# Gambling and Risk in The Nature of a Crime

> Theme guide for The Nature of a Crime by Joseph Conrad.

The narrator describes his financial speculations and even his approach to life as gambling, seeking excitement and distraction from his love, rather than mere material gain.

## Where it surfaces

- [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/i): The narrator's embezzlement and his metaphorical gamble with the mouse's reappearance highlight his risk-taking nature.
- [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/ii): The narrator's embezzlement is described as a 'gamble' with the Burden accounts, and he anticipates the 'crumbling' of lives when the truth emerges.
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/vi): The narrator explicitly distinguishes gambling from speculation, framing it as a way to escape thoughts and engage with caprice. He enters his biggest gamble as a protest against being called a man of action.
- [VIII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/chapters/viii): The narrator's choice between sober life and wild gambling with Burden's money, leading to death.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/themes/gambling_and_risk
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_nature_of_a_crime_se/themes