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…showed last 75 words of 1336 total…available to him. In the end, he runs from one book to another, searching for momentary shelter, not unlike the banker and his crises. Chekhov is arguing that these two characters represent paths open to all people: one based on fear of death and the other based on loathing for living. Between these two extremes lie a path of moderation, straddling obliviousness and despair, and that is the path that Chekhov asks us to take.