Santiago 1

Shianne Santiago

Keystone English Teachers

English II

July 20, 2020

The Wager – The Interview

The banker enters the radio station. He greets the radio host by shaking his hand.

The Banker: Good day to you sir. How do you fair?

Radio Host: Why hello sir! I am doing well, thank you. It is pleasure to have you here today.

The Banker: Oh, the pleasure is all mine. Thank you for inviting me.

The banker has a seat on couch. He clasps his hands together and looks at the radio host.

Radio Host: As you know, my radio show is all about interviewing intriguing people. You have

quite the peculiar past. In fact, it made headlines when it occurred! I would like to ask you about

this occurrence. Would you mind answering a series of questions?

The Banker: Of course. It is for that very reason that I came here today, right?

The banker and the radio host chuckle.

Radio Host: Let us begin! The story that has been popularized is that you and a young journalist

made a bet regarding whether the death penalty or incarceration for life is worse. It caused quite

a stir on the political scene. What is the actual story? What occurred leading up to the making of

the wager and what exactly was the wager?

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The Banker sighs and looks up wistfully.

The Banker: What an excellent first question. The story you have is not quite right. Let me

begin from the beginning and explain what led up to the making of the bet. When I was a young

lad, I enjoyed being in the company of intellectual beings. Due to this, I would often hold parties

with these geniuses, so as to have clever conversations. On a particular evening during the fall, I

had held another party with some brilliant minds. As the evening progressed, we talked about

various topics, but had ended up discussing about capital punishment and life imprisonment. As

a young man, I was quite passionate about my stance. I believed that both the death penalty and

incarceration for life were both immoral, but I asserted than latter was crueler. I believe my exact

words were, “the death penalty is more moral and more humane than imprisonment for life.

Capital punishment kills a man at once, but lifelong imprisonment kills him slowly. Which

executioner is the more humane, he who kills you in a few minutes or he who drags the life out

of you in the course of many years?” (Chekhov, para. 2).

Radio Host: I see. Please continue.

The Banker: A young man who was a lawyer, not a journalist, objected against my stance. He

asserted that although both capital punishment and life incarceration are immoral forms of

punishment, just like I believed, he claimed that life incarceration was the more humane option

of the two. To be precise, the young jurist stated, “The death sentence and the life sentence are

equally immoral, but if I had to choose between the death penalty and imprisonment for life, I

would certainly choose the second. To live anyhow is better than not at all,” (Chekhov, para. 5).

Radio Host: Oh my! I can see how these opposing views caused conflict.

The banker and radio host laugh slightly.

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The Banker: Yes indeed. I was a fiery youth, and due to my rather passionate ways, I was quite

agitated when this young jurist went against me. I grew flustered and lashed out. I slammed my

hand against the table and exclaimed that he was incorrect, for I bet two million dollars that he

would not be able to withstand five years in solitary confinement.

Radio Host: Incredible! You wagered that he would not be able to support five years in solitary

confinement? I know I sure would not have been able!

The Banker: I too believed I would have not been able to experience such a thing. I believed no

one could. Yet, I was mistaken. The young lawyer raised the bet. He wagered that he could

undergo fifteen years in solitary confinement against my two million. I accepted. In that moment,

he cried out, “Agreed! You stake your millions and I stake my freedom!" (Chekhov, para. 10). It

is a moment that I often replay in my memory.

Radio Host: How fascinating! What occurred during those fifteen years? Anything astonishing

or frightening?

The Banker: Of course! During the course of my prisoner’s term, there were a number of

interesting instances that took place. In the first of his imprisonment, he played piano and read

various novels, mainly about romance and fantasy. This distracted him from the severe

depression he was suffering. The next year, he took upon reading the classics. You know, works

like Antigone and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. He ceased playing piano that year and read

only the classics. That was all he dedicated himself to. In the fifth year, the lawyer lost all sense

of morality. He fell deep into his depression again. This time, however, he did not read, but

dedicated himself to only eating, drinking, and at times, crying. In his sixth year, he had a change

of attitude and began to intensely study world language, history and philosophy. He mastered six
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languages and even wrote me a letter in these languages, where he asked me to show them to

masters who speak the foreign tongues and confirm that they are correct. They were, and I sent

for two shots in the yard so that he would know.

Radio Host: Wow! It seems so far-fetched to be true!

The Banker: I know. Those who I have told this story to have the same reaction. As I was

saying, he spent four years like that, studying those three topics. In total, he sent for over six

hundred volumes to be retrieved so he could study. It was astounding to be of audience to. In the

tenth year, the jurist studied the Bible, theology and the history of religions. I was baffled to see

how someone who studied such intellectual work would study a material based on faith. Years

later, I realized the purpose behind that was to solidify his set of values and morals.

Radio Host: That is certainly a profound realization!

The Banker: Yes, I agree. It impacted me deeply once I realized that.

The men smile at each other.

The Banker: Furthermore, in the last two years of the lawyer’s incarceration, I noticed the

prisoner began to read a diverse set a book. There was no particular pattern. He read anything

from Shakespeare, medicine, a novel, and even chemistry! It demonstrated that he was

desperately trying to distract himself from the despair of his confinement, but these actions

finished enlightening him.

Radio Host: What do you mean by that? Did the young jurist come out a different person?

The banker straightened his back.

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The Banker: It did. It changed him for the better! At the start of his imprisonment, the jurist was

just like me. He was stubborn, immature, and lacked ethics. He wanted to prove he was right,

just like me. He wanted to prove himself and show that he in the conflict, he was the correct

force. We were both foolish! However, during those fifteen years, he matured but I did not. The

jurist became a wise man, with high values and strict morals. He became so enlightened, that he

no longer cared for the petty bet we made. He understood how insignificant it was and how

insignificant we humans are.

Radio Host: What do you mean by he did not care for the wager? Did he forfeit?

The Banker: Indeed. On the evening of the second to last day of his fifteenth-year sentence, he

wrote a letter describing his new viewpoint on life. He expressed how all the books he read had

granted him sagacity. How he lived vicariously through the books. He detailed his disdain for

our earthly ways and for our perspective on life and expressed that he no longer wishes to live in

the manner by which we all live. To demonstrate this, he stated that he was going to flee from his

confinement five hours before the agreed time, so as to forfeit his right to the two million dollars

by breaking the terms of our wager. The last lines of his letter account his thoughts best, “I don't

want to understand you. To prove to you in action how I despise all that you live by, I renounce

the two millions of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I despise. To deprive

myself of the right to the money I shall go out from here five hours before the time fixed, and so

break the compact …” Such words have never spoken to me like these have.

Radio Host: Oh, my goodness! That letter must have certainly perplexed you when you found it

the next morning. How did you feel?

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The Banker: Yes, I was puzzled at first, but that is not how it went about. This is a tell all

interview, is it not? I must be honest with you. I did not find the letter the next morning. I came

upon this letter the night before; hours after the evening he wrote it.

Radio Host: What do you mean? Did you visit him? I thought prisoners in solitary confinement

do not receive visitors.

The Banker: You are correct. Prisoners in solitary confinement do not get visitors. I was not a

visitor. I was a monster. You see, five years ago, I was in ruins. I did not have two million

dollars. I had gambled my wealth away on the ever so uncertain Stock Exchange and it resulted

in my fall. I lost an incredible amount of money and was reduced to heavily depending on my

other investments. I had no money to spare and certainly could not afford to give up two million

dollars. I felt distressed. I felt trapped. I was being suffocated by the looming fear of a debt that

was approaching second by second. I did not know what to do to escape from the shackles that

were going to drag me to my doom. I resolved to liberate myself at any means necessary.

The radio host eyes widen. His breathe hitches.

Radio Host: No… you do not mean…

The banker’s eyes glanced down in shame.

The Banker: Yes… I had decided to kill the jurist.

The radio host gasps.

The Banker: I know. It brings me immense embarrassment to admit such a thing, but it is true. I

was a terrible person. All my morals, all my values, all the ethics I was brought up with had

ceased to exist. I was a shell of a man, desperate for release. In my mind, the only thing that
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mattered was to not have a debt. I wanted to be free. My world, who’s roots were embedded in

all material items, was about to shatter. If I went bankrupt, I would be nothing more than an old,

broke, washed up, aristocrat. I could not bear the idea.

Radio Host: I am speechless.

The Banker: I do not blame you. I was on the verge of becoming a murderer because I was

immoral. It is unforgivable. That night, it rained incessantly. Perhaps it was a reflection of my

dark state of mind and state of heart. I had exited my residence and made my way over to the

lodge. I peered through the window to see if the jurist was awake or asleep. He was seated at his

table, his stillness unwavering. I was apprehensiveness of his behavior and proceeded to observe

him for five minutes. He remained in the same position, so I decided to continue with my plan. I

crept in ever so quietly into the lodge. I made my way over to where he was sitting and took in

the miserable appearance of the man who was once a professional. He was boney, though lanky.

His long locks hung over his sunken face. He developed a beard, but it was unkept. His entire

being was unkept. The years of imprisonment took a toll on the man of just forty. I believed that

he was asleep, dreaming of the millions and freedom I thought he yearned for. I was so mistaken.

When I read the note, I was overwhelmed with emotion. All of my guilt and shame came over

me, crippling my being. I kissed the jurist’s head, as a gesture of appreciation and as a gesture of

remorse. I left the note upon the desk and quickly returned home. I sobbed the entire night

through.

Radio Host: Did this occurrence impact you? If so, how?

The Banker: Young man, no event in my long years of life have impacted me like this one has.

This bet, the debt, the letter and the jurist changed me for the better. Before, I was not a man. I
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was a buffoonish boy. I was hotheaded and immature. I cared only about being right, proving my

worth, flaunting my wealth, boasting my intellect and being the metaphorical “winner” of

everything. I valued only the material of this world. I valued only my status. I valued being rich

and being able to indulge in my capricious attitude. Nothing else mattered to me. I did not care

for his suffering. I did not care for his life. I did not even care for my own. My riches mattered

more than anything! Looking back, that despicable behavior repulses me.

Radio Host: I understand. Please go on.

The Banker: Now, I can say that I am a true man, because now I am a human. I have morals

now. I have values now. In this moment, I understand that money, power and status are not all

that matter. Like my beloved jurist says, earthly materials do not matter! Our ways and

perspective that place weight upon these meaningless items are wrong. Being rich has no value.

Being powerful has no values. Caring about only beauty is wrong. Caring about being right more

than anything is wrong. Pride and greed are sins that corrupt the human heart and mind. They

make you lose track of what really matters. Having freedom, matters. Having love, matters.

Having ethics, matter. Having life, matters. Earthly materials and goods are not eternal.

Revolving one’s life around such things is unwise. Rather, one should enjoy the life we possess,

and we should strive to continuously educate ourselves so that we can be sagacious. So that we

may learn to appreciate our life above all things. Death is omnipresent in this world and it will

take us all one day. Until then, we should put weight upon what truly matters rather than what

does not. Thanks to my dearest lawyer, I know that now. I will be indebted to him forever.

Radio Host: My, that is one striking speech. You are a wonderful speaker! Well, that is just

about all the time we have here today. Thank you again for being a guest on my humble radio

show. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

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The Banker: Oh, no no. Thank you for inviting me. It was a delight being here and having this

exceptional conversation with you. You are a great host!

The radio host and the banker shake each other’s hands. The banker exists the set.

End
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Works Cited

Chekhov, Anton. “The Wager,” Adolf Marks, 14 Jan. 1889.