The Bet by Anton Chekhov Analysis Essay

The Bet, a short story written by Anton Chekhov delineates a banker betting on the idea that one cannot live in jail and more specifically be in solidarity for a long time, fifteen years to be exact. The bet derives from a feud among a couple of men about capital punishment and whether or not it is unethical. With opinions brewing, a rich and impulsive banker buys in on the idea that jail is unethical, with a young lawyer as his venturer. The decision taken by the lawyer during the bet as well as his mindset during the duration of the plot depicts the value and meaning of human life.

Fundamentally, the lawyer's tenacity drives him in the direction of his ideas. The strong determination of the lawyer is what pushes him to add more time to his own sentence, merely for the sake of proving to the banker that life in prison is superior to death as one who is imprisoned is still living. Confidently, he retorts, saying that, “‘If you mean it seriously,‘ replied the lawyer, ‘then I bet I'll stay not five but fifteen’" (Chekhov 1). The lawyer’s extension of his own sentence illustrates his eagerness when it comes to proving himself among others. This action also foreshadows the lesson learned by the lawyer at the end of his triumph. The lawyer supports his claim by stating how "Capital punishment and life-imprisonment are equally immoral; but if I were offered the choice between them, I would certainly choose the second. It's better to live somehow than not to live at all" (Chekhov 1). This adds to the lawyer's character as it portrays him as the optimist in this situation. It also helps demonstrate how one who believes in life is much stronger than a coward who does not have the courage to endure reality like the banker, who comes across as authoritarian and hidden by his own ego and wealth. During his first year, the lawyer experiences the detriments of desire to the solidate soul, explaining that wine “‘excites desires, and desires are the chief foes of a prisoner” (Chekhov 2). The lawyer is characterized as an intelligent man, not falling prey to any addiction or depression during his first year. His evaluation and resentment towards pleasurable commodities like wine and tobacco instigate the lawyer's detachment from outside stimuli. During the sixth year, the lawyer “began zealously to study languages, philosophy, and history. He fell on these subjects so hungrily that the banker hardly had time to get books enough for him. In the space of four years about six hundred volumes were bought at his request” (Chekhov 2). His strong desire for learning showed that despite the prior years of grief, he finally reached enlightenment in terms of what human life really meant. Even with this revelation, reading seems to be the lawyer's main stimuli in terms of connection to the outside world. Finally, during his last days in his cell, it was discovered by the sinister banker that the lawyer had written a note stating, “I may show you in deed my contempt for that by which you live, I waive the two millions of which I once dreamed as of paradise, and which I now despise. That I may deprive myself of

my right to them, I shall come out from here five minutes before the stipulated term, and thus shall violate the agreement" (Chekhov 5). This change in character from when he was dreaming about the things he could do with enormous wealth to now despising the two million dollars shows how he had realized materialistic values did not amount to anything in human life. He determined that the root cause of suffering was in fact the pleasure and desire of the physical world.

In summary, the change in character seen in the lawyer seen through the course of the story deliberately portrays the overall theme of the irrelevance of material wealth to human life. Ultimately, both the banker and lawyer were haunted by the greed they showed in context to the bet as they were both desperate and constantly worried about the outcome for the fifteen years, with both men deteriorating in mental health.