The Bet

"The Bet"

By Anton P. Chekhov

Climax

The banker, sets out at the middle of the night,to finish off the lawyer, upon entering his prison, he finds a letter.

The lawyer writes to the banker saying that he has become wiser and saintly in the prison and will leave the cell five hours before the time is up, leaving the money behind.

Plans of Murder

The banker has undergone some problems in the stock market and the 2 millions is all he really has left. In order not to lose all of his money, he is planning to kill the lawyer before the fifteen years are up.

The Solitary Development

Falling Actions and Events

The banker is touched by the lawyer's response, and decides to leave him alone. He feels guilty for his thoughts and feels horrible for his actions. He goes to his house, and doesn't care if he is going to be bankrupt the next morning.

The lawyer is offered wine, food, many books in the prison. He spends most of his time reading books about philosophy and religion. This changes the way he views the world.

Knowledge is more important than money. In the cell the lawyer had learned so much that he did not need the money and left five minutes before the end of the bet.

Solitude is not always bad. This is because when the lawyer was in the cell, he became wiser and smarter. He benefits from solitude.

Characters

Link between the Characters

The creation of the bet

Bad times for the rich banker,and his losses.

Setting

The banker is willing to pay the lawyer two millions if he lives in prison for fifteen years. This bet helps the two settle their debate.

Lawyer

Banker

The man who believes corporal punishment is worse than life in prison. He is a dynamic character because he becomes wiser and more spiritual during his confinement.

Place: The prison (in the garden of the banker)/ The banker's house

Time: mid 1800s

The setting plays a large impact on the story because the whole reason behind the bet is to see which type of punishment is worse, capital punishment or life in prison. We also have to know that it is in a place with many rich people considering the bet is for 2 millions.

The man that hosts the party and believes that life imprisonment is worse than lethal injection. He is a dynamic character because he changes from being a hot shot millionaire to planning to kill the lawyer because the 2 millions is all he has left.

The banker is hosting a party. This is where he and the lawyer get into an argument whether capital punishment is more humane than life in prison.The lawyer will be staying in a cell in the banker's backyard for fifteen years. If he does this he gets two millions.

Fall of the stock market,his pride in money brings forth poverty to him, and two millions is all he has. Desire for taking action against the lawyer is building up in the banker.He realizes that if he gives away his 2 millions, he will be broken and it will result in a horrible rest of his life. The banker knows that the deal shouldn't have been made, and it was causing a burden on both the lawyer and the banker.

Theme

Minor Characters

The Guests

Watch-Men

witness the bet

watch the lawyer and make sure he follows the rules of the bet

Background Details or Events of Exposition

Ending and Resolution

The Bet

Point of View

The point of view in which the story is being told is from a third person limited narrator.

The debate on whether capital punishment is more humane than life imprisonment.

In the end, the lawyer leaves the cell five hours early and doesn't take the prize and leaves the banker, as he had said in the letter.

Conflicts

Man vs. Man: the banker is trying to make sure the lawyer will not win the bet.

Man vs.Self: the lawyer is fighting within himself and debating on whether to leave or not to.

Significant Passage

"That I may show you in deed my contempt for that by which you live, I waive the two millions of 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"

"That cursed bet," murmured the old man clutching his hand in despair...."Why didn't the man die? He's only forty years old. He will take away my last fortune, marry, enjoy life, gamble on the Exchange, and I will look on like an envious beggar and hear the sane words from him every day: 'I'm obliged to you for the happiness of my life. Let me help you'. No it's too much! The only escape from bankruptcy and disgrace- is that the man should die."

"You are mad, and gone the wrong way. You take falsehood for truth and ugliness for beauty. You would marvel if suddenly apple and orange trees should bear frogs and lizards instead of fruit, and if roses should begin to breathe the odor of a sweating horse. So do I marvel at you, who have bartered heaven for earth . I do not want to understand you

Author and Info

Writing Style and Voice

"whose short career was as momentous as any of these, has his own distinct tone and manner, but the impression it leaves is curiously elusive, offering reticence and hesitation in place of "personality", and a series of moods rather than a discernible attitude to life, even the attitude of uncertainty." - anonymous

Anton Chekhov was born on January 29, 1860, in Taganrog, Russia. Before becoming one of the most notable Russian short story writers, Chekhov was a trained medical doctor in Moscow. He first wrote for humor journals, authoring "low-brow" shorts, which prepared him for the plays and short stories that made him famous in the late 19th century, including The Proposal, The Wedding, and The Anniversary.

Vamcydher Kilari