The Bet

Anton Chekhov was born in the small town of Taganrog, Russia, in 1860. After his father’s grocery store went bankrupt, Chekhov began supporting the family by writing humorous stories and sketches. In 1879, he moved to Moscow and entered medical school. He then worked as a doctor and had occupations as diverse as writing literature for money and building schools and clinics. His unusually broad experience of Russian life led him to portray a great variety of characters in the hundreds of stories and dozens of plays he wrote before his death from tuberculosis at age 44.

While his work has been described as sociological and Chekhov himself said that the work of the writer is “no different from the run-of-the-mill reporter” (xi), his stories are more than mirrors of ordinary life—both because of their deep insight into human emotion and their formal richness. Chekhov tapped into a tradition of storytelling that included anecdotes, parables, and moral tales. He used that tradition in his own way, based on his keen ability to observe small details.

Chekhov’s busy and successful life seems to stand in contradiction with the resignation and weakness of many of his characters, and such contradiction is at the heart of his work. While he’s a deeply sympathetic writer, his treatment of his characters can sometimes be merciless, as seen in his depiction of the standoff between the lawyer and the banker in “The Bet.”

Although Chekhov insisted that his works were comedies, critics have said that his subtle representation of characters makes it difficult to decide whether a piece of writing is comedy or tragedy. The approach to his characters may even seem uncaring. In “The Bet,” it appears as if the author has abandoned the banker and the lawyer to their folly.

Chekhov’s Christianity and his relationship with the Russian Orthodox Church have been the subject of many studies, and critics still debate his views on religion. Raised in an oppressive religious environment, Chekhov admitted at the end of his life that he lost faith. However, despite that loss and his dissatisfaction with the established church, he continued to explore the teachings of the Gospels through his characters. Readers encounter a writer who believes in the unbreakable bond of love between God and humanity while wrestling with the Church and the scripture.

Chekhov had no expressed political agenda, so much so that the critics of his time faulted his lack of ideology. His politics came through in his life rather than in his writing. For example, he revealed his feelings about the peasantry by offering them free medical treatment and his concerns about the environment by planting trees. “The Bet” doesn’t focus on capital punishment from a political standpoint beyond a quick mention of common opinions. Instead, it delves into character. Chekhov’s stories don’t reveal a political program but rather a concern for the human condition with its absurdities and contradictions. “The Bet” is not “run-of-the-mill reporting” but a complex crafting of symbols and literary devices in the service of a deep examination of humanity.