what happens to the lawyer at the end of the short story the bet

In the end of the story, " The Bet," the lawyer despairs of life, and he reneges on the wager with banker. In their bet about which is crueler, live-long imprisonment or capital punishment, the banker and the lawyer wager their futures. The young lawyer argues that life on any terms is better than death.

Full Answer

Does the lawyer change in the short story the bet?

In the end of the story, " The Bet ," the lawyer despairs of life, and he reneges on the wager with banker. In their bet about which is crueler, live-long imprisonment or capital punishment, the...

What happens to the lawyer at the end of the bet?

Get an answer for 'What happens to the lawyer in the short story " The Bet "?' and find homework help for other The Bet questions at eNotes ... is near the end of his term and will collect on the ...

What happens at the end of the story the bet?

The banker notes that the lawyer is so emaciated by the end of his sentence that he is hard to look at, prematurely aged, and appears ill. This outward appearance contrasts with the lawyer’s own belief that he has bettered himself. He ultimately renounces the bet by escaping his cell just five hours before he would be awarded his winnings.

When does the lawyer write the letter in the bet?

At the end of Anton Chekhov's "The Bet", the lawyer survives the 15 years in prison but refuses to take the money. In a literary twist, the... See full answer below. Become a member and unlock all...

Did the lawyer escape in the bet?

Shocked and moved after reading the note, the banker kisses the lawyer on the head and returns to bed. When the banker wakes up later that morning, a watchman reports that the lawyer has climbed out the window and fled the property, forfeiting the bet.

What is the end of the story the bet?

In the end of the story, "The Bet," the lawyer despairs of life, and he reneges on the wager with banker. In their bet about which is crueler, live-long imprisonment or capital punishment, the banker and the lawyer wager their futures.

Where did the lawyer stay in the bet?

For the next fifteen years the lawyer was placed in the banker's backyard without the knowledge of the outside world. It was clear that any attempt on the lawyer's part to break the conditions will result in the lawyer's loss of the bet.

When did the lawyer leave in the bet?

F) The lawyer leaves five minutes before the bet is over! The banker takes his letter and hides it in his fireproof safe. The banker has learned nothing from this experience! (static character) He hides the letter so he doesn't have to admit that he is materialistic and that the lawyer doesn't want the money.

What did the lawyer learn at the end of the bet?

In Chekhov's "The Bet," the banker and the lawyer both learn the futility of their wager, as they have found that life and its conditions differ greatly from their more youthful perceptions. The lawyer learns that his sweeping statement that life on any terms is better than death is not true.

What does the lawyer learn in the bet?

The lawyer decides not to take the money. During his confinement, he learns that money and possessions aren't the most important things in life.

What did the lawyer do in the last two years of his confinement?

The prisoner, a young lawyer, spent the final two years of confinement reading. He read books on topics such as philosophy, religion, science, literature, and medicine. The banker recounts that the young lawyer read avidly and voraciously, incessantly moving from text to text.

How did the lawyer spend 15 years of his imprisonment?

The lawyer told with the arrogance of youth that he can live for 15 years in solitary confinement. The lawyer was allowed to have anything in his confinement except The Human Companionship. He was given books and piano. He was allowed to write letters.

How does the lawyer's 15 year imprisonment?

How does the lawyer's 15-year imprisonment affect the banker? The banker wishes that he had required the lawyer to stay imprisoned for longer. The banker comes to realize that he was wrong about his stance on life imprisonment. The banker mourns the life and experiences that he has deprived the lawyer of.

Why did the lawyer abandon the bet?

Answer: The lawyer renounced the two million because in prison, he read a lot and reading of philosophical and religious books gave him wisdom. He realised the futility of money.

Why did the banker keep the lawyer confinement?

The banker does not kill the lawyer, because he reads a letter where the lawyer outlines his plan to leave confinement minutes before the fifteen-year time limit expires. In doing so, he will willingly forfeit the millions which the banker would otherwise have to pay him.

Who won the bet in the bet?

The banker wins the bet. The attorney escapes the night before he is to win the bet. He writes a letter to the banker in which he explains his...

What does the banker tell the lawyer over dinner?

The banker further goads the lawyer over dinner, telling him to back out before it is too late. He points out... (full context)

What happens to the lawyer in the second year?

In the second year, the lawyer stops playing piano and starts reading classic books. By the fifth year, he is playing... (full context)

What does the banker note about the lawyer?

The banker notes that the lawyer is so emaciated by the end of his sentence that he is hard to look at, prematurely aged, and appears ill. This outward appearance contrasts with the lawyer’s own belief that he has bettered himself.

Why is the banker distraught in Part 2?

Part 2. It is fifteen years later and the eve of the lawyer ’s release. The banker is distraught because he cannot afford to pay the two million rubles. ... (full context) The old banker fears that the lawyer will, having won the bet, become wealthy, marry, and enjoy life the same way he... (full context)

What is the lump in the lawyer's skull?

All the wisdom from the books, writes the lawyer, is condensed into a little lump in his skull. He has become cleverer than almost... (full context) The lawyer has come to hold people who appreciate earthly things in contempt, and as such he... (full context) The banker has begun to cry.

How old is the lawyer in The Banker's Party?

The Lawyer Character Analysis. The Lawyer. Just 25 years old when he attends the banker’s party at the beginning of the story, the lawyer initially asserts that life-imprisonment is far preferable to capital punishment.

What did the prisoner read in the last two years?

Now he would apply himself to the natural sciences, then he would read Byron or Shakespeare … He read as though he were swimming in the sea among broken pieces of wreckage, and in his desire to save his life was eagerly grasping one piece after another.

What is the book The Bet about?

Published in 1889, The Bet follows the story of a banker and a young lawyer who make a bet about whether it is better for someone to go to prison or be sentenced to death. The lawyer believes that any kind of life, good or bad, is better than being dead.

What is the main idea behind Anton Chekov's "The Bet"?

A bet involving money and time is the main idea behind Anton Chekov's ''The Bet.'' In this lesson, you'll find a summary of this short story and learn more about the bet that changed both men's lives.

What is the Bet?

The Bet is a short story written by Russian writer Anton Chekhov. Published in 1889, The Bet follows the story of a banker and a young lawyer who make a bet about whether it is better for someone to go to prison or be sentenced to death. The lawyer believes that any kind of life, good or bad, is better than being dead. The banker decides to wager that if the lawyer can survive solitary confinement in prison for 15 years the banker will pay the lawyer 2 million rubles.

What does the story of the lawyer show?

The story also shows the toll that separation from human society can take on a person. Whereas at first the lawyer was full of virtue, eschewing wine and tobacco, he later gives himself in to his vices, drinking and smoking constantly.

How long does the lawyer live on the banker's property?

Nevertheless, the lawyer decides to stick to his word and the bet is carried out. For fifteen years, the lawyer lives on the banker's property, in a small lodge, and has no human contact. He can have any item that he desires. At first, the lawyer does not comfort himself with any liquor or tobacco, confining himself to playing the piano.

What does Chekov's story show?

Through this story, Chekov demonstrates the pitfalls of idealism and the foolishness of youth. Had the lawyer been older and wiser, he would never have decided so impulsively to go through with this bet. Had he had a family, a wife, children–any support structure that depended on him–he would not have agreed. So the bet also demonstrates the selfishness of man and youth. With nothing to lose, and two million to gain, the lawyer cannot think of a reason to reject the bet.

Why did the banker go broke?

The banker, by this time, has gone broke due to his own recklessness and gambling. He begins to worry that the lawyer's bet with him will ruin him financially. The banker begins to hope against all hope that the lawyer will break his vow and lose the bet.

What does the banker confirm?

The banker acquiesces and confirms the lawyer's suspicion that he has mastered languages. As the years go by, the lawyer reads virtually every genre under the sun. He makes his way from the lighter reading of the early years, to the dense text of the Gospels and Shakespeare.

What does the lawyer believe?

The lawyer believes that any life is better than none, and that life cannot be taken away by the government, since life cannot be given back if the government realizes that it made a mistake. The banker and the lawyer decide to enter into a bet, with the banker wagering that the lawyer could not withstand 5 years of imprisonment.

What happened 15 years ago?

Fifteen years ago, a party was thrown at a banker's home, where many intellectuals such a journalists and lawyers attended. During that party, the group in attendance had many lively discussions, ultimately turning to the topic of capital punishment.

What happens at the end of fifteen years in the book The Banker and the Lawyer?

At the end of fifteen years, the thought of that money has driven the banker to the point of murder. He only changes course when he realizes that he will not owe the money after all.

What is the story of the banker in the banker's bet?

The story opens with the banker remembering a bet he made nearly fifteen years earlier with a lawyer. The two fell into a discussion during a party he was hosting and began to debate whether life in prison or death would be more humane. For the banker, capital punishment would be the preferable choice. The lawyer swore he would choose life in prison. They agreed on a bet of two million rubles to see if the lawyer could spend fifteen years in solitary confinement; the lawyer put himself into isolation.

What happens to the banker at the end of the confinement?

While this is happening, the banker’s fortune declines. He realizes towards the end of the lawyer’s confinement that he will be unable to pay the bet if the lawyer triumphs and this debt will completely ruin him. He makes a desperate plan to kill the lawyer so he will not have to pay the debt.

What is the strange transformation in Chekov?

Chekov leaves it up to the reader to decide if the lawyer has wasted some of the best years of his life, or if he has transformed for the better through his epiphanies about the nature of experience.

What does the lawyer say in the note to the lawyer?

In the note, the lawyer explains that his time in isolation has changed him, and he believes that it is best to renounce his wealth and live simply. Material goods are fleeting, and he now despises them in favor of knowledge.

How long did the banker survive in solitary confinement?

He is relieved that he does not have to carry out his plan. Although the lawyer technically won the bet by proving he could survive fifteen years of solitary confinement, he also loses the bet by renouncing it.

What is the story of Anton Chekov?

Anton Chekov’s “The Bet” is a powerful short story published in 1889 about a banker and a lawyer who make a bet with each other about the death penalty versus life in prison. In the story, each wrestles with the idea of which is better or worse, and the culmination is a twist ending. The story opens with the banker remembering a bet he made nearly ...

What happens at the end of the story in The Bet?

In the end of the story, "The Bet," the lawyer despairs of life, and he reneges on the wager with banker. In their bet about which is crueler, live-long imprisonment or capital punishment, the...

What did the lawyer's interest shift to?

Having read “novels with a complicated love plot, sensational and fantastic stories” and “classics” for the first few years, the lawyer’s interest shifted to learning languages and reading...

What is the purpose of Anton Chekhov's "The Bet"?

Anton Chekhov’s “The Bet” is an ironic story about a young man who, on a large bet with a wealthy banker, voluntarily submits to solitary confinement for fifteen years. The young man’s purpose is...

How much money would a lawyer get if he was in solitary confinement?

If the lawyer could stay in solitary confinement for fifteen years, the banker would give him two million rubles as prize money. According to the bet, the lawyer would have to spend the fifteen...

Why does the banker regard the bet as "cursed"?

The banker regards the bet as "cursed" because it seems to have brought him nothing but bad luck. Since making the bet with the young lawyer, the banker's fortunes have taken a serious turn for the...

How long did Anton Chekhov spend in prison?

I am fairly certain that this question is asking about Anton Chekhov's short story "The Bet." The lawyer in the story does indeed change over the course of his 15 years in "prison." When readers...

What happens in the time between when the wager is made and when it ends?

In the time between when the wager is made and when it ends, circumstances for the banker have turned for the worst. He has lost most of his fortune, and, as the deadline approaches, he realizes...

What did the lawyer read at the table?

The lawyer sat immovably at the table and read nothing but the Gospel. Theological and histories of religion followed the Gospels. (Need theology and history of religion to understand the Gospel)

What did the banker think of the lawyer?

The banker thought that the lawyer was asleep, dreaming about the 2 million dollars, and he only has to throw him on the bed, suffocate him a little with the pillow, and the most conscientious expert would find no sign of a violent death, but he should first read the letter on the table.

What did the lawyer suffer from?

The lawyer suffered severely from loneliness and depression. The sounds of his piano could be heard continually day and night from his lodge. He refused wine and tobacco. He wrote that wine excites the desires, and desires are the worst foes of the prisoner; and besides, nothing could be dreamier than drinking good wine and seeing no one. The books he sent for were principally of a light character; novels with a complicated love plot, sensational and fantastic stories, and so on.

What books did the lawyer read?

The lawyer read an immense quantity of books quite indiscriminately. At one time, he was busy with natural sciences, then he would ask for Byron or Shakespeare. There were notes in which we demanded at the same time chemistry, and a manual of medicine, and a novel, and some treatise on philosophy or theology.

How many volumes are there in the book of The Banker?

Six hundred volumes; a letter stating that the lawyer wrote it in six different languages. The banker was to go to people who speak the languages. If he was right, a shot was to be fired in the garden.

What is the lawyer being compared to?

the lawyer is being compared to the man struggling to find something to save himself. The pole is salvation and he is looking for that.

Does the banker know the Gospels?

The Banker probably doesn't have any knowledge of the Gospels.

The After School Special Ending

The first possibility is that the banker has learned a valuable lesson about not being a huge jerk. There he was all set to kill the guy, when all along the lawyer had no interest in his money at all. So the reason he feels bad and cries is that he suddenly sees that he's been way too obsessed with money.

The Evil-Will-Always-Triumph-Over-Good Ending

Possibility number two is that the banker cries from plain old relief. He's just so psyched he doesn't have to kill anyone and still gets to keep his money and everything is hunky-dory again. Yay. This version fits with that last detail about the letter and the safe…

The "Hey, Over Here!" Ending

Maybe the banker isn't really who we should be thinking about anyway. Possibility three involves the other guy.