Why does the lawyer take the bet?
What is the banker’s motivation for suggesting the bet? The lawyer wants to prove that life imprisonment is more human than the death penalty and collect $2,000,000. … 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.
What does the lawyer believe in the bet?
In “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, a banker and lawyer begin arguing over the death penalty versus solitary confinement. The lawyer declares the death penalty to be “better” seeing as “to live anyhow is better than not at all” (Chekov).
Why does the lawyer not take the money in the bet?
He had grown so used to solitude and solitary meditation that he no longer needed human companionship, and thus he no longer needed money. He wanted to prove to himself as well as to others that he was sincere in relinquishing all worldly goods, like some of the Hindu holy men and other mystics of the world.
Why does the banker call the bet cursed?
In “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov, the banker calls the bet “cursed” because when he originally made the bet with the lawyer, he was extremely wealthy, and now he no longer is. If he pays the lawyer two million dollars, he will be bankrupt because he has little left from his original large fortune.
What will happen to the banker if the lawyer wins the bet?
If he pays the lawyer for winning the bet, he will be ruined. His only escape from his tragedy would be to kill the lawyer. When the banker opens the door into the cell, he discovers the lawyer now looking like a skeleton. He discovers a letter and reads it, but soon realizes the lawyer plans to lose.
What is the message of the story the bet?
The central message of “The Bet” is that giving in to greed and impulse can negatively impact one’s life.
What does the banker think when he sees the lawyer sleeping at the table?
In “The Bet,” when the banker sees the lawyer sleeping at the table, he thinks that the lawyer is a pitiful figure, and he feels sorry for him. This alone, however, does not deter the banker from his plan to kill the lawyer.
Why do lawyers surrender 2 million dollars?
Because he had lost a lot of money in the past 15 years through gambling and the Stock Exchange, so giving the lawyer $2 million would ruin him.
What is the difference between the lawyer and the banker?
The banker is a man that doesn’t have high moral standards. Money is everything to him, and that is why he is willing to kill the lawyer to keep his fortune. … The lawyer, on the other hand, begins the story as a man that appears to love money.
Why does the narrator call the lawyer an unhappy man?
Why does the narrator call the lawyer an “unhappy man”? He believes that the lawyer must be terribly poor and desperate in order to spend 15 years of his life in prison for only $2 million dollars, which is nothing to the rich banker. Towards the end, the lawyer decides to not take the money.
What is ironic about the ending of the bet?
In the short story “The Bet” by Anton Chekov, the author uses irony to make the story more capricious in the banker’s decision to kill the prisoner rather than pay him, in the prisoner’s decision to repudiate the two million dollars, and in the actual note the prisoner inscribes.
How does the lawyer’s 15 year imprisonment affect the banker?
How does the lawyer’s 15-year imprisonment affect the banker? … The banker comes to realize that he was wrong about his stance on life imprisonment. The banker mourns the life and experiences that he has deprived the lawyer of. The banker regrets placing the bet and thinks it was a stupid idea in the first place.
What did the banker realize about the lawyer at the end of the story?
What did the banker realize about the lawyer at the end of the story? The banker was never lonely throughout his long prison sentence. The banker was worried at the beginning of the bet that he would lose the bet. The banker was a desperate man when he planned to kill the lawyer.