over this but knows a change in his fortunes can be had from successful gambling, “I had long ago made up my mind, that never should I depart from Roulettenberg until some radical change had taken place in my fortunes...why is gambling a whit worse than any other method of acquiring money? How, for instance, is it worse than trade? True, out of a hundred persons, only once can win; yet what business is that of yours or mine?” (Dostoyevsky 8). Thus, we see the tragic self-deception and denial of the odds of winning that are emblematic of the problem gambler psyche.
When it comes to writers and writing, there is an old maxim that is often repeated, “Write what you know.” Dostoyevsky seems to have taken this advice to heart when it comes to his own writing. For the gambler is based on a real love affair had by the author as well as being a first-hand account of the behaviors and psyches of the addicted gambler (which he was for a period of time). As Christine McKay (2) points out, “The Gambler is based on Dostoyevsky's love affair with Apollinaria Suslova as well as his frequent casino visits to play roulette, which he began playing in 1863, at a time when he was extremely poor. He experienced first-hand the excesses of gambling so aptly described in The Gambler.”
Alexei is involved in the intrigues of the social climbers who surround the General for whom he works as a servant. This too is an autobiographical element of the story as Dostoyevsky was preoccupied with themes in real life such as social class, elitism, poverty, and addictions. For his own activist efforts he was sentenced to five years in Siberia. In The Gambler, the General maintains airs of wealth and respectability, even though he is broke and owes a great sum of money to the Marquis de Grieux. Alexei is in love with Polina, to no avail, and the General loves a gold-digger named Mlle. Blanche. The futures of all depend on a rich, outspoken, ecc...