money

capital punishment or life in prison

religion

Mankind has lost reason and taken the wrong path.

Mankind is the paradigm of God's creation.

He has lost his wealth.

He has learned how to do complex math equations.

He does not change in the story.

He no longer values money, or winning the bet.

He read and studied so much that he discovered that the bet was meaningless and the money has no true value.

He was really hungry.

He lost his mind and just had to get out.

He lost track of the days and actually thought he had won.

ethical

equal

acceptable

unfair

unplanned

organized

willing

angry

Pursuing knowledge and bettering yourself is the best way to spend your time.

The desire to prove to others that you’re right can lead to extreme actions.

Greed and impulsive decisions can lead to huge consequences.

There is nothing worse than depriving someone of human contact.

“He threw himself eagerly into these studies — so much so that the banker had enough to do to get him the books he ordered.” (Paragraph 16)

“‘To-morrow at twelve o’clock he will regain his freedom. By our agreement I ought to pay him two million. If I do pay him, it is all over with me: I shall be utterly ruined.’” (Paragraph 21)

“At the table a man unlike ordinary people was sitting motionless. He was a skeleton with the skin drawn tight over his bones, with long curls like a woman’s and a shaggy beard.” (Paragraph 29)

“‘And I have only to take this half-dead man, throw him on the bed, stifle him a little with the pillow, and the most conscientious expert would find no sign of a violent death.’” (Paragraph 30)

The banker’s hasty and thoughtless actions lead to trouble and despair for him.

The banker’s disregard for human life shows the extent of his lack of compassion for others.

The banker’s adventurous spirit prompts him to create dangerous or risky situations.

The banker’s passionate defense of his views gets him into dangerous situations.

“‘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?’” (Paragraph 1)

“Desperate gambling on the Stock Exchange, wild speculation and the excitability which he could not get over even in advancing years, had by degrees led to the decline of his fortune and the proud, fearless, self-confident millionaire had become a banker of middling rank, trembling at every rise and fall in his investments.” (Paragraph 22)

“‘he is asleep and most likely dreaming of the millions. And I have only to take this half-dead man, throw him on the bed, stifle him a little with the pillow, and the most conscientious expert would find no sign of a violent death.’” (Paragraph 30)

“At no other time, even when he had lost heavily on the Stock Exchange, had he felt so great a contempt for himself. When he got home he lay on his bed, but his tears and emotion kept him for hours from sleeping.” (Paragraph 38)