# Alyosha — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories character guide

> Alyosha in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Alyosha the Pot

**First appearance:** 0075-alyosha-the-pot

## Snapshot

A servant so unassuming he is nicknamed 'the Pot,' he discovers one day that another person wants him not for his labor but for himself.

## Who they are

Alyosha works without complaint, speaks only when spoken to, and has forgotten the prayers his mother taught him, yet he crosses himself morning and evening out of sheer habit of the heart. When the cook Ustinia saves him hot porridge and laughs at his jokes, he is bewildered by a kind of attention he has never known — being wanted rather than used. His quiet awakening to love, and the household's cold response to it, makes him one of Tolstoy's most devastating portraits of goodness in a world that has no place for it.

## In the story

### [The Snowstorm](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-snowstorm)

Traveling with the narrator in the sledge; expresses concern about being lost and suggests turning back.

### [Alyosha the Pot](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/alyosha-the-pot)

The protagonist, a simple, endlessly cheerful, and obedient peasant boy who works tirelessly. He discovers love and personal connection with Ustinia, but submits to authority when forbidden to marry. He dies from a fall, accepting his fate.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters/alyosha_the_pot
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters