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Monica Brydges
Madonna University
College Composition I
Professor Agee
10/09/2014
The Transformation
The Bet written by Anton Chekhov is a story about how pride and money drove a man
to make an unthinkable bet. As a result of a debate about the death penalty a young lawyer
voluntary spends 15 years of this life in solidary confident in order to gain 2 million dollars. In
the time the lawyer spent alone the he gained a great deal of insight about himself and realizes
that the money doesnt matter. While most people would go mad from staying in solitary
confident, the young lawyer goes through a drastic change and gains enlightenment into his
values and the meaning of life, the transformation is mainly due to the literature he reads during
his confinement which enables him to find peace and discover that freedom is more important
than money.

In the beginning of the story the main character, the lawyer was young, greedy, and
money driven. While at a party the lawyer got into a debate about the death penalty with a
wealthy banker, the debate ended with the lawyer taking a challenge in the form of a bet.
Agreed! You sake your millions and I sake my freedom. (Chekhov 7). The lawyer is so
financially motivated that he is willing to give up the best years of his life for money. His only
concerns are making money and being wealthy he does not believe freedom is really worth
anything. During the course of his solitary confinement the lawyer struggles with being alone,
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since he has no contact with the outside world or human interaction he spends most of his time
focusing on literature. In the first year the books he sent for were principally of a light
character. Novels with a complicated love plot, sensational and fantastic stories and so on
(Chekhov 14). At the beginning the books he begins are not really complicated or have any
depth, he is clearly just trying to pass the time he has to spend with himself by distracting
himself with stories that make him focus on something other than himself. In the first years the
young lawyers spends with himself it is revealed that money is the driving force that is pushing
him through this difficult task.

As the young lawyer spends more time with him he begins to mature and starts to find a
deeper meaning in life. His transformation begins around the second half of the sixth year. The
prisoner began zealously studying languages, philosophy, and history. He threw himself eagerly
in these studies (Chekhov16). The lawyers young nave years are passing and he is beginning
to mature and focus on his inner being. By reading more complex literature he moves pass his
former phase of avoiding his conscience and now he looks to better himself by expanding his
knowledge with the time he has to pass. In a letter he writes to the banker he expresses that he is
extremely content with languages and knowledge. Oh, if you only knew what unearthly
happiness my soul feels now from being able to understand them! (Chekhov 17). The young
lawyer gains happiness from the knowledge that he is growing intellectually and gaining a true
understanding of himself. The happiness the young lawyer feels from acquiring so much
knowledge is the motivating factor that drives the young lawyer to delve further into finding
fulfilment.

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As the years pass the lawyers desire to acquire knowledge and better himself only gets
stronger. In the last couple years of his solitary confinement the lawyer who started off young
continues the transformation into a mature knowledgeable man. His love for literature leads him
to look into his soul for true meaning in life. Through a letter he wrote to the banker he expressed
how he felt. Your books have given me wisdom. All that the unresting thought of a man has
created in the ages is compressed into a small compass in my brain. I know that I am wiser than
all of you (Chekhov 32). Even though he has spent so many years alone he has acquired more
knowledge and insight about himself and the world than people who have lived there life fully in
the community of others. In this letter the mature lawyer now expresses how much he despises
the people who used to be his peers. to prove to you in action how I despise all that you live
by, I renounce the two millions of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I
despise(Chekhov 35). The young lawyer is completely transformed from a young naive man
who only cared about making millions, to a mature knowledgeable man who has gained true
insight into himself and what he found to be the true meaning of life. The time the lawyer spends
with his inner thoughts and literature he finds that money only takes people away from happiness
and that knowledge is the true source of happiness.

Through the literature the young lawyer has exposed himself to is the catalyst of the
drastic change that allows him to see that money does not bring people happiness, only
knowledge can accomplish that. At the start of the story, the lawyer could be perceived as
immature and money-oriented, but over the course of his imprisonment he soon betters himself
by becoming more academically knowledgeable. Towards the end of the story, the lawyer could
be seen as wise, modest, and religious. He was able to find true happiness and discover himself
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doing the unthinkable. The young lawyer values depict the lacking of the materialistic people in
this day and age who would rather do something they hate to be rich than do something they love
and be happy.