" In other words this is when a character makes a direct statement that comes straight from their personal train of thought. Indirect discourse is a report of discourse in which deictic terms are modified appropriately, such as; "He said 'I am not going' would be modified to 'He said he is not going.'" In this case there is a statement made about someone or something that is indeed a modification of the original action or statement i.e. someone tells someone else's story. Free indirect discourse is a style of third-person narration, which uses some of the characteristics of third-person along with the essence of first-person direct speech. Randall Stevenson suggests, that the term "is perhaps best reserved for instances where words have actually been spoken aloud" (Stevenson, Randall). This form of discourse is used when a narrator or fellow character makes a statement that may or may not be one from the origin of direct speech by another, "Would he not go?" Now that there is a provided explanation of the three different forms of discourse and how they are applied in literature lets take a look as to how they play a role in The Death of Ivan Ilych.
In chapter one, page 39. Peter Ivanovich discusses his brother-in-law's condition, and how the doctors and his feelings were objective. .
"But what really was the matter with him?".
"The doctors couldn't say---at least they could, but each of them.
said something different. When I last saw him I thought he was getting better.".
"And I haven't seen him since the holidays, I always meant.
to go" (Tolstoy 39).
In the excerpt above there is a transition from direct discourse into indirect discourse and then back to direct again, which occurs, as the following will explain. In the first line of the excerpt Peter Ivanovich directly asks the question of what was really wrong with his brother-in-law, and then in lines two through three Peter makes an indirect statement as to what the doctors were saying about the brother-in-law's condition.
