The Gambler

"The Gambler" by Fyodor Dostoyevsky is a story set in the late 1800s that looks at how gambling, love, and wanting to get ahead can mess with a person. It mainly follows Alexei Ivanovich, a tutor for a Russian general's family. The story shows Alexei's strong feelings for the mysterious Polina Alexandrovna and examines big ideas like being obsessed with something, wanting something really badly, and how society pushes people to care about money and what others think. When Alexei gets back to Roulettenberg, a place known for gambling, things are tense, especially for General Zakharin and his family, because they're waiting for something big to happen. At the start readers see Alexei's own struggle with gambling, the general's money problems, and Polina's complicated wishes. As things move forward, Alexei tries to deal with his confusing emotions for Polina while also getting more and more into the exciting and unpredictable world of roulette, which makes him question why he's doing what he's doing and how far he's willing to go to get money and someone's love.