By the end of the story, the banker's attitude has changed significantly. He is no longer motivated by the two million rubles, for example, because money holds no value nor interest for him:
"I renounce the two million of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I despise."
In addition, the banker no longer values books and learning. During his fifteen-year confinement, for instance, the banker read voraciously, taking up everything from...
By the end of the story, the banker's attitude has changed significantly. He is no longer motivated by the two million rubles, for example, because money holds no value nor interest for him:
"I renounce the two million of which I once dreamed as of paradise and which now I despise."
In addition, the banker no longer values books and learning. During his fifteen-year confinement, for instance, the banker read voraciously, taking up everything from the Classics to light-hearted and "sensational" novels. By the end of his confinement, however, the lawyer realizes that this knowledge is worthless because it does not create happiness nor hold any real meaning:
"And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage."
Finally, the lawyer's attitude also suggests that he no longer believes solitary confinement to be a better alternative to the death penalty. As we see in his letter, death's ability to destroy everything renders life, and all of its earthly pleasures, totally meaningless:
"Death will wipe you off the face of the earth as though you were no more than mice burrowing under the floor."
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