“In The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, a banker and a lawyer make a bet on if capital punishment or if the death penalty is better or worse than life in prison. The lawyer is to live in confinement for fifteen years, and the banker will give the lawyer two million rubles. The lawyer then says it is a deal and spends his time reading books. While the lawyer is in confinement the banker’s financial status begins to decline, and then the banker notices that he is unable to pay off the bet.
The banker decides to try to kill the lawyer but finds a note saying that he hates material goods and plans to leave early so he can “lose” the bet and save his life. After fifteen years of confinement, the prisoner ( the lawyer ) had a full understanding that money has no importance compared to the intelligence he gained from his studies. In the bet, Chekhov portrays the temptation of greed, and the understanding of the true value of human life.
Chekhov shows that in the story the temptations that were present at the beginning of the story.
“It’s not true! I’ll bet you two million you wouldn’t stay in solitary confinement for five years.” “If you mean that in earnest,” said the young man, “I’ll take the bet, but I would stay not five but fifteen years.” (SHORT STORY ) Chekhov depicts the lawyer as a foolish and greedy person. The lawyer is convinced the value of money won in the bet will be worth it after fifteen years in confinement.
In reality, the lawyer underwent loneliness and depression while being in confinement. During his isolation, the lawyer finds the true meaning of life and forfeit the bet as stated “To prove to you in action how I despise all that you live by, I renounce the two millions of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I despise. To deprive me of the right to the money I shall go out from here five hours before the time fixed, and so break the compact. . . .” It is evident that the lawyer’s confinement helped to understand that money is not a target in life but a test. Greediness is a lesson, which makes us see beyond the materialistic things.
Chekhov also shows the understanding of the value of life without using it as an ambition. It is clear that the banker already understood the value of life. “What was the object of that bet? What is the good of that man’s losing fifteen years of his life and my throwing away two million?” Towards the end, the lawyer begins to notice the value of life, which exceeds the value of money.
Chekhov shows knowledge is as significant as life’s ambition we acquire through life. The lawyer showed no knowledge for his thoughtless decisions for dong the bet. While he was in confinement the lawyer acquired knowledge by reading, writing, and pondering about life. As the Lawyer says “Your books have given me wisdom. All that the unresting thought of man has created in the ages is compressed into a small compass in my brain. I know that I am wiser than all of you.” The lawyer forfeits the bet but yet gained knowledge which is worth more than money.
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