Which two sentences in this excerpt from leo tolstoy's the death of ivan ilyich show ivan ilyich's struggle with his life and his inability to let go of his past? for three whole days, during which time did not exist for him, he struggled in that black sack into which he was being thrust by an invisible, resistless force. he felt that his agony was due to his being thrust into that black hole and still more to his not being able to get right into it. that very justification of his life held him fast and prevented his moving forward, and it caused him most torment of all. suddenly some force struck him in the chest and side, making it still harder to breathe, and he fell through the hole and there at the bottom was a light. "yes, it was not the right thing," he said to himself, "but that's no matter. it can be done.