The Bet Anton Chekov Story Analysis
The Bet (Anton Chekov)
Pre-Reading Assignment
1. In a comprehensive paragraph, please answer the following question. Which do you think is more humane: life imprisonment or the death penalty? Explain.
2. Would you give up five prime years of your life for five million dollars? Why/why not?
3. Are people really capable of change? In what circumstances? How does time help?Discussion Questions
1. What are the rules of the lawyer’s imprisonment? Why does the lawyer willingly propose fifteen years of solitary confinement instead of the initial five?
2. What does the banker privately think of the bet? Why do you think he does not simply withdraw?
3. How did the lawyer react to the first year of his imprisonment? How did this change as the years passed?
4. What was the significance of the shots fired in the garden?
5. How does the prisoner spend the last two years of his confinement? What
can the reader infer from his about his character?
6. Why is the banker afraid that he will be ruined forever when the 15 years is complete? What happened to his wealth? What can the reader infer about
the banker’s lifestyle?
7. What does the banker intend to do to the lawyer? What does this reveal about his character?
8. What perception does the lawyer have about death? How does he prove himself?
9. What did the banker do once the prisoner escaped? Why? What can the
reader infer about his character?Post-Reading Question
1. In a response of a minimum of one paragraph, please explain who you think really won the bet and why.
2. Based on the circumstances in Anton Chekhov’s short story, “The Bet”, discuss whether you agree or disagree with the following quote: “It’s better to live somehow than not to live at all.” (The Lawyer) Why? Explain using examples from the text as a springboard for your response.
3. What is the theme of this story? Answer in a complete paragraph using quotes from the text that illustrate theme and support your answer.
4. Are the two main characters (the banker and the lawyer) flat or round characters. Answer in at least two complete paragraphs using quotes from the text that support your answer.
5. Write a scene in which the lawyer has escaped and finds himself in a lodge some distance away. He hasn’t spoken to anyone in fifteen years but decides to confide in a stranger. Write a dialogue in which he speaks for the first time as a “free man.”
6. In your opinion, what lessons did both men learn from the bet? Please respond in a minimum of two paragraphs, using quotes to support your answer.
7. Indicate at least three good theses as if you were going to write an essay on this short story. Relate one to theme, one to character, and one to conflict.