The ability of one to accept their condition in life is much harder to do, than not accept them. In Hughes', "One Friday Morning," Nancy Lee is able to accept what fate gives her and beyond accepting, she wants to change it so future generations will not have to face the same disappointments. On the contrary is Ivan Ilych, in Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilych." Ivan is never satisfied with what he has in life and always wants things to change. It is not until he is on his deathbed he realizes his life could have been different if he had accepted it.
             Nancy Lee is the epitome of how some people truly accept what cards they are dealt in life. When she is told she is the winner of the art award, she writes a speech thanking America, in a sense, for the opportunity she is given. However, when the award is taken from her, she does not lose hope in her country, she decides to help change the situation for future generations. I think this a much harder decision to make than to crumble the second life does not give you what you want. Nancy Lee said, "This won't keep me down. But when I am a woman, I'll fight to see these things don't happen to other girls as this has happened to me," (397). She is able to walk away with her head high, pledge her allegiance to a country that has disappointed her and say, "This is a land we must make," (397).
             Ivan Ilych is a character in complete opposites with Nancy Lee. In his life, he is never satisfied and does things solely to look and act how he feels society want him to. Ivan does not marry because he falls madly in love; he marries because "his social circle approved the match," (213). When his marriage became rocky he did not try to help or accept his life was changing, he ran to his work and buried himself in it. Even when his children died, he did not try to accept it; he threw himself even more so in his w...