The Gambler (Dostoevsky)/Chapter 17

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The Gambler. Chapter 17
A final promise of rebirth at the roulette table
1866
Summary of a Chapter
from the Collection “The Gambler”
The original takes about 23 minutes to read
Microsummary
Astley revealed that Polina had loved Alexei and condemned his enslavement to roulette. Given ten louis d’or, Alexei immediately planned to gamble again, still promising himself rebirth tomorrow.

Chapter Summary

One year and eight months after abandoning his notes, Alexei returned to them while suffering from depression. He remembered leaving for Homburg with confidence and hope, but he had since fallen below the condition of a beggar. Although he understood his degradation, he still believed that one turn of the roulette wheel might restore his life and self-respect.

After Homburg, Alexei had visited Roulettenberg, Spa, and Baden. He had been imprisoned in Roulettenberg for a debt of two hundred thalers, then released when an unknown person paid it. Unsure whether Astley or Polina had helped him, he never discovered the benefactor’s identity.

Alexei next entered the service of Privy Councillor Heintze. He began as a paid secretary but became an unpaid lackey when Heintze could no longer afford his salary. By severely limiting his food and drink, Alexei saved seventy gülden during five months of service and resigned in Baden to return to roulette.

He wanted winnings less for material comfort than for public recognition and the chance to astonish Polina. After losing his first bets, he won on zero and then repeatedly won by staking increasingly large amounts on red, black, and manque. Within five minutes, his seventy gülden had grown to seventeen hundred, making him feel restored to humanity.

Alexei rented a room and counted his money until morning, delighted that he was no longer a servant. Before leaving for Homburg, however, he made two more bets and lost fifteen hundred florins. He went to Homburg with the remainder and spent a month anxiously making small wagers, studying the tables, and dreaming about play.

While considering whether to risk his last fifty gülden or seek another servant’s or tutor’s position, Alexei encountered Mr. Astley in a park. Astley said that he knew everything about Alexei’s life during the previous twenty months, but denied paying the Roulettenberg debt and could not identify the person who had done so.

Astley asked whether Alexei would ever stop gambling. When Alexei admitted that gambling was his only occupation, Astley said he had abandoned books, friends, civic duties, memories, and every purpose except winning. Alexei insisted that he had only suppressed his former life until he could rehabilitate himself, but Astley predicted that he would remain enslaved to roulette for another ten years.

Questioned about Polina, Astley explained that she had been ill and was now travelling in Switzerland with his sister’s family. Her grandmother had left her seven thousand pounds, while Polina’s younger siblings were being educated in London. The General had died of a stroke in Paris after Blanche secured the property he had inherited.

Alexei argued that Polina remained emotionally attached to an imaginary, noble version of De Griers and could not prefer the honest but commercially employed Astley. Angered by these accusations, Astley revealed that Polina had asked him to find Alexei and report his thoughts and feelings. He also disclosed that she had loved Alexei and might still love him, but declared that gambling had ruined Alexei beyond redemption.

Astley gave Alexei ten louis d’or but refused to offer the thousand pounds that could have financed a new life, knowing either sum would be gambled away. They embraced and parted affectionately. Left with fifteen louis d’or, Alexei again imagined that cautious play could resurrect him. Remembering how one last gülden had once become 170, he postponed reform until tomorrow and resolved to gamble again.

Characters

Alexei Ivanovich — narrator, a young Russian man and former tutor, secretary, and lackey whose intelligence, pride, love for Polina, and compulsive gambling have reduced him to poverty.
Mr. Astley — young English man associated with the sugar-refining firm Lovell and Co., Polina’s loyal friend and Alexei’s candid, compassionate, but severe moral critic.
Mlle. Polina — young Russian woman loved by Alexei and defended by Astley, recently ill but financially independent after receiving her grandmother’s legacy.
Monsieur De Griers — adult French man, polished usurer and former associate of Polina’s family, whom Alexei accused of winning her attachment through an impressive but deceptive persona.
Mlle. Blanche — young French woman, Alexei’s former extravagant companion and the General’s calculating partner, who secured the wealth he inherited before his death.

Quotes

What am I? I am zero—nothing. What shall I be tomorrow? I may be risen from the dead, and have begun life anew. For still, I may discover the man in myself, if only my manhood has not become utterly shattered.

You have not only renounced life, with its interests and social ties, but the duties of a citizen and a man; ... every aim in life but that of winning money; but you have also renounced your memory.

She *did* love you; and I may tell you this now for the reason that now you are utterly lost. Even if I were also to tell you that she still loves you, you would none the less have to remain where you are.

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.
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