The Bet By Anton Chekhov - 1400 Words

In high school I read a short story called The Bet by Anton Chekhov. The story was about a young lawyer who made a bet with a banker that imprisonment for fifteen years was better than the death penalty. Like Socrates in Plato’s Crito the lawyer was trying to challenge society’s beliefs. While in confinement the lawyer read many books, whose subjects ranged from languages to philosophy. After fifteen years of solitary confinement the lawyer rejects his prize money and defaults on the bet, hours before winning. I wonder if the man had read the Crito. We can reason that Socrates’ could have inspired the man to decide to pick the more brash choice to try and teach his accusers a lesson. The man may have decided to default on the bet when he was so close to winning because he wished to make the lesson the banker learned more memorable and infinite. In the Crito even though Socrates thinks himself to be innocent of the charges brought against him he still refuses to e scape prison when presented with the opportunity. This helps him teach his final lesson about the principles he believes are worth dying for. His principles are that the opinion of the many is unimportant, his life is not worth living with a corrupt soul, life is not as important as living justly, the only consideration to take into account is justice, and acting unjustly is always bad and shameful. Even though Socrates and the polis or laws arrive at the same conclusion that Socrates should not escape prison, theShow MoreRelatedThe Bet By Anton Chekhov941 Words   |  4 PagesLikewise the use of irony in, â€Å"The Bet† by Anton Chekhov, illustrates the characters and their opposing speculations that demonstrate the importance of human life and confinement. Relating to the thesis of the short story, there are three main points that irony plays a key role on. To begin with, there are the two main character’s roles that guide the reader though both perspectives of thei r conflicts. There are also main points in their dialect and involvement that Chekhov used to help the reader understandRead MoreThe Bet By Anton Chekhov1599 Words   |  7 Pagesâ€Å"The Bet† by Anton Chekhov is a short story that focuses on the value of human life with the character’s different viewpoints on the death penalty and imprisonment for life. The author uses elements of literature to show that the definition of prison society accepted may be wrong. The first element of literature the author uses is characterization. In the story, there are two main characters: the banker and the lawyer. The story begins showing how wealthy the banker is, as shown by the way he threwRead MoreThe Bet By Anton Chekhov Analysis1432 Words   |  6 Pagesto even less desirable situations. In the short stories â€Å"The Bet† by Anton Chekhov and â€Å"He-y, Come On Ou-t!† by Shinichi Hoshi, a theme of consequences instantly finds itself in the reader’s mind and persists to stay there like a tattoo, something always reminded of and non-disappearing. In â€Å"The Bet† by Anton Chekhov, an impetuous Banker and rash Lawyer get into an intense argument at a party, resulting in a peculiar and senseless bet. The foolhardy men conclude to severe and irrational terms, resultingRead MoreAnalysis Of The Bet By Anton Chekhov2114 Words   |  9 PagesStory analysis of The Bet In the modern world, a prison is usually a place where people are trapped as punishment for crimes. Usually a prison takes the form of a jail. But one 19th century author had the idea that a traditional prison might not be a prison at all, that mental imprisonment, usually in the form of foolishness, is worse than physical prison. In other words, â€Å"The Bet,† by Anton Chekhov, is a stunning and original story that uses many elements of literature to show that our society’sRead MoreAnalysis Of The Bet By Anton Chekhov763 Words   |  4 Pagesone thing. A meaningful life means is to enjoy the life you are given doing what it is you wish to do. â€Å"The Bet†, is the story of a lawyer and a banker who find themselves in a peculiar situation made through a bet between the two of them. The lawyer bets to his current life and freedom and must live fifteen years in imprisonment to win the bet of two million dollars in which the banker bet. Through the fifteen ye ars, the lawyer is able to discover many things in which he is able to invest himselfRead MoreThe Bet By Anton Chekhov And Hey Come On Out By Shinichi Hoshi771 Words   |  4 Pagesconsequences, like a wound, are usually self-inflicted. In the short stories â€Å"The Bet† by Anton Chekov and â€Å"Hey Come on Out† by Shinichi Hoshi, both authors authenticate the theme of consequences. Clear as day the theme appears to be consequences. In the short story, â€Å"Hey Come on Out† By Shinichi Hoshi. The towns karma finally catches up to them in the worst way. The town throws everything they don’t want into the hole and as a result, the hole spits everything back out at the end. One of theRead MoreThe Necklace And The Bet Short Story867 Words   |  4 Pagesâ€Å"The Necklace† and â€Å"The Bet† are the most intense short stories ever. Both authors from both passages explain the dialogue by discovering new aspects of the passages. In â€Å"The Necklace† written by Guy de Maupassant (1884), is about how a character called Mathilde that loses one of her friends necklace, that was a fake, and spends the next 10 years paying it off. On the other hand â€Å"The Bet† written by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (1889) is about a lawyer and a banker who make a bet to see which option isRead MoreUpper Classes Are a Nations Past; the Middle Class Is Its Future942 Words   |  4 Pagesthe lower class had no rights. Anton Chekhov is the author of â€Å"The Bet†, â€Å"The Lottery Ticket†, and â€Å"Oh! The Public†. Anton was from Russia and in the three stories he represents Russia from 1881 to 1896. He also slides in his life experiences and things that had to do with him in his stories. The theme, class structure, is shown in the stories â€Å"Oh! The Public, The Bet, and The Lottery Ticket† during the times of 1881 to 1896. In the story â€Å"Oh! The Public†, Anton Chekhov made class structure as one ofRead MoreAnalysis of the Bet800 Words   |  4 Pagescertainly choose the second. To live anyhow is better than not at all† (Chekhov 1). In Anton Chekhov’s short story â€Å"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. In the short story â€Å"The Bet† by Anton Chekhov; the lawyer encounters many types of conflicts including man vs. manRead MoreEssay on The Themes of Arrogance, Greed, and Materialism in The Bet839 Words   |  4 Pages The Themes of Arrogance, Greed, and Materialism in The Betnbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp; In Anton Chekhov’s â€Å"The Bet† two men, one a banker and the other a lawyer, begin the story arguing about whether or not capital punishment is fair.nbsp; The banker is in favor of capital punishment while the lawyer contends that if offered the chance he’d take life in prison.nbsp; The banker bets the lawyer two million rubles that he couldn’t survive in prison for fifteen years.nbsp;