Since "The Bet" is told from a third-person, limited point-of-view, we never fully understand the thoughts of the lawyer. And that is likely intentional, since his actions from within confinement seem to bewilder those around him over the span of 15 years. Here's what we do know: He may be a bit arrogant—or maybe ignorant.
Full Answer
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...
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 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.
Later in the letter in which he forfeits his bet, the lawyer declares that everything is empty and illusory. Without explicitly stating it, the lawyer understands that little has meaning unless it is shared with others. His bet has been that of a proud, naive young man, but now he knows the purpose for the company of others.
In contrast to the banker, the lawyer is an intelligent young man whose tenacity drives him to pursue the bet. At the start of the story, the lawyer is 25 years old. He is heedless and impatient and wants to prove to the banker that living under any circumstance is better than dying.
- The reason the lawyer says that in his letter is because, according to the lawyer, he realizes through the wisdom he has gained through the books he has read that the blessings of the world are “worthless,” and “illusory,” and that the banker prefers to follow those earthly blessings rather than heaven, “so I marvel ...
Show activity on this post. In The Bet by Anton Chekhov, the lawyer voluntarily accepts to stay in prison for 15 years, instead of the original agreed upon 5 years.
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.
At the end of Anton Chekhov's "The Bet", the lawyer survives the 15 years in prison but refuses to take the money. See full answer below.
What is the lawyer's motivation for accepting 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. How does the lawyer change by the end of the story?
In Anton Chekhov's short story “The Bet” a lawyer and a banker make a bet about which penalty is more humane. The lawyer says that life imprisonment is more humane. In saying this, the lawyer bets he can stayed locked up in a cell for 15 years without any human contact and it will show it's more humane.
What is one way the lawyer has changed from the beginning of the story to the end? He has lost his wealth. He has learned how to do complex math equations.
To deprive myself of the right to the money I shall go out from here five hours before the time fixed, and so break the compact ..." The banker is saved from ruin when the guard tells him that the man did leave five hours early. Taking the letter, the banker places it in the safe. The bet is over.
The main moral of the "The Bet" concerns the shallowness of material wealth, as one who is internally rich is not wishing for anything. A secondary theme is about the death penalty. Life imprisonment is portrayed as the better option to death, as the person has the time to develop character.
“Money is worthless but knowledge and science are priceless.” This is the message that Anton Chekhov, a Russian short stories writer, wanted to convey through his story “The Bet”. The bet is an interesting short story that was written by Anton Chekhov in 1889.
In Chekhov's short story "The Bet," the terms of the bet are that the lawyer will stay in prison for fifteen years and the banker will "wager two million" (92). While the lawyer is in prison, he can have no human contact, but he can have "anything necessary--books, music, wine--" and anything else he requests (92).
Later in the letter in which he forfeits his bet, the lawyer declares that everything is empty and illusory. Without explicitly stating it, the lawyer understands that little has meaning unless it is shared with others. His bet has been that of a proud, naive young man, but now he knows the purpose for the company of others.
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.
The banker has lost much of his arrogance because his financial state finds his pride greatly diminished from that of fifteen years ago when he made the bet. Now, having secretly read the lawyer's letter, he realizes the arrogance of his wager as well as the selfish cruelty of his plan to murder the lawyer in order to save himself ...