Over the years the story has been used for numerous reasons. Whether it is passing down culture from generation to generation, or simply the task of trying to teach a lesson, storytelling rarely fails. Betting is no exception. It shows a number of things, the development of a character, change over time, a spiritual lesson and a lesson that could be useful to anyone. Some of these things take writers entire volumes to achieve, but Chekhov manages to do them in a few short pages. First you could observe the character of the lawyer, who starts out young and impatient, but by the end he has become wise and more patient than a monk. You see it in his progression throughout the story. At first he is willing to give up the best fifteen years of his life for just two million. During these fifteen years he manages to keep himself busy doing various things such as learning the piano, learning languages, going on a spiritual journey with the Old Testament, reading a multitude of books and generally becoming a very cultured person. At the end of all these things he comes to some sort of realization, that now that he's past the age of fifteen he realizes that he doesn't want the money and is just satisfied that his point has been proven. The lawyer is a very dynamic character and Chekhov works miracles with him. Transforming him from the young, greedy, worldly, impatient man, and turning him into what could almost be called a wise old man, where he is now very transcendent, and doesn't want any kind of worldly effect, and just wants to see the world through his new prospect. The evolution of this character essentially constitutes the entire “lesson” that will be learned in this story. It is... middle of paper... here is the clique that to achieve this objective must undertake an often very isolated "journey". The theme of materialism versus intellectualism is the main reason for this story. It shows throughout the story and as it progresses, the theme with the characters also increases. And as the story progresses, it becomes more and more important as the main theme of the story. Chekhov also develops the lawyer very well as the main author of this theme. Since the lawyer is intellectualism, the banker is materialism. It proves that materialism is supposed to be the "bad guy" as the banker tries to kill the lawyer over "material" issues. All in all The Bet is a very useful and effective story. It is shown in every aspect that Chekhov put into the story. From start to finish The Bet proves that short story can be a viable writing style .