The Gambler (Dostoevsky)/Chapter 13

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Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Gambler. Chapter 13

The Grandmother’s ruin and Polina’s unexpected arrival

1866

Summary of a Chapter
from the Collection “The Gambler”

The original takes about 27 minutes to read

Microsummary

The Grandmother lost nearly all her cash at roulette and left town. The General collapsed over Blanche and his debts, while Alexis returned to his room and found Polina waiting there for him.

Chapter Summary

Nearly a month after his previous entry, Alexis resumed his notes and reflected on the extraordinary crisis that had overtaken him. Now alone in a melancholy German town, he felt detached from reality and wondered whether his former passion for Polina had ever been genuine.

He hoped that recording the past month would restore a sense of order. Although the memories remained precious to him, he feared disturbing them with serious thought and had instead occupied himself with books he disliked.

On the day after her first losses, the Grandmother returned to the Casino and gambled until eight in the evening. She repeatedly changed the Polish men advising her, while Potapitch watched helplessly as they confused, intimidated, and robbed her.

The Casino authorities expelled two of the Poles and recovered stolen money from their pockets. Other opportunists soon replaced them, however, and by the time the Grandmother made her last stake, six Poles had gathered behind her chair and were fighting over her money.

The Grandmother lost about ninety thousand roubles that day in addition to her earlier losses. She had converted her securities into cash and repeatedly failed to stop after temporary wins, remaining at the roulette table for seven or eight hours without rest.

Meanwhile, the General and De Griers begged her to stop. The General confessed his debts and his desire to marry Mlle. Blanche, then accused the Grandmother of disgracing the family. She drove him out with her stick, while his later plan to have the authorities restrain her came to nothing.

Blanche ignored the General once his expected inheritance seemed lost and turned her attention to a prince. When she discovered that the prince was penniless and wanted to borrow gambling money from her, she dismissed him. De Griers also left after a secret conference with Blanche.

Alexis briefly met Mr. Astley returning from business in Frankfort but could not bring himself to ask about Polina. Tormented by Polina’s secrecy and contempt, he sent her a letter offering his life and complete service if she still had any need of him.

The distraught General summoned Alexis, fell to his knees, and begged him to persuade Blanche to return and marry him. He revealed that De Griers held mortgages on everything he owned and that almost no money remained, but he showed little concern for Polina or the children.

After losing everything, the Grandmother borrowed three thousand francs from Astley and departed on the night train. Alexis then saw Blanche comforting the delighted General, unaware that she planned to leave for Paris. Returning to his room, Alexis found Polina silently waiting by the window.

Characters

Alexis Ivanovitch — narrator, young Russian man and former tutor in the General’s household, emotionally unstable, introspective, devoted to Polina, and eager to serve her despite her contempt.

The Grandmother — elderly wealthy Russian noblewoman, proud, stubborn, impulsive, and fiercely independent, who loses nearly one hundred thousand roubles at roulette before leaving town.

The General — middle-aged or older retired Russian general, Polina’s indebted stepfather and Blanche’s desperate admirer, reduced to panic, tears, and pleas when his expected inheritance disappears.

Polina Alexandrovna — young Russian woman and the General’s stepdaughter, secretive, self-controlled, and the object of Alexis’s obsessive love, who unexpectedly waits in his room at the end.

Mlle. Blanche — young French woman, calculating and socially ambitious, who rejects the penniless General and Prince but temporarily comforts the General while secretly preparing to leave for Paris.

Quotes

The crisis which I then felt to be approaching has now arrived, but in a form a hundred times more extensive and unexpected than I had looked for. To me it all seems strange, uncouth, and tragic.

Things were bound to happen so, for persons of her type who have once entered upon that road descend it with ever-increasing rapidity, even as a sledge descends a toboggan-slide.

Polina Alexandrovna, I can see that there is approaching us an exposure which will involve you too. For the last time I ask of you—have you, or have you not, any need of my life?

This summary is based on the translation by C. J. Hogarth, first published in Poor Folk; The Gambler (London: J. M. Dent & Sons; New York: E. P. Dutton, 1915). Illustrations were created using AI.