The Bet (short story) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Bet (short story)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"The Bet" is an 1889 short story by Anton Chekhov about a banker and a young lawyer who make a bet
with each other about whether the death penalty is better or worse than life in prison. The story has a twist
ending.

Contents
1 Plot
2 Characters
2.1 The lawyer
2.2 The banker
3 External links
4 References

Plot
As the story opens, the banker recalls the occasion of the bet fifteen years before. Guests at the party that he
was hosting that day fell into a discussion of capital punishment; the banker argued that capital punishment
is more humane than life imprisonment, while the young lawyer disagreed, insisting that he would choose
life in prison rather than death. They agree to a bet of two million rubles that the lawyer cannot spend fifteen
years in solitary confinement. The bet was on, and the lawyer cast himself into isolation for fifteen years.
The man spends his time in confinement reading books, writing, playing piano, studying, drinking wine, and
educating himself. We find him continuously growing throughout the story. We see various phases in his
term of imprisonment over the years. At first, the lawyer suffered from severe loneliness and depression. But
soon began studying vigorously. He begins with languages and other related subjects. Then, a mix of
science, literature, philosophy and other seemingly random subjects. He ends up reading some six hundred
volumes in the course of four years. Then, the Gospel followed by theology and histories of religion. In the
final two years, the imprisoned lawyer read immensely on chemistry, medicine and philosophy, and
sometimes works of Byron or Shakespeare.
In the meantime, the banker's fortune declines and he realizes that if he loses, paying off the bet will leave
him bankrupt.
The day before the fifteen-year period concludes, the banker resolves to kill the lawyer so as to not owe him
the money. On his way to do so, however, the banker finds a note written by the lawyer. The note declares
that in his time in confinement he has learned to despise material goods as fleeting things and he believes
that knowledge is worth more than money. To this end he elects to renounce the reward of the bet. The
banker was moved and shocked to his bones after reading the note, kisses the strange man on the head and
leaves the lodge weeping, relieved not to have to kill anyone. The prison warden later reports that the lawyer
has left the guest house, thus losing the bet and unwittingly saving his own life.

Characters
There are two major characters featured in "The Bet": the lawyer and the banker, neither of which have
official names in Chekhov's short story.

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The Bet (short story) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The lawyer
The lawyer is seen to be persistent, intelligent and self-motivating. He does not break down in the 15 years
of imprisonment as the banker foretold. He is intelligent by the virtue of reading so many books, which
reflects in his eagerness to associate with other men, rather than claiming the final prize. The lawyer's
character is very dynamic. He starts as a young, impatient person, ready to spend 15 best years of his life for
2 million. His imprisonment changes his life positively: he reads books, ponders over scriptures, learns
languages and plays the piano. His character is reflected when he renounces the 2 million and settles with
just having proved his point.

The banker
The banker likes to be in a position of authority and likes to wield power over others, especially those who
happen to disagree with him. The character changes drastically from the beginning of the story when he
seems to be very free handed as he easily bets to pay two million and later, his lack of wealth drives him to
dishonesty and plan for murder. This also signifies the weak character of the banker. He is very attached to
the materialistic luxuries of life and values human life less than his luxuries as he plans on killing the
lawyer. He plans on killing the lawyer for money and nothing but money changes his mind.

External links
The Project Gutenberg EBook of Best Russian Short Stories, including "The Bet"
(http://www.gutenberg.org/files/13437/13437-8.txt)

References
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_Bet_(short_story)&oldid=672288542"
Categories: 1889 short stories Russian-language short stories Short stories by Anton Chekhov
This page was last modified on 20 July 2015, at 15:51.
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26/08/2015 09:47