NewView Conquers Again in Chekov’s Immortal Short Story, “The Bet”
Still interested in writing essays about literature, short stories in particular?
Anton Chekov’s short story, The Bet, is yet another fine example of a straightforward OldView – to – NewView relationship in a story, another instance that illustrates the universal truth that a story must change by the end and that end is always a reverse of what was stated at the beginning. So this blog post should provide you with all the insight you need for writing essays about this classic short story.
Summary Analysis
1-OldView strong value statement, early on
“Fifteen? Done!” cried the banker. “Gentlemen, I stake two millions!” “Agreed! You stake your millions and I stake my freedom!” said the young man . . .”
“On my [the banker’s] part it [the bet of two million dollars] was the caprice of a pampered man, and on his [the young lawyer’s] part simple greed for money. . . .”
The bet at the beginning sets up all the rest of the story, including our expectations about the end of the story. We expect either the capricious banker or the determined young lawyer to win the bet because of their enthusiasm for and dedication to their end of the bet.
2-OldView Supports/undercuts, in middle
Description.
“. . . the young man should spend . . . his captivity under the strictest supervision . . . not be free to cross the threshold of the lodge, to see human beings, to hear the human voice . . . was allowed to have a musical instrument and books . . . to write letters, to drink wine, and to smoke . . .”
This supports the OldView of the young lawyer sacrificing his freedom for money.
The regretful banker begins losing his enthusiasm:
“Tomorrow . . . he will regain his freedom. . . . I ought to pay him two millions. If I do . . . I shall be utterly ruined.”
This adds information to and undercuts the banker’s original OldView.
Conflicts & Resolutions.
To fight loneliness, the young man read mountains of books, played the piano, learned many different languages, and drank a lot of wine; despite the difficulty of staying in that room, he sticks it out for the entire fifteen years—–except for the last five hours. For most of the story, the young lawyer’s conflicts with himself support his original OldView of keeping to his end of the bet.
3-NewView Reversal, at end
Reverse.
At the end, the lawyer no longer wanted the money—he unexpectedly rejects the money, in a NV Reverse of his original greed—and, five hours before the deadline, he purposely breaks the contract that would have given him the two million dollars he initially lusted after.
Also, the banker had a NV Reversal of his initial feelings of being carefree, pampered, and capricious at the beginning—at the end he is seriously in debt, needing to keep the money just to survive as a banker; he’s quite fearful of failure, which is quite opposite his original capricious and carefree attitude.
Once again, the OldView values and expectations presented at the beginning of the story are NewView Reversed at the end of the story. How could it be otherwise?
It truly IS a universal truth that something must ALWAYS change by the end of a story, and that the NewView at the end is ALWAYS a Reverse of the OldView or OldViews at the beginning.
And despite the predictability of that tried and true formula, the story is still interesting and captivating, isn’t it?
Great article! I really enjoyed seeing how well your NewView and OldView concepts work together in Chekov’s short story, The Bet. Now I’m going to read your other NewView Analyses of other short stories that you provide here! And your NewView Analyses of several novels, too! Keep up the great work! Thanks for all the insight!
Looking forward to reading more of your articles in the future.Go for it.
My partner and I like reading through this. I might publish this on myblog. I am convinced you will get quite a few thumbs up