The bet literary analysis. The Bet Literary Elements 2022-11-03
The bet literary analysis
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The Bet is a short story written by Anton Chekhov that centers around the moral and ethical implications of capital punishment. The story follows a wealthy banker and a young lawyer who engage in a bet over the death penalty. The banker, who is convinced of the inherent evil of capital punishment, wagers two million rubles that the lawyer cannot survive fifteen years in solitary confinement. The lawyer, who believes that the death penalty is a necessary part of the criminal justice system, accepts the bet and is locked away in a small, isolated room.
At the heart of The Bet is a debate over the value of human life and the role of the state in taking it. The banker, who is against the death penalty, believes that every person has the right to live and that the state has no right to take a life, even if that person has committed a crime. The lawyer, on the other hand, believes that the death penalty serves as a deterrent and is necessary for the protection of society.
As the years pass, the lawyer begins to experience the psychological toll of solitary confinement. He becomes increasingly isolated and depressed, and begins to question the value of his own life and the bet that he has made. In the end, he renounces his belief in the death penalty and begs the banker to release him from his imprisonment.
The Bet is a thought-provoking exploration of the moral and ethical implications of capital punishment. Through the character of the lawyer, Chekhov raises questions about the value of human life and the role of the state in taking it. The story also delves into the psychological effects of solitary confinement and the impact it can have on an individual's sense of self and moral compass. Ultimately, The Bet serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of making bets or decisions based on ideology rather than empathy and understanding.
The Bet Literary
Paradox Paradoxically, the very act of winning the bet i. It seemed strange to the banker that a man who in four years had mastered six hundred learned volumes should waste nearly a year over one thin book easy of comprehension. For instance, it is a metaphor to say, "Matilda is a brick," meaning she is sturdy and dependable. Although the bet is originally a matter of determining whether life in prison or the death penalty is more humane, the story ultimately shifts into an examination of the pointlessness of human desire and materiality. You would marvel if, owing to strange events of some sorts, frogs and lizards suddenly grew on apple and orange trees instead of fruit, or if roses began to smell like a sweating horse; so I marvel at you who exchange heaven for earth. The banker loses his humanity when he determines to murder the lawyer, a man who has already been through a lot, seemingly for no good reason. Watergate Scandal 938 Words 4 Pages Second Semester Essay Literature can be interpreted many ways depending on who is looking at the piece.
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Literary Devices in The Bet
In later years, he lived on a farm where he treated local peasants and dedicated his dwindling energy towards tending to his farmland. He was a skeleton with the skin drawn tight over his bones, with long curls like a woman's and a shaggy beard. Maybe the old banker realized the vanity and emptiness of his life; we will never know. William Shakespeare 1564—1616 was an English poet, playwright, and actor. Annie Murphy Paul Your Brain On Fiction Analysis 331 Words 2 Pages Science has proven that reading can provoke positive changes in us as human beings. At first, the lawyer struggles to adjust to the loneliness and boredom of his captivity.
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The Bet Study Guide
He also reminds the lawyer that voluntary imprisonment will be much harder psychologically than that which has been enforced. He might have anything he wanted -- books, music, wine, and so on -- in any quantity he desired by writing an order, but could only receive them through the window. In fact so desperate is the banker to win the bet he contemplates killing the young man before he can set him free. Given the time to learn such a mass of knowledge, one would assume that happiness would come from a new found sense of enlightenment and understanding. The last date is today's date — the date you are citing the material.
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Short Story Analysis: The Bet by Anton Chekhov
And tobacco spoilt the air of his room. The idea of reading gospels at the end as he ages and leaving the jail five hours before I see is an absolute redundancy, because he could have gained all these experiences even if he was not jailed. Then you must include discussion of all the literary technique tropes that you can identify. The citation above will include either 2 or 3 dates. In the first year the books he sent for were principally of a light character; novels with a complicated love plot, sensational and fantastic stories, and so on.
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The Bet The Bet Summary and Analysis
The lawyer agrees, but makes it fifteen years rather than five. He thinks that he can find the inner resources to live in solitude for fifteen years and that the promise of a fortune will sustain him during the period of complete leisure in comfortable surroundings. During that party, the group in attendance had many lively discussions, ultimately turning to the topic of capital punishment. He finds that his prisoner is asleep at his desk, looking much older and careworn than he ever imagined him to be. It is also interesting that the young man said he would prefer solitary confinement to capital punishment as part of him has died while he was imprisoned. The banker argued that life imprisonment is far less humane than capital punishment because it results in a prolonged, drawn-out death, whereas the death penalty is quick.
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The Bet Analysis
In the tenth year, the lawyer reads only the New Testament. When examining the story, the Marxist lens would offer an insight to the ability of symbols and its forms, styles and, meanings. Which helps to shine a little positive light on the banker. The Bet, by Anton Chekov, begins under such circumstances. He sacrificed fifteen years of his life for a small fortune, and he has realized, since then, how much humanity privileges material wealth over spiritual wealth. Speeches empowered others to believe what was said and to support them to not want to back down until their goal was achieved.
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The Bet Literary Elements
The old banker was walking up and down his study and remembering how, fifteen years before, he had given a party one autumn evening. Thus it might be suggested that Chekhov is more interested in the psychological and ironic possibilities of his account than in a didactic point. The Importance Of Realism In Literature 3481 Words 14 Pages Literature is a mirror of society. On my part it was the caprice of a pampered man, and on his part simple greed for money. Gone is the man who beat loneliness in his first few years while imprisoned. . The only time that we see the thoughts of the lawyer clearly is later in the story, through a letter.
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The Bet Themes
In the beginning of his time in solitary confinement, the lawyer fills his time. The story is left rather open-ended, with the reader left with a sense that the story hasn't finished. When the match went out the old man, trembling with emotion, peeped through the little window. In fact, the banker even manages to convince himself that the lawyer is getting the better end of the deal, since he will still be relatively young at 40, and, with the 2 million rubles, relatively rich. As the years go by, the lawyer reads virtually every genre under the sun.
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Literary Analysis Of The Bet Short Story
Olympic Ski Team" in "The U. He would rather murder another human being than go broke, and he finds himself to be contemptuous as a result. Show them to people who know the languages. Does he feel shame because he was ready to commit murder rather than lose his money? The authors use of characterization provides a deeper view to the internal conflict faced throughout the voluntary sentence. Discuss in relation to two books Reading a book can be entertaining; that does not mean however, that the book is written for entertainment alone. His volumes of writings was meaning less because at the end that too gets hidden and miss the opportunity that could help others. George Gordon Byron 1788—1824 , also known as Lord Byron, was an English politician and Romantic poet.
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