The Bet

The story uses a flashback to introduce the scene at the party 15 years earlier and provide information about the lawyer’s life during his confinement. Discuss the literary benefits of this technique versus narrating the events chronologically.

The third-person narrator speaks from the point of view of the banker, while we are privy to the lawyer’s thoughts from direct quotes of his letters. Use textual evidence to discuss how readers can access the characters’ interiority in these two distinct ways.

The story presents two characters lost in their pride and greed. Which character do you think Chekhov feels more sympathy for? Discuss why by giving textual evidence. Compare this to your thoughts about the story. Which character do you feel more sympathy for, and why?

Choose a parable or moral fable and compare it with this story. You may discuss the way the characters are presented and include elements of structure, setting, and literary devices. How does Chekhov follow the genre and add complexity to it?

The banker kisses the lawyer’s head after reading his letter. Discuss whether this action adds new meaning to the banker as a character and the story as a whole.

Discuss your interpretation of the safe as a symbol.

In an earlier version of “The Bet” that Chekhov wrote and discarded, the lawyer returns to the banker. Thirsty for life again, he withdraws his renunciation. Discuss the merits of Chekhov’s early version of the story against the final version you read.

If the story were to have a third part, what would it say? What happens to the lawyer after he leaves the garden cottage? Does he live a happy life? Does the banker live without remorse? How do the last 15 years impact him? Write the last part of this story using some of the themes and devices of the original story.