Tolstoy's religion can be divided into two parts: pre and post conversion. He was baptized into a life of privilege and wealth in Czarist Russia. Since "The Death of Ivan Illych" was written in post conversion we decided to use his own words to describe pre-conversion. In his 1884 book Confession he wrote: "I cannot recall those years without horror, loathing and heart rending pain. I killed people in war, challenged men to duels with the …showed first 75 words of 326 total…

…showed last 75 words of 326 total…teaching that he was what all people were and potentially could be. <Tab/>Tolstoy gathered a big following as he dedicated most of the 2nd half of his life to writing essays, pamphlets, didactic short stories like "The Death of Ivan Illych" and plays. His novel published in 1899 included blatant criticisms of the Russian Orthodox Church as an institution. This among other things led to his excommunication from the church in 1901.