence. Rad istražuje ontološki status smrti kroz komparativnu analizu dva dijametralno suprotna književna narativa: pripovetke Eliksir dugog života Onore de Balzaka i novele Smrt Ivana Iljiča Lava Tolstoja. Polazeći od hipoteze da odnos prema smrti nije samo biološka činjenica već konstitutivni princip subjektivnosti, autor analizira kako pokušaj tehničkog prevazilaženja smrti kod Balzakovog junaka vodi ka egzistencijalnoj stagnaciji i stanju „živog leša”, dok Tolstojev junak kroz bol i prihvatanje konačnosti doseže egzistencijalnu autentičnost. Metodološki okvir integriše Hajdegerov koncept „bivstva-ka-smrti” (Sein-zum-Tode), psihoanalitičke uvide o narcizmu i nagonu smrti, kao i fenomenološku analizu tela. Poseban fokus stavljen je na simboličku opoziciju motiva oka, kao figure spoljašnjeg nadzora i osude kod Balzaka, i motiva svetlosti, kao znaka unutrašnje transformacije i etičkog otvaranja ka Drugom kod Tolstoja. Zaključak rada ukazuje na to da negacija smrti rezultira ontološkom prazninom, dok njena integracija u strukturu subjekta omogućava smisleno i autentično bivstvovanje.