The Death of Ivan Ilyich.?

Question

What is the significance of St. Petersburg, the Court of Justice, and the Code of 1864?

Answer 1

The Code of 1864 was a reform of the Russian legal system, which followed shortly after the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. As an examining magistrate, he was in charge of interpreting the new law, and it seems he did so fairly. St. Petersburg was the capital, and he had succeeded in getting a promotion based on his own initiative on his visit there. It seemed that he always looked down on the other places he lived

As far as the significance - I have always found Russian literature to be impenetrable. I guess that for all his ambitions and strivings, and the importance that he placed on these 3 factors, meant nothing as he was dying. It also seems ironic that he should die from an injury he got from hanging curtains