The lawyer in "The Bet" is a dynamic character that changes dramatically in the course of a 15 year bet. He is placed in solitary confinement for 15 years after making a bet with a wealthy banker. During these 15 years the lawyer's character completely transforms from being an arrogant, young man in to a decrepit, cynical man of 40.
             Anton Chekhov presents the lawyer to the reader by his boastful and confident comments. The unpersuaded lawyer is unwilling to back down from his opinion of the death penalty, so much so, that he bets 15 years of his life on it. This shows how strong the character really is. He not only says what he believes, but backs it up with actions. Another example of this is when he states in his letter how much he now resents the world and all its materialism, and then to prove it, purposefully forfeits the two million dollars that he would've received if he stayed in confinement for 15 years.
             When the story begins the lawyer is young and full of life at the age of 25. 15 years later, he is now a man of 40 that is aged beyond his years. On the night before the bet is over, the banker goes in to the lawyer's lodge with the intent of killing him, only to find that the bet may have done half the job for him. The lawyer was "a skeleton with the skin drawn tight over his bones". The banker states that it would be easy to kill this "half-dead man". The lawyer is also dressed with a long, shaggy beard and hair streaked with silver, "no one would have believed that he was only forty". The rough appearance of the character provides the reader with a glimpse in to this man's hardened soul. It not only represents his age and the passing of 15 years, but the struggles and strife he has been through over these years.
             The terms of the bet allow the lawyer to have any object he desires. The lawyer indulges himself in wine, books and music, only to...