The Gambler

On several occasions at the novel’s start, the general urges Alexey not to gamble, telling him that “he didn’t wish to see [him] at the gaming tables” (138). On one level, these statements can be seen as prudent advice. Given Alexey’s lack of funds and the fact that the general pays his salary, it seems sensible for them both for Alexey to avoid the risks of gambling. However, what the general goes on to say reveals that there is also a deeper agenda at work. As Alexey describes the exchange, “in his opinion, he would be greatly compromised if I were somehow to lose too much; ‘but even if you were to win a great deal […] I would be compromised too’” (138).

This reveals that the general is not simply concerned about his and Alexey’s financial well-being, nor about minor embarrassment. Rather, his wish that Alexey would not gamble, and his fear that he should “win a great deal” (138), is linked to a broader sense that gambling, when pursued by those who are not rich, threatens the existing social order. Specifically, the chance that with gambling “one can suddenly become wealthy in two hours effortlessly” (147) threatens a social order based upon distinctions of wealth. Instead, wealth is supposed to be something one acquires through ancient, noble lineage. Failing that, wealth should be gained through ascetic self-denial and slow accumulation. This is something satirized by Alexey when he discusses “the German method of accumulating” (147), which involves hard labor and prolonged patience. This contrasts with Alexey’s assertion that gambling appeals to Russians like himself because they can make a great deal of money with little real work. Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s emphasis on the ways members of various nationalities approach money and gambling is not only related to social hierarchies but highlight his use of National Characteristics as Proxies for Competing Values. In this case, the German work ethic Alexey references reflects a core tenet of capitalism: If one works hard enough long enough, they will succeed financially. This competes with Alexey’s value—which he ascribes to his Russian identity—of making money as efficiently as possible.

Further, Dostoyevsky draws a moral distinction between different types of gambling and gamblers. Since the wealthy still want to gamble, and gambling is big business, it is necessary for them to distinguish between “gentlemanly” gambling, done “simply for the sake of amusement” (135), and a “plebian” gambling driven by need. This foreshadows The Genesis and Consequences of Gambling Addiction, a theme that receives a great deal of focus in the later chapters of the novel.

This “plebian” need for money drives Alexey. In love with Polina, Alexey is convinced both that his love is unrequited and that the acquisition of money will change that situation. As Alexey says to Polina, “nothing more than that money will make me a different person, even for you, not a slave” (152). Alexey believes that, with his tutor’s salary of 600 roubles a year, the aristocratic Polina could not possibly love or even consider him. As such, gambling and roulette constitute a way in which he can win Polina’s heart through winning big with small sums. For this reason, as Polina says to Alexey, “you absolutely continue to be convinced that roulette is your only way out and your salvation” (138).

At the same time, roulette is “salvation,” as it serves to potentially subvert the established order. Just as this subversive aspect of roulette disturbs the general, it constitutes the game’s appeal for Alexey. It is not just that “striking lucky” would enable Alexey to win Polina and escape his impoverished circumstances. It is also that roulette becomes the means and symbol for a magical transformation of the possible. This is apparent in Alexey’s description of the final losing bets he makes on Polina’s behalf: “I should have walked away, but some strange sensation arose within me, some sort of challenge to fate, some desire to give it a flick on the nose” (145). Roulette is a means by which one can defy “fate,” the pre-ordained, and often subordinate, role one plays in life.

Similarly, for Polina, roulette plays a dual role. Namely, it has both practical and symbolic import. Polina needs Alexey’s winnings from roulette to pay off her creditor and gain independence. Roulette is simultaneously a magical symbol for the possibility of breaking the stifling chains of social convention. This is why Polina says, “I too have put almost all my hopes on roulette” (139). Polina dreams not only of being free from her debt and economic freedom, but also of living in a world where she is genuinely free. This would be a world where she is not subject to social and gendered norms of propriety and is not reduced to an object of barter in negotiations between des Grieux and the general. Indeed, her sending Alexey to insult the baroness can be understood as a continuation of this hope. Polina explains this act by saying, “I simply want to have a laugh” (158). As with betting on roulette, and watching the ball spin, though, its deeper meaning is that of throwing a disrupting element into the ordinary flow of events and expectations. Barred by etiquette from gambling herself, Polina’s order serves her as a substitutive form of roulette. It is an act that likewise seeks to infuriate and scandalize the established wealth and power of des Grieux, the general, and broader society.

Polina’s order not only reflects her desire for freedom and disrupting social norms, but it highlights the Love and Sadomasochistic Relationship Dynamics that characterize her relationship with Alexey. While she initially resists Alexey’s devotion to her, marked by continual insistence that he will do “anything” on her behalf because he is her “slave,” her decision to have him insult the baroness represents a test of Alexey’s devotion and obedience to her.