In Contents Of A Dead Man's Pocket, The Bet, And The Jewels

While reading the three short stories “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket”, “The Bet”, and “The Jewels” all three of them shared one common theme. Each story presents different settings and situations, but the message is clear, wealth and material possessions mean nothing when compared to things such as family, experiences, etc.

First, in all three stories in the beginning, the protagonists lived a life full of materialistic pursuits. Tom Benecke, the main protagonist for the story “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket” was obsessed with his work. “The work could be duplicated. it wouldn't bring him a raise in pay--not immediately, anyway, or as a direct result. It won't bring me a promotion either, he argued--not of itself.” (Finney Paragraph 23).

In the beginning of the story “Contents of a Dead Man’s Pocket” Tom Benecke neglects his wife and stays at home. “he was tempted to go with her; it was not actually true that he had to work tonight, though he very much wanted to. This was his own project, unannounced as yet in his office, and it could be postponed.” (Finney 15). He was so obsessed with his work that he made his wife go alone. Later, after his near-death experience and realizing that his wife is far more important to him than some paper. “There he got out his topcoat and hat and, without waiting to put them on, opened the front door and stepped out, to go find his wife.” (Finney paragraph 84). After his realization that his job isn't everything, he hurried to go see his wife, and he couldn't care less about the paper. In the story “The Bet” the young lawyer isolates himself from any social connections and dismisses any human interaction for material gain. Later on in the story the young lawyer realizes that the material gain that he wished for is meaningless, and to prove this he wrote in the letter “To prove to you in action how I despise all that you live by, I renounce the two million of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I despise.” (Chekhov page 7). In the story “The Jewels” the main protagonist Lantin had a wife who he loved. “He was unspeakably happy with her. She governed his household with such a clever economy that they seemed to live in luxury. She lavished the most delicate attentions on her husband, coaxed and fondled him; and so great was her charm that six years after their marriage, Monsieur Lantin discovered that he loved his wife even more than during the first days of their honeymoon.” (Massapasant Page 1). Lantin’s wife was what made Lantin happy, and made him enjoy life. After his wife died Lantin believed he could bury his sorrows with his riches,