In “The Bet” by Anton P. Chekhov, what motivates the banker to participate in the bet?

The banker joins the bet during a heated discussion about whether life imprisonment or the death penalty is worse. He is bored and wants to take part in the argument, so he wagers two million rubles that the young lawyer cannot endure solitary confinement for fifteen years. The correct choice is boredom, not money or revenge.

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