# The Stranger — The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories character guide > The Stranger in The Death of Ivan Ilyich and Other Stories by Leo Tolstoy. **Role:** minor **Also known as:** the stranger in the sheepskin coat **First appearance:** 0039-what-men-live-by ## Who they are A mysterious figure who appears in parables, often representing Christ or a moral teacher. ## In the story ### [The Raid](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-raid) The narrator, a civilian volunteer who seeks to experience battle firsthand but becomes increasingly critical of its glorification. ### [Meeting a Moscow Acquaintance in the Detachment](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/meeting-a-moscow-acquaintance-in-the-detachment) Initially an unknown, awkward figure who approaches the officers; later revealed to be Guskov. ### [Lucerne](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/lucerne) The poor Tyrolean minstrel whose performance is met with indifference and ridicule by the wealthy crowd. He is the central figure provoking the narrator's philosophical outrage. ### [How I Learned to Ride](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/how-i-learned-to-ride) The master's friend who distracts the master with conversation, leading to the narrator's inattention and fall from the horse. ### [What Men Live By](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/what-men-live-by) Revealed to be the angel Michael. He learns three divine lessons while living with Simon and Matryóna: that Love dwells in man, that man cannot know his own needs, and that men live not by self-care but by love. ### [Memoirs of a Lunatic](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/memoirs-of-a-lunatic) The landowner from Kharkov whom the narrator meets on the train to Moscow. They attend the opera and supper together, providing a temporary distraction from the narrator's inner horror. ### [Two Old Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/two-old-men) The gaunt, beardless man Elisha finds lying in the sun, part of the starving family he helps. ### [Where Love Is, God Is](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/where-love-is-god-is) The poor woman with a baby whom Martin invites in from the cold, feeds, and comforts. ### [The Repentant Sinner](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-repentant-sinner) The unnamed repentant sinner who dies after a life of sin. He demonstrates profound theological argumentation, using scripture and the flaws of biblical figures to advocate for God's mercy. ### [Walk in the Light While There Is Light](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/walk-in-the-light-while-there-is-light) An unnamed advisor who persuades Julius to abandon his youthful discontent, marry, and embrace the duties of manhood and citizenship. ### [The Empty Drum](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-empty-drum) Appears as the drummer in the distant city. Emelyán follows him and steals the empty drum, which is the object of his quest ('that, don't know what'). ### [The Young Tsar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-young-tsar) A mysterious guide who leads the Tsar through visions of prisons, frontier shootings, and domestic ruin. ### [Master and Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/master-and-man) The neighbor and village elder; engages in conversation about the harms of family division, reinforcing the old man's views. ### [Three Questions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/three-questions) The wounded enemy whose life is saved, leading to reconciliation. ### [Esarhaddon, King of Assyria](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/esarhaddon-king-of-assyria306) An old man with a long gray beard and mild eyes who appears to Esarhaddon; he acts as a spiritual guide, using a font of water to reveal the truth of non-duality and universal life. ### [Kornéy Vasílyef](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/korn-y-vas-lyef) The labourer from Martha's home village. Kouzmá alleges he is Martha's former lover. His presence in the home and intimate moment with Martha catalyze Kornéy's jealous rage. ### [God’s Way and Man’s](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/god-s-way-and-man-s) Implied to be Mezhenétsky, the revolutionary prisoner who debates tactics and endures solitary confinement. ### [Three Days in the Village](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/three-days-in-the-village) A tattered, insistent beggar who kneels and demands more than the standard alms, expressing hatred beneath his deferential 'Excellency'. ### [Three Days in the Village](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/three-days-in-the-village) A tall, good-looking man from Petersburg, formerly a clerk who read 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina', now destitute after losing his job and his family's failed migration to Siberia. ### [Three Days in the Village](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/three-days-in-the-village) A former newspaper distributor and administrative exile, intelligent and sad, who discusses revolution and literature with the narrator, longing for prison over his current state. ### [Traveller and Peasant](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/traveller-and-peasant) The 'Traveller' fits the description of a stranger engaging in deep moral debate. ### [A Talk with a Wayfarer](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/a-talk-with-a-wayfarer) A bearded, strong peasant from Kaluga, waiting patiently. He is talkative, acknowledges the harm of his smoking habit, and is deeply affected by the narrator's advice to think of his soul. ### [The Forged Coupon](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/chapters/the-forged-coupon) Implied to be the yard-porter Vassily. His testimony in court, bought for ten roubles, secures the verdict against Ivan Mironov. The experience convinces him that moral laws do not exist. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters/the_stranger - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/leo_tolstoy_short_fiction_se/characters