EXTRA CREDIT TOLSTOY

I am answering the first question: How does Ivan's quest for status, advancement, prestige, and generally the approval of others endanger his chance to live a more meaningful life? I said that Ivan's quest for all these things endangers his chance at a more meaningful life because he is not living for himself-he is living and doing things for others-and nobody wants nor likes to do things that they don't want to do for themselves. For example, he had an awful wife, Praskovya Fedorovna, who practically used him for his money and when he died, she pretended to be sad but wanted his money (page 102). His wife made him do most things and on page 110, it said that every time Ivan didn't obey his wife's demands, she'd abuse him and it continues to say on page 113 that as this continued going on, Ivan began to try and free himself more from his family life and start going out more and be home less.
Another idea is that Ivan Ilych's need for approval also endangered his chances for a meaningful life because he never thought he was good enough for anyone and he became depressed by having low self-esteem. He did a job as a court justice that he didn't really enjoy that much but his dad did that and his dad subconciously pressured him to do that or he would be considered a failure unlike his brother, who was the favored son. Ivan also wasn't that "true" to himself, which could prevent him from living a meaningful life. On page 104-105, Tolstoy is describing how Ivan's life was very boring and repetitive; and how he also changed all his ideas and how he dresses to please other people.
I also thought about how Ivan Ilych, in order to please others and his desire for status, caused him to ditch his morals and did things that he knew weren't right but he didn't care and didn't. He wanted to be perceived as "cool". On page 105 it said that Ivan did things that were horrid but once he saw his superiors do the same things, he felt his actions were OK. On page 133 it also said that Ivan would hide behind various screens to prevent showing people how he was really feeling.