Lesson 5: Poetry on Gambling

Thread 1:
Paul's weakness was that he never managed to contain his fervour for betting on horses, and this led to his addiction to it. He only allowed it to fester like an infected wound, only draining him of his strength and weakening his mentality, a contrast to what he thought of it. This just led him to repeatedly betting on horses which causes him to die in the end.

As for the cards stacked against him, it meant that things were not likely to go entirely his way, as he started losing money despite his initial wins, causing him to use a lot of effort just to predict who will win for the next match.

Paul was better off dying early rather than as an old man seventy years of age. If he had lived to seventy, who knows how addicted he would be to betting, seeing how addicted he was already when he was such a young boy. He is also unable to contain his interest for it, if he had money in the future he could most likely squander it away with a bad pick if he was unlucky, or made many times its original amount in profits if he was in luck. Money and horse betting could be all he thinks about, with a possibility that he would explore even more aspects of gambling leading him to use different methods to source for "luck". If one of this sources was to kill someone, would he not have done it for the sake of amassing a greater fortune? It would not have been worth it, killing just to win in a bet.

Thread 3:
Ah Boh could be said to be blinded throughout the entire story - by superstitions. Even up till the end of the story I doubt that she has repented. Despite saying that she would buy a grand coffin for her dead mother-in-law, she said that it would be with her winnings. If she did not win anytime soon, would she carry on gambling, using the excuse of buying a grand coffin for her mother?

As for numbers, she was obsessed with them, interpreting everything around her as a sign for a winning number in the lottery. Even sacrificing much of her time to go around looking for such numbers show how much this numbers really meant to her.

Eventually she would end up with no income or savings if she continues to squander her money away on useless gambling. In the meanwhile, her interpersonal relationships have spiralled down as she fails to listen to her friends and family's advice to quit. Her hopeless hope for a quick windfall would cause her ultimately - zero dollars.