The Life and Death of Okonkwo and Ivan Ilych.

Leo Tolstoy and Chinua Achebe both write about characters that go through their lives doing everything they are supposed to do according to their respective societies. But in the end, they both realize that all they have done was not enough. While each of the protagonists' lives turn to grief, one fate was tragic while the other was pathetic. As they continued on their paths to "succeed", neither was able to predict the dangers that …

…in our society. Cheating spouses are no longer an abnormal event, although still frowned upon. The characters Tolstoy and Achebe portray in their novels live their lives a certain way while the reader seems relieved that they are not those characters. But this statement needs more thought than that. Most people have both of the qualities of the two characters we had just criticized. Neither attribute is too damaging unless taken to an excessive amount.