太原科技大学外国语学院12级阅读文篇Thebet.docVIP

PAGE PAGE 1 The Bet (by Anton Chekhov) About the author Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (Date of Birth HYPERLINK /OnThisDay?day=29month=January 29 January HYPERLINK /BornInYear?1860 1860, HYPERLINK /BornWhere?Taganrog,%20Russia Taganrog, Russia Date of Death HYPERLINK /OnThisDay?day=15month=July 15 July HYPERLINK /DiedInYear?1904 1904, Badenweiler, Germany) was a HYPERLINK /wiki/Russia \o Russia Russian HYPERLINK /wiki/Short_story \o Short story short-story writer, HYPERLINK /wiki/Playwright \o Playwright playwright and HYPERLINK /wiki/Physician \o Physician physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in the history of world literature. His career as a dramatist produced four classics and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics. Plot summary The story begins with a heated argument at a party over which is more moral, capital punishment or life imprisonment. The host of the party, a twenty-five year old lawyer at the party responds, saying, he would choose the life sentence to be more moral because any life is better than no life at all.This response causes the banker to bet the lawyer two million dollars in five years solitary confinement. The lawyer accepts the wager, but pushes it to fifteen years in hopes of making a point. While the banker remained concerned primarily about the money, the lawyer stays in confinement for almost fifteen years when, with only five minutes remaining, he renounces his quest for the two million dollars. In his fifteen years of solitude, the lawyer has come to the realization that money is of no significance in comparison with true meaning of life. Character analysis The lawyer The lawyer who was shut away for fifteen years won the bet in the moral sense.? He began to read in earnest though it was difficult at first to endure the solitary confinement.?His reading opened his mind and gave him wisdom.? He was able to appreciate much of the world without actually experiencing it