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

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

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0036-a-prisoner-in-the-caucasus

## Snapshot

A fellow officer captured alongside Zhílin, heavy in body and spirit, whose pessimism tests the limits of his companion's resolve.

## Who they are

Kostílin is the kind of captive who counts the days and finds only reasons to despair, his bulk and his gloom making him a burden to himself and to Zhílin. Where Zhílin schemes and observes, Kostílin waits and worries, convinced that their situation admits no escape and no hope. His presence throws Zhílin's resourcefulness into relief, and their forced companionship becomes a study in how two men under the same sentence can inhabit entirely different prisons.

## In the story

### [A Prisoner in the Caucasus](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/a-prisoner-in-the-caucasus)

A fellow officer, stout and cowardly. His panic leads to their initial capture, and his weakness causes their failed joint escape, contrasting Zhílin's fortitude.

## Links

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