The Bet By Raymond Carver
Topic: A writer has the power to reflect on the world in which they live. What do the writers Chekhov and Carver say about the struggles of real life in the society around them? Discuss, using quotes and references to characters and scenes within the chosen short stories.
The short stories, ‘The Bet’ and ‘Cathedral’ by Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver respectively, both investigate the struggles of real life in society around them. Chekhov and Carver present the struggles created by greed and jealousy, how easily one takes things for granted and the affect of social isolation on the mental wellbeing of an individual.
Greed is the selfish desire for more than one needs or deserves. Once an individual obtains their desired object or possession, …show more content…
This is critical if an individual is to ‘see’ the world in which they live. To carefully analyse a situation and to fully appreciate what it has to offer. With ease, events in everyday life can be taken for granted, may it be feelings, relationships, possessions, a sense or even life itself. When the Lawyer in ‘The Bet’ accepted the wager from the Banker, he did not realise the severity of what he had done. He valued his life inadequately and with this, it seemed that the bet itself was on his life. After the 15 years of voluntary imprisonment, the Lawyer discovered the importance of human life and how it is easily taken for granted. An individual’s ability to see is taken for granted in ‘Cathedral.’ The husband is ‘cognitively’ blind in the manner in which he considers life. He disregards his sight, which he takes for granted. He is also very narrow-minded and content within his own world; which led him to neglect the rest of the world. There were two instances in particular illustrate this, the first, is that the husband seemed to believe that the most important thing to women is being complimented on their looks; the second is that he is unable to imagine his wife’s friend Robert, as a person. When drawing the cathedral, the husband was asked by Robert to close his eyes. Upon completion, Robert asked the husband to look at the drawing. The husband thought, ‘But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to
The short stories, ‘The Bet’ and ‘Cathedral’ by Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver respectively, both investigate the struggles of real life in society around them. Chekhov and Carver present the struggles created by greed and jealousy, how easily one takes things for granted and the affect of social isolation on the mental wellbeing of an individual.
Greed is the selfish desire for more than one needs or deserves. Once an individual obtains their desired object or possession, …show more content…
This is critical if an individual is to ‘see’ the world in which they live. To carefully analyse a situation and to fully appreciate what it has to offer. With ease, events in everyday life can be taken for granted, may it be feelings, relationships, possessions, a sense or even life itself. When the Lawyer in ‘The Bet’ accepted the wager from the Banker, he did not realise the severity of what he had done. He valued his life inadequately and with this, it seemed that the bet itself was on his life. After the 15 years of voluntary imprisonment, the Lawyer discovered the importance of human life and how it is easily taken for granted. An individual’s ability to see is taken for granted in ‘Cathedral.’ The husband is ‘cognitively’ blind in the manner in which he considers life. He disregards his sight, which he takes for granted. He is also very narrow-minded and content within his own world; which led him to neglect the rest of the world. There were two instances in particular illustrate this, the first, is that the husband seemed to believe that the most important thing to women is being complimented on their looks; the second is that he is unable to imagine his wife’s friend Robert, as a person. When drawing the cathedral, the husband was asked by Robert to close his eyes. Upon completion, Robert asked the husband to look at the drawing. The husband thought, ‘But I had my eyes closed. I thought I’d keep them that way for a little longer. I thought it was something I ought to