Analyze conflict in the short story "the bet" by anton p. chekhov

In "The Bet", by Anton P. Chekhov, the external conflict of character vs. character is between the lawyer and the banker. Both think they are right and are willing to bet years of life and a large amount of money to demonstrate it. Therefore, the conflict exhibits the beliefs and personalities of the characters: while the banker is impulsive, bored and careless with money, the young lawyer is sure that money is a good reason for solitary confinement.

On the other hand, the lawyer goes through internal conflict because it is hard for him to be confined within the garden wing of the banker's house. In that respect, he cannot see anyone or leave. As a result, he must defeat his distress and mental suffering to reach his goal of fifteen years in the cell.

The short story ‘The Bet’ speaks about the exterior conflict which then takes the shape of an inner-conflict in both the characters of the banker and the lawyer. The conflict changes them as the people that they are. They both realize the futility of the world and the greed that they each hold.

Further Explanation:  

“The Bet” is a short story written by Anton P. Chekov in 1889. In this story, the two main characters that are present are a lawyer and a banker. The conflict in the story can be analyzed in two folds. In a party hosted by the banker, the people gathered to talk about the pros and cons of capital punishment. The theme of conflict is very much prevalent throughout the story. The first instance of the conflict can be seen in the opinion that is held by the banker and the lawyer. The lawyer is of the opinion that it is a million times better that a person gets to live even if he has to live behind the bars serving the punishment of life imprisonment. However, the banker is of the opinion that such a life gives only slow death to a person and is crueler, and thus a person should be sentenced to capital punishment. This exterior conflict takes the shape of a bet between the lawyer and the banker. In it, the lawyer bets that he will live in a confined space for fifteen years and as a winning prize he will win two million from the banker. The bet is agreed upon and the lawyer lives in confinement for fifteen years.  

The conflict after the confinement of the lawyer becomes internal in nature. He is seen to be struggling with his solitude and is uncertain about what gives him peace. At the end, he finds solace in reading books which make him aware of the sins and the inhumanity that the human sphere is filled with. By the end, he does not even see the meaning of winning the two million and decides to lose the bet and renounce the material and cruel world. On the other hand, the banker suffers from his own inner-conflict as the time for the lawyer’s freedom approaches. Suffering from bankruptcy sinister thoughts of killing the lawyer takes over the banker.  

Antony Chekov thus makes portrays how the exterior as well as interior conflict changed and shattered the two men in his story.

Learn more:

1. How do the images of travel in part 46 of "song of myself" contribute to the poem’s theme?

2. How should the sentence above be rewritten to correct the subject-verb agreement error?

Answer Details:  

Grade: Senior School

Subject: English Literature

Chapter: The Bet by Anton P. Chekov

Keywords: short story, Anton P. Chekov, bet, banker, lawyer, capital punishment, confinement, inner-conflict, inhumanity, cruel, change, shattered.

explanation:

the intellectual community is a place like a university where people with high marks, or original thought or an outstanding interest in something gather. they take classes together. they discuss things. they argue sometimes, and not always in a friendly way. but if they argue, it is because they are passionate about something, and there is nothing the matter with that.

lately i've been hearing rumors that it is not the way it was when i went to school. the one thing all schools used to have was free speech. the 1st amendment rights were sacred. now i'm hearing they are not. students can be reported and disciplined for giving an off the wall opinion.

that is shameful.

intellectual ideas are meant to be discussed. they are meant to be chewed up and worked on. that is the primary responsibility of every intellectual community. if that is not the way it is, then that is not a school to go to.

social media, in my opinion, and this is just an opinion. i wouldn't take it too seriously, complicates everything to do with human communication. you can want to share things and others feel they have the right to be very critical or sarcastic or mean about what you share. lack of respect is an immeasurable intolerable condition and social media abounds with that sort of thing.

one of the things i really like about is how careful people are because they must have some idea that the mods are exactly what the word says they are. they police this board very well, and what is so remarkable about them is that they are no older than the average grade 12 student.

my hat goes off to them (which means i respect them quite a bit).