Sokal

Marek Sokal

Professor Leigh Brown

Academic Writing Multidisciplinary
1 February 2014
Money Madness
Money is a powerful thing. Anton Chekhov illustrates this in the book,
The Wife and Other Stories, containing the short story The Lottery Ticket.
Originally published in Russian, translated by Constance Garnett, is an
interesting story depicting just how powerful money can be.
The story begins with the protagonist Ivan Dmitritch, a middle-class
man . . . reading the newspaper. (Chekhov 182) We find him discussing the
semantics of checking his wifes lottery ticket numbers in said newspaper.
[H]e passed his finger downwards along the column of numbers, (Chekhov
182) and found the series matched the ticket!
And immediately, as though in mockery of his skepticism, no further
than the second line from the top, his eye was caught by the figure
9,499! Unable to believe his eyes, he hurriedly dropped the paper on
his knees without looking to see the number of the ticket, and, just as
though someone had given him a douche of cold water, he felt an
agreeable chill in the pit of [his] stomach; tingling and terrible and
sweet! (Checkhov 182-3)
It seems as if in this moment Ivan is starting to lose control of his
emotion. The very possibility of winning money was enough to elicit a
physiological change in him.

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However, two parts were required to win the lottery, the series and the
number. The series matched, but he had not yet confirmed the number of
the ticket! Ivan, [who] had no faith in lottery luck, (Chekhov 182) was still
unable to believe what he was seeing as he exclaimed We still have time to
be disappointed. (Chekhov 183)
Perhaps the reason he had a hard time believing this was because the
prize of seventy-five thousand in Ivans opinion was not [just] money, but
power, capital! (Chekhov 183). Had they won they would have more than
sixty times the income they generally accumulated in a year! The husband
and wife began laughing and staring at one another in silence. They were
both in complete disbelief!
Eventually Ivan discloses that the ticket actually belongs to his wife,
however he entertains the idea of what he would do if it was his and how he
would spend the money. He contemplated the food and drink he would
consume, and the leisurely activities he would partake in. Ivan also took note
that his wife was also day dreaming, it was clear she also had thoughts of
how this money could be spent. This appears to stir Ivans emotions further
as his excitement quickly changes to anger, thinking his wife would deny him
any of the winnings. Ivans wife makes it clear he was dreaming at her
expense, judging her, and making hypothetical accusations. (Chekhov 184-6)
Ivans judgment was not clear as his anger transformed into hatred. . .
. And in order to annoy his wife he glanced quickly . . . at the newspaper and
read out (Chekhov 186) the number of the ticket, Series 9,499, number

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46! Not 26! (Chekhov 186) The number Ivan announced was quite possibly
fictitious, and said out of spite.
While Ivans harsh views of how his wife would treat him may have
been justified, it is difficult not to sympathize for his wife. If Ivan was able to
work on the dreams of how the fortune could be spent with his wife, he
certainly would have avoided much of the negative emotions he
experienced. Lack of communication can be devastating to any relationship.
Both parties must have a fair chance to speak to avoid painful conflict.

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Works Cited
Chekhov, Anton. The Lottery Ticket The Wife and Other Stories. Trans.
Constance Garnett. Pennsylvania: PSU-Hazleton, 2012. PDF file.