What is the main topic discussed at the dinner party?
Is life in prison more harsh than capital punishment
. What is one way the banker change from the beginning of the story to the end? He is very wealthy and confident in the beginning, then he has lost his fortune and pride by the end.
What was the debate about in the story The Bet?
The bet stemmed from
a discussion of capital punishment, or punishment by death
. The banker argued that death was a better alternative to life spent behind bars. The attorney took the opposite side, that life in prison would be better than a death sentence. The debate raged on, and from it, a wager was born.
What is the main theme of The Bet?
The Meaning of Life
Anton Chekhov’s “The Bet” sets up a seemingly simple bet about
the nature and value of life
. The banker, who believes that the death penalty is more humane and moral than life imprisonment, argues that experiences, pleasures, and relationships are what make life worth living.
What is the topic of the lively debate at the banker’s party?
What was the topic of discussion? Answer : The topic of debate at the party was
whether capital punishment was better or life imprisonment
. Many of them disapproved of the death penalty. They argued that death penalty ought to be replaced by imprisonment of life.
What is the thesis of The Bet?
Chekov’s short story, “The Bet”, shows
that life is not worth living unless you have something that is really worth living for and people are often blinded of this by false priorities
.
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because when he originally made the bet with the lawyer, he was extremely wealthy, and now he no longer is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 is the moral of the story the bet?
The moral of Anton Chekhov’s “The Bet” is that
materialism and material wealth ultimately means nothing
.
What is the irony in 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.
What is the message in The Bet?
The central message of “The Bet” is that
giving in to greed and impulse can negatively impact one’s life
.
What’s the meaning of theme in literature?
A literary theme is
the main idea or underlying meaning a writer explores in a novel, short story, or other literary work
. The theme of a story can be conveyed using characters, setting, dialogue, plot, or a combination of all of these elements.
What is the banker’s intention?
He
would have to sell his estate and live out his remaining years in some furnished room or cottage
.
Why did the lawyer break the contract the bet?
Consequently, the lawyer will leave five hours
early because he does not want the money
. He determines that he is now wiser than the banker. The lawyer will deprive himself of what he thought he once wanted more than anything in the world.
What are the rules of the lawyer’s imprisonment?
According to the bet, the lawyer would have to spend the
fifteen years of his imprisonment “under the strictest supervision”
in a lodge situated in the banker’s garden. During this period, he couldn’t step beyond the doorstep of the lodge nor meet or see any human beings.
Who called 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. He had millions of dollars fifteen years ago when he and the lawyer bet two million dollars, and that two million was nothing to him.
Why does the narrator call the lawyer an unhappy man?
In calling the lawyer an “unhappy man,” the banker is “projecting.”
He is comparing the lawyer with himself
. The banker is an extrovert, as is shown by his holding a big party and by his ostentatious display of his material possessions. He does not realize he is dealing with a different type of character.
Why does the banker feel bad about himself after reading the lawyer’s letter?
After reading the letter, the banker feels “contempt for himself,” presumably because
he is guilty of just what the prisoner is writing about
: believing in the lies mankind has lived by. He locks up the letter so that he will have proof that the prisoner has lost the bet.
