The Watchman. 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. He proves as reckless as the banker in agreeing to the bet and foolish in lengthening his sentence for the sake of some misplaced pride.
The young lawyer entered his confinement young and energetic and left old and bitter at 40 years of age. While morally, the young lawyer won the bet as …
The young lawyer believes that any life is better than being executed. From the discussion, the host offers the young lawyer a bet. If the lawyer can remain in …
The bet was the caprice of a pampered man and simple greed on the part of the young lawyer. There is also the certainty, although Chekhov doesn't mention it, that they were both drunk.
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.
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.
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...
"The Bet" is such an interesting story that presents itself as being mostly about old vs. young and capital punishment vs. life imprisonment. The two main characters of the lawyer and the banker...
It was a lucky thing that the prisoner decided not to claim the two million rubles, because the banker slipped into his room with the intention of murderiing him. The banker's conduct was proof of...
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...
The lawyer's change of character has to be the result of spending fifteen years in solitary confinement. In order to pass the time, and in order to keep from going "stir crazy," the lawyer has...
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...
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...