The Bet

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“The Bet,” a short story by Anton Chekhov, as translated by Constance Garnett.

Publication information about “The Bet”

During the winter of 1888, Nikolai Khudekov, editor of Peterburgskaya Gazeta, commissioned Chekhov to write a story for his newspaper. The resulting work, "The Shoemaker and the Devil," was published on Christmas Day. Following this, Alexey Suvorin, editor of the Novoye Vremya, requested that Chekhov write a story to rival it for his newspaper before the year's end. Chekhov's story, divided into three parts, appeared on New Year's Day, 1889, under the title "Fairytale."

While revising the story for inclusion in Volume 4 of Chekhov's Collected Works (1899–1901), he changed the title to "The Bet" and removed part 3 of the original text. Chekhov explained that "as [he] was reading the proofs, [he] came to dislike the end, it occurred to [him] that it was too cold and cruel."

Summary

In the short story “The Bet," Chekhov describes a bet that was placed between two young men, a banker, and a lawyer, regarding capital punishment and imprisonment for life.

This image shows a dark room that gets light only from a very small window. This room can easily be the room where the young lawyer spent the fifteen years imprisonment. It gives a sense of isolation that creates sad feelings to the audience.

According to this bet, the lawyer- who claims that imprisonment for life is preferable than capital punishment- should experience imprisonment for fifteen years under the banker’s watch. The banker believes that lifelong imprisonment is more inhumane than death penalty. The reward of the bet would be two million dollars that the banker should give to the lawyer if the second can endure solitary confinement in a lodge in the banker’s garden for the time they had agreed on. Even though the lawyer would have whatever he wants during his imprisonment, the only way of communication with others would be through a very small window.

Chekhov presents the lawyer’s imprisonment by describing his psychological state, his thoughts, and his hobbies. He reports the prisoner’s relationship with wine, food, smoking, and music, and he also emphasizes the prisoner’s relationship with books and writing. Even though the prisoner suffered severe loneliness and depression in the first years, his relationship with all books totally changed him as a person. During the span of the fifteen years of isolation, the prisoner read many kinds of books that help him value and understand himself and life in general. When the fifteen years have almost passed, the banker decides to kill his prisoner one day before the time fixed so as to not pay the money.

As the banker gets ready to kill the lawyer, who is asleep at the table, he stops to read the letter the lawyer was writing to him. In this letter the lawyer explains that he plans to break the compact since he learned that material goods are not worth anything compare to divine salvation. Shocked and happy after reading the letter, the banker returns home without killing the lawyer. Learning the next day that the lawyer has escaped, the banker locks the letter in his safe to prevent the spread of rumors.

Analysis

In this short story, Chekhov explores the psychological effects of social isolation on a person’s perspective of life and freedom. The setting plays a crucial role in conveying this message to the audience. The lawyer's confinement in a small lodge in the banker’s garden, with only one small window, isolates him from any community. Deprived of human contact, he undergoes various psychological stages to combat depression and emotional distress. The lodge's location in the banker’s garden emphasizes the perception of the lawyer as one of the banker’s possessions, highlighting the banker’s inhumanity and immorality.

A significant narrative element that illustrates the sense of isolation and the transformative power of solitude is the symbolism of books and writing. Over fifteen years, the prisoner reads a diverse range of books, from chemistry to poetry, philosophy, and foreign languages, and writes numerous letters. The variety of books and the letters he writes reflect his evolving psychological state and his quest to understand himself and the world around him. Writing becomes a form of self-expression and therapy, helping him connect with his inner self and process his emotions.

Through reading, the prisoner learns new things and feels productive, which boosts his self-worth and broadens his perspective. His choice of books reveals the different mental and psychological stages he experiences over the fifteen years. He forms a unique community with the books, finding companionship, relaxation, and intellectual stimulation. Initially, he reads languages, philosophy, and history, which prompt him to ponder life and the world. Later, he finds solace in the Gospel for a year before turning to theology and histories, which help him appreciate diverse ideas, beliefs, and theories. Eventually, he reads natural science, chemistry, medicine, novels, Shakespeare, and Byron, enhancing his knowledge and creativity and deepening his understanding of both the physical and metaphysical worlds.

The story’s two main characters, the banker and the prisoner, are central to conveying Chekhov’s message. Initially, both are young and naïve. By the end, they have undergone profound changes. The banker, who starts as a young, nervous, and wealthy man believing life imprisonment to be more inhumane than the death penalty, becomes a cruel, greedy, and desperate individual willing to kill the prisoner to avoid losing his fortune. He disregards the lawyer’s intellectual growth, focusing solely on material wealth.

On the other hand, the prisoner begins as a 25-year-old lawyer who prefers life imprisonment over the death penalty and accepts the banker’s bet to give up his freedom for two million dollars. After fifteen years of confinement, he emerges as a more intellectual individual who has discovered his identity and gained a deeper understanding of life. Unlike the banker, the lawyer no longer values material wealth but instead prioritizes non-material virtues such as truth and beauty.

Glossary

• Life imprisonment: any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted persons are to remain in prison either for the rest of their natural life or until pardoned, paroled or otherwise commuted to a fixed term.[1]

• Capital punishment: a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime, also known as death penalty.[2]

• Depression: a mental disorder that is characterized from states of low mood and aversion to activity and can negatively affect a person's thoughts, behavior, motivation, feelings, and sense of well-being.[3]

• Loneliness: an unpleasant emotional response to perceived isolation.[4]

Critical thinking questions

• In your opinion, which is more immoral and inhumane, the death penalty or life imprisonment? If you think they are equal, explain why.
• Would the outcome have been the same if the prisoner did not have so many resources at his disposal? Explain.
• Do you think the banker would have gone through with the killing if he had not found the prisoner’s letter? Do you feel that it would been the only option for him? Explain why or why not.
• Do you think there is a moral lesson in Chekhov’s short story? If so, explain what it is.
• The story's publication history shows it was published New Year's Day. In what ways is this story appropriate for the beginning of a new year?

Further reading

More short stories by Anton Chekhov

• “A Letter to a Learned Neighbor” – (the first short story he wrote)
• “Neighbors”
• “Ward Number Six”
• “An Anonymous Story”
• “The Black Monk”
• “The Murder"
• “Ariadne”
• “Peasants”
• "The Lady with the Dog"
• “Betrothed” – (the last short story before his death)

Famous plays by Anton Chekov

• The Seagull
• Uncle Vanya
• Three Sisters
• The Cherry Orchard

Stories similar to "The Bet"

• “An Honest Thief” by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. A story within a story about a drunkard and thief who turns honest on his deathbed.
• “How Much Land Does a Man Need?” by Leo Tolstoy. A story that attempts to answer the question in its title when a peasant becomes obsessed with owning land.
• “The Open Window” by Saki. A story of a nervous man played by a witty young woman into believing in ghosts.
• “The Country of the Blind” by H.G. Wells. A story about a man who finds and then escapes an isolated community where everyone is blind.