The Gambler · Chapter
XIII explained
A month has passed since the crisis.
What happens
A month has passed since the crisis. Alexei reflects on the whirlpool of events, his dead passion for Polina, and the aftermath of the Grandmother's gambling spree. The Grandmother loses all her money, the General and De Griers attempt to intervene but fail, De Griers leaves, and Mlle. Blanche rejects the Prince. Alexei finds Polina waiting in his room.
Themes in this chapter
Addiction and Self-Destruction
The Grandmother's compulsive gambling leads to the loss of ninety thousand roubles, illustrating the destructive power of addiction.
Money and Moral Corruption
The General's desperation for money, De Griers' manipulative schemes, and Mlle. Blanche's mercenary calculations all show how money corrupts relationships and morals.
Love, Power, and Manipulation
Alexei's dead passion for Polina, the General's infatuation with Mlle. Blanche, and Mlle. Blanche's manipulation of the Prince all reflect the interplay of love and power.
Characters to notice
- Alexei Ivanovitch
Narrates the chapter; reflects on the past month, his lost passion for Polina, and his current state of isolation.
- Polina Alexandrovna
Appears at the end of the chapter, seated in Alexei's room in the semidarkness.
- Grandmother
Departs by train after signing a document; later loses all her money at the casino, totaling ninety thousand roubles.
- The General
Found laughing with Mlle. Blanche; later attempts to confront the Grandmother about her gambling, but is turned out with her stick.
- Mlle. Blanche
Comforts the General but has already packed for Paris; later rejects the Prince after learning he has no money.
- De Griers
Leaves the hotel after a secret conference with Mlle. Blanche; laughs at the General's suggestion of police intervention.
- Mr. Astley
Alexei looks for him but cannot find him; he is absent from his rooms, the Casino, and the Park.
- Potapitch
Remains in attendance on the Grandmother during her gambling; reports her losses to Alexei.
Key passages
“How surely does God visit old age, and punish it for its presumption!”
The Grandmother reflects that old age is inevitably punished by God for its arrogance.
The Grandmother's self-awareness after her gambling losses.
“At times I fancy that I must be mad; that somewhere I am sitting in a madhouse; that these events have merely seemed to happen; that still they merely seem to be happening.”
Alexei sometimes thinks he is insane and that the recent events are just illusions.
Alexei's disoriented state of mind a month after the crisis.
“Every gambler knows how a person may sit a day and a night at cards without ever casting a glance to right or to left.”
Any gambler understands that one can play cards for an entire day and night without looking away.
Alexei's observation on the Grandmother's obsessive gambling.