What do you make of Ivan’s pivotal choice? Do you understand where he’s coming from? What would you have done differently?
Ivan was thinking only of himself. He was the one who had the drugs that turned out to be so harmful for Eddie. He was afraid that he would end up in trouble. So okay I know why he did what he did but it was very bad. He should have stayed with his friend. I have never been in a circumstance where I felt I would have to abandoned a friend I know I would never do it!
The reasons for his choice are clearly laid out. If Eddie had been, in fact, dead and Ivan supplied the heroin, he would have faced criminal and civil liability. (As has happened in many cases of celebrity deaths, including the tragic demises of Matthew Perry, Michael Jackson, and John Belushi.) So he fled in order to evade being identified and held accountable.
He faced a moral, ethical, and legal dilemma, and chose to protect himself from having to face the consequences of their very reckless behavior.
I would like to believe that I would have made a different choice. But Ivan, Eddie, and Ginger were young, wild, and irresponsible. Certainly old enough to comprehend right and wrong, and appreciate the magnitude of the situation. Even in my 20’s, though, I can’t envision myself running out of that hospital the way Ivan did.
I would like to believe I would have stayed, made sure Ivan got the attention he needed, and faced the consequences, but I’ve happily never faced the possibility of prison. The closest this made me think of was when I was young and awakened because my neighbor was shouting that my building was on fire, and in trying to get out of the building, I realized my friends in an apartment across the hall wouldn’t have heard the neighbor. Deciding to stop my escape and alert them and make sure they could also get out felt a little bit akin to this. (And ultimately, it turned out to be not much of a fire and we were all safe. But I would have hated myself if I’d just run without awaking them.)
I do understand Ivan’s choice. I hope I would not have made the same one but I can see how and why he made that choice. We learned early on in the relationship that Eddie was the more devoted of the two . Their roles in the friendship were very well sketched out and Eddie was the caregiver, the more supportive and reliable friend. Ivan was always self centered and selfish. He was also high and paranoid and somewhat rightfully afraid he might be arrested and charged with drug use or worse if Eddie died. I wasn’t surprised at all that he left him there, I was a bit surprised he didn’t just leave him in the apartment.
Ivan was a low life but I did not agree with his choice to abandon his friend. Throughout his life he obviously never reconciled his actions or forgave himself.
I understand that Ivan was frightened and he thought Eddie was already dead or almost dead. He feared the consequences of arrest. He ran because he was afraid. I didn’t admire his choice and he had to live with it haunting him the rest of his life. If he would have least checked to see what happened to Eddie at the hospital I would have had more sympathy for him.
It was selfish, pure and simple, but he was on drugs and had been for a long time. I don’t understand where he’s coming from, as i’ve luckily never dealt with addiction. I don’t think any of us can say what we would have done differently..it’s one of those moments in time with too many variables.
In his drug-fueled state, I don’t know how much agency and critical thinking Ivan put into his decision in the moment. He was young, immature, on drugs, scared - I don’t know that many people make thoughtful and sound decisions in that kind of a state. That doesn’t make his choice right, it is just context to the situation. Clearly since Ivan spent years thinking about the moment, he felt he made the wrong choice.
Ivan was drugged and totally panicked when he abandoned Eddie in the ER. He acted purely out of the “fight or flight” stress instinct and was acting at a primitive level of self-preservation. Behavior like Ivan’s is unforgiveable but also understandable. His lizard brain was telling him to run and preserve himself, and he acted on that primal instinct.
That said, his act of betrayal was reprehensible and he rightly suffered for it the rest of his life. Behavior has consequences, and Ivan deserved to have emotional pain (despite the many good things in his adult life).
It was completely understandable. Ivan was high, scared and very young. Impulse drives many decisions we make and although I’d like to think I’d behave differently, I’ve thankfully never been in that situation.
Well it does seem that everyone understands why Ivan made the choice that he did. Since he was also under the influence of the drugs I am surprised that he was able to think so clearly. However, when trouble arises it would probably shake you into some sort of sobriety. He knew it was a terrible thing that he did and I think it haunted him the rest of his life so you have to wonder if it was worth it. I don’t think I would have ever been in such a situation but if I was I would certainly stay with my friend at all costs.
Ivan wanted no part of any repercussions - he knew his friend needed help, but he was not man enough to face any consequences that went along with answering questions. To begin with I would never have been involved with drugs or drug addicts, but IF I had to take an addict for treatment I would have stayed until I knew they were being taken care of properly.
I have tried to keep the age of the characters in perspective when thinking about this. They were all very young, although old enough to know what the repercussions would be. Ivan acted very selfishly by leaving Eddie at the hospital alone… I can certainly understand why he felt guilt for the rest of his life over that incident. I was a little surprised that he didn’t try a little harder to find out what happened to Eddie instead of just presuming that he died.