The themes of arrogance, greed and materialism in the betIn “The Bet” by Anton Chekhov two men, one a banker and the 'another lawyer, they start the story discussing whether capital punishment is right or not. The banker is in favor of capital punishment, while the lawyer claims that if he had the chance he would get a life sentence. The banker bets the lawyer two million rubles that he would not survive fifteen years in prison. The lawyer agrees to remain in the banker's “prison” for fifteen years, and if the lawyer resists those fifteen years he will receive the two million rubles. Thus, the stage is set for this short but powerful commentary on society. The themes within “The Bet”; arrogance, greed, and materialism can be found by looking at both the actions of the two main characters and the motives for those actions. Arrogance is very prevalent in "The Bet". For example, in the beginning, when the banker and the lawyer were arguing, the banker says, "I bet you couldn't stay in a prison cell, not even for five years." Then the lawyer says: "Then I accept your bet, but I will stay not five years but fifteen." By choosing to stay fifteen years instead of five, the lawyer shows how strongly he supports his position that life in prison is better than the death penalty. However, by choosing to stay another ten years, the lawyer achieves nothing. He wastes another ten years of his life, but gets no extra money for doing so. In this case, the lawyer's arrogance got him nowhere. In another instance, the banker begins to openly wonder whether or... middle of paper... the greed displayed by the banker almost drives him to commit murder. The underlying themes in “The Bet”, arrogance, greed and materialism are effectively represented in both the banker and the lawyer. Despite the short length of the story, Anton Chekhov allows both characters to see their mistakes. The lawyer realizes that the two million rubles would not have made him happier. The banker realized that he did not like the selfish, materialistic person he had become when the narrator says, "Never, not even after his terrible losses in the stock market, had he felt such self-hatred." Anton Chekhov's "The Wager" proves to be an excellent commentary on how the lack of things can corrupt a person and how society as a whole needs to place more value on the things that money cannot buy.