Anton Chekhov's Value of Human Life

The value of one's life has been set from the first days of one's birth till this day as the values and beliefs are slowly changed. The United State government has put a set currency on everyone's lives when they die. When an individual passes away a close person in their life will get that amount of money. Although having a set amount of money on people's life seems unfair. Everyone should get an equal amount of currency on their life. For the government to decide how the money is deducted. The money on a person's life should only get deducted if they have committed a serious crime. Then government will decide how much money will be deducted depending on the crime. Although having a set amount of currency on people's life is wrong the government should have an equal amount for everyones lives and only be deducted on the horrible crimes they have committed.

         Materialism is probably the major theme found in “The Bet.”  First of all, the whole reason the lawyer got involved in the bet to begin with is his desire to be rich.  He was willing to give away fifteen years of his life in order to achieve the status he thought would make him

The lawyer is not able to focus on anything because Bartleby will not move from the office or do any work. The lawyer then decides to pay Bartleby a “twenty-dollar bill over and above whatever [is in Bartleby’s account] and tell him his services” are not necessary (674).The lawyer throws money at Bartleby instead of handing it to him in his hands. The lawyer is trying to get rid of Bartleby to let the law firm make money. Melville portrays a constant war of conscience in the lawyer's mind regarding Bartleby's actions and the lawyer's reactions. The lawyer goes to church regularly yet does not show the Christian beliefs and ethics.

Should people put the value of life into monetary value or should life be kept solely as an emotional quantity? People and societies throughout the ages have been trying to answer the problem of putting the value of life into terms of dollar bills. The ancient Egyptians buried their dead with all of their worldly belongings. They believed a person’s monetary worth on Earth was over, and they should take all of that earthly worth with them to the afterlife. Modern day Americans are different from the Egyptians. Today people believe that the families of the dead should be compensated for “their” loss.

Anton Chekhov’s short story, “At Home,” provides a representation on how societies view morality when faced with the action of discipline. This view is imperative to the story because Chekhov wants the reader to recognize the futile ways societies determine what is morally correct or incorrect, by implementing consequences without considering why an action must be punished. Evgeni Bykovski, an attorney, is faced with this exact problem as he determines how to properly teach and discipline his son, Seriozha, who has been caught stealing, smoking, and lying. Nevertheless, Evgeni finds himself at his most difficult trial because as he ponders how to punish his son, he encounters his own set of crossroads on how societies discipline

Viktor E. Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist who also had survived the Holocaust, writes “When we are no longer able to change a situation – we are challenged to change ourselves” (BrainyQuote). Frankl survived genocide against his own people and still chose to have a positive outlook on it because he understands that if he did not, he would continually live an unhappy, upset life. Like Frankl, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, the main character in One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, contains a similar outlook to that of Frankl. The novel takes place during Soviet Russia in a gulag in Siberia, or otherwise known as a labor work camp. The whole book is about only one day that Shukhov lives; from 5 in the morning to 10 at night and all that happens in between. In this labor camp, not only are the weather conditions very cold, making it difficult to work in such circumstances, but also the workers are punished and harshly treated if they do not obey the guards. When placed in this environment, it is easy to be discouraged and miserable, but instead of facing the negatives of his situation, Shukhov remains affirmative in his thoughts – which are most important in order to survive not only physically, but also mentally. This stoicism portrayed in the narrative can also be found in Epictetus’s work, The Handbook. In this text, Epictetus discusses how he believes people can live a happy life, despite the hard conditions they are put through

Everyone has been led to believe that all lives are equal, and they are however, in terms of monetary value, lives are not equal. Aside the ethics about assigning value to the live it is still done. The justice system tries to resolve this loss by using unjust means. Life should not be given a value in any sort of currency, it is is not right as there is no way to put a price on something as priceless as life. Even if the life of a person is affected by an illness, their worth should not be decreased. All lives are equal, some people need more help than others and it should be given if and when deserve such help. The value of life has been contemplated throughout history, such as Shakespeare's (1599) play, hamlet; in which Hamlet’s

This story had a graphical representation that seemed to be abnormal or incoherent in the way it was presented, because in our society it is not normal and it is against the law to have a game in which the prize is death, but although it is not normal and against the law it happens in our everyday life. Although we do not have this kind of tradition anymore (within the United States,) we do have other rules, or laws, which instead of help people, it kills them little by little and some people decide to take justice in their hands. For example in some foreign countries the laws allow government to punish criminals by publically humiliating

Though Anton Chekhov's "The Bet" was written in a different country at a different time, it portrays a timeless theme; greed is a crippling trait of mankind. This message can be seen through the author's use of characterization of both the lawyer and the banker. The banker was a static character; he was greedy from start to finish. The lawyer was a dynamic character and he saw the wrong in his ways and changed them in the end.

In One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn shows how Soviet prisoners, known as Zeks, are treated while being in the gulag for one day through the eyes of the protagonist and omniscient narrator named Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Despite being in an environment such as the Soviet Union, where there is harsh tundra and not much food to eat, Shukhov tries to make good use of what he has received while trying to keep himself alive. The purpose of Solzhenitsyn’s portrayal of food is to show its overall significance and that it is used as a means of trade and survival. Over time, the power of food reveals its significance to the Zeks and especially to Shukhov and food allows both groups understanding towards the necessity of food for their vitality and well-being additionally.

According to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, “The battleline between good and evil runs through the heart of every man.” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is a Russian novelist, born on December 11, 1918. From an early age, Solzhenitsyn was interested in becoming a writer, and began sending his writings for publication. He received a degree in mathematics and physics from the University of Rostv-na-Donu but had to put his career aside due to World War II. In 1945, Solzhenitsyn was arrest for letters he wrote that criticized Joseph Stalin. This led to him spending eight years in prison and labor camps. Following these events, Solzhenitsyn went on to publish numerous novels: Odin den iz zhizni Ivana Denisovicha (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich), V kruge pervom (The First Circle) Rakovy korpus (Cancer Ward) and Arkhipelag Gulag (The Gulag Archipelago). The Gulag Archipelago discusses Solzhenitsyn’s experiences in labor camps and the way the system worked. This led to Solzhenitsyn being brought to court for treason. These works received critical acclaim and he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970. In his quote, Solzhenitsyn is saying that human beings are always having internal fights with themselves over good and evil. They always try to overcome one or the other, with most cases being humans try to drive the evil away. No matter how hard human beings try to turn it away, it isn’t possible; humans are inherently evil.

As the stoning process begins, Mr. Summers announces, “'All right folks, let’s finish quickly,'” (p.209). This remark proves that this village does not cherish human life where they will do anything for a successful outcome. This ritual sacrifice is something the younger generations might foresee as something not right or barbaric to do. Mrs. Adams says, “‘some places have already quit lotteries,'” (p. 207). Old Man Warner who has been to 77 lotteries angrily argues, “'There always been a lottery...nothing but trouble in that, pack of young fools,'” (p.207). This shows that the young people are wanting to go off the trail and get rid of lottery because they see no good in it. The older generations see the lottery as a tradition that has been practiced for many years, it must keep living

In this paper, I plan to explain Dostoevsky’s criticism of Western Individualism. Dostoevsky’s first criticism resides in the idea to “love life more than the meaning of it, “which is presented by the character Alyosha (Dostoevsky 3). Allowing this character to discuss this topic, along with the commentary of Ivan, demonstrates their mindset to solely focus on their own lives, opposed to caring for others. This leads to them living for the now, and not focusing on how their decisions will affect their future or others. Dostoevsky disapproves of this notion because living by this mentality encourages the guidance of logic, which is dangerous because it could tell you to kill yourself. From Dostoevsky’s Eastern Orthodox background, he believes that the only way from living from this situation is to deny it. By denying this way of living, the focus toward life will not be directed toward yourself, but toward the way you can impact the environment around you. Ivan clearly does not believe in these values, due to his intentions to commit suicide at the age of thirty. As said before, living by the idea to “love life more than the meaning of it” leads to death, and Ivan indulges in this to the fullest (Dostoevsky 3).

“Nothing has ever been more insupportable for a man and a human society than freedom.” –The Grand Inquisitor” “Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” - Father Zosima. These two quotes voice the polarized philosophies that impregnate the book, The Brothers Karamazov. Ivan, the second of the three sons, and Zosima, the old monk, are huge commentators on the question, “Is the burden of free will to much for a human to bear?”

In high school I read a short story called The Bet by Anton Chekhov. The story was about a young lawyer who made a bet with a banker that imprisonment for fifteen years was better than the death penalty. Like Socrates in Plato’s Crito the lawyer was trying to challenge society’s beliefs. While in confinement the lawyer read many books, whose subjects ranged from languages to philosophy. After fifteen years of solitary confinement the lawyer rejects his prize money and defaults on the bet, hours before winning. I wonder if the man had read the Crito. We can reason that Socrates’ could have inspired the man to decide to pick the more brash choice to try and teach his accusers a lesson. The man may have decided to default on the bet when he was so close to winning because he wished to make the lesson the banker learned more memorable and infinite. In the Crito even though Socrates thinks himself to be innocent of the charges brought against him he still refuses to escape prison when presented with the opportunity. This helps him teach his final lesson about the principles he believes are worth dying for. His principles are that the opinion of the many is unimportant, his life is not worth living with a corrupt soul, life is not as important as living justly, the only consideration to take into account is justice, and acting unjustly is always bad and shameful. Even though Socrates and the polis or laws arrive at the same conclusion that Socrates should not escape prison, the