Which of the following are appropriate thesis statements for the themes in the death of ivan ilych by leo tolstoy? tolstoy demonstrates the relationship between life and death through ivan ilych’s battle with illness. tolstoy demonstrates the inevitableness of death in all of his works. the protagonist of the story faces a moral dilemma. tolstoy demonstrates a spiritual message of how to live a meaningful life in the death of ivan ilych. ivan finally realizes that his life was full of superficiality and tries to mend it by doing good deeds.