The Gambler (novel)

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Everyman Library edition of The Gambler

The Gambler is a novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky about a young tutor in the employment of a formerly wealthy Russian General. The novella reflects Dostoevsky's own addiction to roulette, which was in more ways than one the inspiration for the book: Dostoevsky completed the novella under a strict deadline so he could pay off gambling debts.

The book was the basis of an opera by Sergei Prokofiev, also called The Gambler, as well as Hungarian director Károly Makk's film The Gambler (1997), which is about Dostoevsky writing the novella.

[edit] Characters

Alexei Ivanovich
The General
Maria Fillipova
Polina Aleksandrovna
Antonida Vasilevna (Grandmother)
Madamoiselle Blanche De Cominges
Madame La Comtesse
Marquis De Grieux
Mr. Astley

[edit] Plot Summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The first-person narrative is told from the point of view of Alecksey Ivanovich, a tutor working for a Russian family living in a suite at a German resort. The patriarch of the family, The General, is indebted to the Frenchman De Grieux and has mortgaged his property in Russia to pay only a small amount of his debt. Upon learning of the illness of his wealthy aunt, "Grandmother", he sends streams of telegrams to Moscow and awaits the news of her demise. His expected inheritance will pay his debts and gain Madamoiselle De Cominges' hand in marriage.

Alecksey is hopelessly in love with Polina and swears an oath of servitude to her. He told her while on a walk on the Schlangenberg (a mountain in the German town) that all she had to do was give the word and he would gladly walk off the edge and plummet to his death. This leads to her asking him to go to the town's casino and place a bet for her. He refuses at first but, when goaded and reminded of his oath of undying love and servility, he succumbs and ends up winning at the roulette table (this was his first experience with the narcotic bliss of gambling). He returns to her the winnings but she will not tell him the reason she needs money. She only laughs in his face (as she does when he professes his love) and treats him with cold indifference, if not downright malice. He only learns the details of The General's and Polina's financial state later in the story through his long-time acquaintance, Mr. Atley. Atley is a shy Englishman who seems to share Alecksey's fondness of Polina. He comes from English nobility and has a good deal of money.

One day while Polina and Alecksey are on a walk they see a Baron and Baroness. Polina dares him to insult the Aristocratic couple and he does so with little hesitation. This sets off a chain of events that details Madame de cominges' interest in the general and ,at the same time, gets Alecksey fired as tutor of the general's children. Shortly after this Grandmother shows up and surprises the whole party of debtors and indebted. She tells them all that she knows all about the general's debt and why the French man and woman are waiting around the suite day after day.She leaves the party of death-profiteers by saying that none of them are getting any of her money. She then asks Alecksey to be her guide around the town famous for it's healing waters and infamous for it's casino where the tables are stacked with piles of gold; she wants to gamble.

After being ushered to the roulette table she wins, loses, loses, wins, wins, wins, wins; and comes out pretty well at the end of the day. She starts to get the bug, however, and before she leaves the town she's lost almost a hundred thousand roubles. When Alecksey gets back to his room after sending Grandmother off at the railway station he's greeted by Polina. She tells him that De Grieux had left town but not before he gave the general his mortgaged property back and cleared his debt. She then explains that because she was indebted to him she couldn't return Alecksey's love. Upon hearing this Alecksey runs out of the room and to the casino where he wins over two hundred thousand roubles and becomes a rich man. When he gets back to his room and the waiting Polina he empties his pocket fulls of gold and bank notes onto the bed. They fall asleep on the couch and the next day she tells Alecksey that she hates him and wants to be with Mr. Atley (they had been secretly meeting and exchanging notes and she was supposed to meet him but had fallen asleep in his room). She runs out of the hotel and he doesn't see her again.

After learning that the general wouldn't be getting his inheritance Madame de Cominges leaves the hotel with her mother. They see Alecksey on the street after he wins big and talk him into going to Paris with them where he stays for a month and lets them spend his entire fortune. He eventually makes his way back to the resort town and starts to gamble to survive. One day he passes Mr. Atley on a park bench and has a talk with him. He finds out from Atley that Polina is in Switzerland and actually does love him. Now he has to find a way to get to her. The novel ends with Alecksey gambling, turning his last coin into two hundred roubles, and finding hope for a reunion with his lost love.