Evaluación del cumplimiento de normas de calidad del aire

– Stephen Leacock

About the Author:

 Stephen Butler Leacok (30 December 1869 - 28 March 1944) was an English-born Canadian teacher, political & scientist, writer, and humorist. He was born in Hampshire England. At the age of six he moved to Canada with his family, where he settled on a farm in Toronto, Ontario, near the village of Sutton and the shores of Lake Simcoe. Early in his life, Stephen Leacock turned to fiction, primarily humour, and short reports. His stories, first published in magazines in Canada and in the United States and later in novel form, became extremely popular around the world. Between the years 1915 and I925, Leacock was one of the most popular humorists in the English speaking world.

Summary:

 The author’s friend, Major Todd, was on his way to Bermuda, and needed a dollar in change to pay for his taxi. The author, who was seeing him off, lent him the dollar. However, the thought that Todd had borrowed the dollar remained with the author and he expected Todd to return it. In fact, he actually made several attempts to get back the dollar, but failed.

 In the meantime the author realized, to his dismay that he himself has probably forgotten to pay back the odd dollar he may have borrowed from other people, on various different occasions. He realizes that he himself is not likely to pay back. In fact, he tries to justify why he has not paid even those he does remember.

 This is a typical reaction. We are quick to expect others to act responsibly towards ourselves, but on our part we find reasons and excuses for avoiding responsibilities. He lightly suggests that there should be a “Back to Honesty” movement, to pay back borrowed dollars; in other words, we should take time to honestly recognize in ourselves that we consider to be weaknesses in others.

 The author, through this simple, humourous story cleverly shows us how we often criticize others for faults that we ourselves probably have; only we are not always honest enough to recognize them in ourselves.

Critical Appreciation:

 There are only two characters in the short story “The Lost Dollar” – the author and his friend Todd. Both of them are very good friends and as it happens between friends one pays small amounts for the other and forgets, but in this case the author remembers that Todd has borrowed a dollar from him to pay the taxi bill when he was going to visit Bermuda.

 Stephen Leacock did not deliberately build the characters as the purpose of the story is not to talk much about the characters, but to comment on the typical habit of people to borrow small amounts from friends and then forget. When we read the story, we are reminded of many such events that have occurred in our lives and probably we have a sly smile. The humour of the story comes to its climax when the author says that there is a need to start a “Back to Honesty” movement. We understand that the intention of the author is not to focus on the characters, but to make fun of the situation of borrowing and forgetting small amounts.

Theme:

 Stephen Leacock, being a humourist deals with the theme where the element of humour is paramount. In case of this story, he has chosen the theme of a small amount of money that we

often borrow from others (primarily friends) and forget to return it. The reason is that it is too small an amount (one dollar in this case). But when a friend remembers the money lent, then it creates a problem for him/her, as he can neither ask for the small amount directly, nor digest the fact that he has lost that dollar (probably hard-earned). Thus there are at least two themes that the short story deals with –.

z Friendship – We can borrow such small amounts only from friends and tend to forget it as

we take friends for granted and do not care about returning such small amounts that we borrow.

z Hypocrisy – We often think that the dollar our friend has borrowed from us should be given

back, while we ourselves must have unconsciously forgotten many such small amounts borrowed from our friends, Thus while we want others to act responsibly, we often do not do so ourselves. Therefore the author humorously suggests “Back to Honestly” movement.

Characterisation:

The Narrator :

z The narrator is an undecided person. He is a classic lender, who lends a dollar to his friend, Todd, when the latter did not have enough change to pay his taxi fare. His friend was just leaving for Bermuda. The narrator expects his friend to pay him back on his return.

z The narrator is rather a humorous figure. His failing to ask his debtors to repay him, and the way he describes his situation is quite comic. Instead of asking his friend to pay him the money, he goes on to say that he wishes to start a ‘Back to Honesty’ movement. For such a meagre amount as a single dollar, he thinks of such high-sounding projects, rather than the direct solution of reminding his friend to pay it back.

Major Todd:

z Major Todd is a close friend of the narrator. Though we never see him in person, his presence is felt throughout the story. He is a Major in the army and is also a member of the University Club of Montreal.

z Major Todd is presented to be pleasure loving who is on his trip to Bermuda, the unnamed narrator is a hypocrite who is too particular about getting back the dollar that he has lent to his friend. The narrator remembers that he has lent a dollar to Major Todd while he himself has forgotten many such a dollar that he has borrowed.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:

1) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

“It happened quite simply and naturally. I hardly realized it till it was all over.”

i) Who is ‘I’ ? What had happened?

Ans: ‘I’ is the narrator in this paragraph. Major Todd had taken one dollar from the narrator and had not returned the same to the narrator.

ii) What will ‘I’ remember all his life?

Ans: ‘I’ or the narrator would remember all his life that Major Todd had borrowed one dollar from him and he had not given back the dollar he owed him.

iii) How long ago had this incident occurred? What was the date? Why do you think the author mentions it?

Ans: This incident had taken place twelve months ago. There is a little prospect of his ever returning the dollar. The author mentions it to show the readers what had happened.

iv) When the other person present went abroad he wrote a note. What did the person referred to as ‘I’ expect when he received that note? What misled him for a while?

Ans: The person referred to as ‘I’ expected that the other person would certainly return the dollar he owed to him. He thought that the note certainly contained the dollar in it.

v) After how long did the person who had gone abroad return? Who received him on his return? What did this person suggest they do?

Ans: The person who had gone abroad had returned within three week. On his return he was received by Todd. When the person suggested that they take a taxi home (he thought that Todd now would remember the borrowed dollar). Todd said that they should walk home.

2) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

“I felt it would be nice for him to see someone waiting for him on the platform after being away...”

i) Who is the person referred to as ‘him’? Where had he been? Why did the speaker go to receive his friend?

Ans: The person referred to as ‘him’ is Todd. He had been to Hamilton, Bermuda. The speaker went to receive his friend, because he really esteemed him.

ii) What did the speaker suggest to this person on his return? Why do you think he made this suggestion ? Was it accepted ?

Ans: The speaker suggested to him that they should take a taxi to the club. He made this suggestion to get back his dollar. His suggestion was not accepted as the person wanted to walk.

iii) How did the speaker and his friend spend the evening? What remark did he make to remind his friend of the money be owned?

Ans: The speaker and his friend spent the evening in the club talking about Bermuda. He asked him what currency he used in Bermuda and whether the American dollar went at par, but this reference to the money did not remind his friend about the money he owed him.

iv) A little later the author tried twice again to remind his friend of the latter’s debt. What did he say?

Ans: The author asked him one day what his trip cost him, but his friend said he kept no accounts. A little later he asked him if he felt a little settled after that trip and he said that he had practically forgotten about the trip.

v) How does the author bring out the humour in the situation?

Ans: In all this situation, the author asked many times of his friend Todd about the dollar he owed him; but got no positive reply out of it. However, he had no grudge against his friend after that.

3) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

“Only two nights ago I met him out at dinner and he was talking, apparently without self- consciousness, about Poland”.

i) Who is the person referred to as ‘he’? What does he say about Poland ? What thought crosses the author’s mind here?

Ans: The person referred to as he’ is the author’s friend, Todd. He said that Poland would never pay it’s debts. The author thought whether he himself had paid all his debts that he was talking about someone else’s.

ii) Do you think the author bears any grudge for this person? There is something, however, the author wishes to do but is unable to. What is it?

Ans: No, the author bears no grudge for this person about the dollar he owed him. The author was unable to remind him about his debt and felt sorry for himself after that, because he could not forget the dollar his friend owed him.

iii) What thought now occurs to the author? Does he like it? Why?

Ans: The author thought that he might have himself forgotten to give the money back to the persons he owed. He did not like the thought that he had not got back his money.

iv) Do you think the author really wanted his money back? Give reasons to support your answer.

Ans: Yes’ the author really wanted his money back. He tried several times to remind his friend about the money he owed him, but did not get the perfect reply back and so felt dismayed and sad.

v) What humourous statement does the author make at the end of the story?

Ans: The author says that he wanted to start a general movement a ‘Back to Honesty’ movement, for paying all those odd dollars which people borrowed in the moments of difficulty and forgot to return back to the owner.

4) Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow:

“But if any man ever lent me a dollar to pay for a taxi when I was starting for Bermuda, I want to pay it.”

i) The author wants to pay back any dollar he may have borrowed. How does he propose to begin?

Ans: He proposes that he wanted to start a ‘Back to Honesty’ movement for the people who had lost their dollars an wanted their money back in return.

ii) What does he say about a dollar he may have forgotten he had borrowed in the context of the story, why is this remark important?

Ans: He said that if he had forgotten to return the dollar he had borrowed, he would like it to be paid back. This remark is important because it shows the author’s honesty about giving back the borrowed dollar in any circumstance.

iii) Who are the people he does not wish to pay back ? Who does he definitely wish to pay? Why?

Ans: The people who are thieves of money or corrupt do not return the money they have to pay back. But the author definitely wants to return back the money he has borrowed because he is very honest.

iv) Do you think the speaker is sincere when he says he wants to start a movement for paying all the odd dollars one may borrow ? Why ?

Ans: Yes, I think that the speaker is sincere when he says he wants to start a movement for paying all the odd dollars one may borrow (because he seems to be honest) for all the persons who have lost their money by lending it to others.

v) What general truth does the author want to bring out through this delightful story ?

Ans: Through this delightful story the author wants to say that one should be honest and sincere while receiving money from others and always pay back the money to the person from whom he has borrowed it.

Essay Type Questions:

1) Relate briefly the efforts made by the author to recover the loaned dollar. Why do you think he was unsuccessful?

Ans: There are many occasions when the narrator’s conversation with his friend involves references to debts or to the dollar in general. However, the narrator’s friend seems to have forgotten about his borrowing a dollar from the narrator, for he does not get any hint from these indirect references.

Todd is like a typical borrower. There are instances in our life when we borrow money from our friends and forget about it. This is what has happened in Todd’s case. It is not that he purposely wants to avoid returning the money, for it is but a small sum of US $ 1. Even the narrator says “I believe, in fact I know, that when Todd took that dollar, he meant to pay for it.”

2) My Lost Dollar contains a message for all of us. What lesson does the author wish us to learn through this story? What do you think is the actual purpose behind the ‘Back to Honesty’ movement that he suggests?

Ans: The story dwells on the practice of borrowing and lending. It is a natural tendency to borrow money from our friends. People lend money to their near and dear ones, when the latter are in need. However, what is painful about this act, is the fact that while the human memory surprisingly stays strong in the lender’s case, it diminishes with time in the case of the borrower. We see in the story that whenever the narrator meets his friend, his mind is preoccupied with the thought of the one dollar he has lent to his friend, and much of his conversation is also guided by the same thought. Ironically, he himself says that he might have forgotten to return the money he has borrowed from others.

The narrator is rather a humorous figure. His failing to ask his debtors to repay him, and the way he describes his situation is quite comic. Instead of asking his friend to pay him the money, he goes on to say that he wishes to start a Back to Honesty movement. For such a meagre amount as a single dollar, he thinks of such high-sounding projects, rather than the direct solution of reminding his friend to pay it back.

This theme is not merely confined to the level of the individuals. The narrator refers to the economics and borrowing practices of nations as well,

Long Answer Questions:

1) What happened one day? How did the narrator try to remind his friend Todd of his dollar? What did he try to forget? Discuss with close reference to the text.

Ans: One day the narrator went to see off his good friend Todd going to Bermuda. Todd needed a dollar in change to pay the taxi. He demanded it and the narrator gave it. It was something natural. The narrator thought that when Todd took the dollar he meant to pay it

Todd sent a note from Hamilton, Bermuda. The narrator thought that his dollar must be in it. But it was not. Todd had only mentioned that the temperature was up to nearly 100. The figure confused him for a moment.

Todd came back within three weeks. The narrator received him at the station. He did not do so because of the dollar, but because he really respected him. He felt he would feel good to see someone waiting for him on the platform. In order to remind him of his dollar, he said “Let’s take a taxi up to the club.” Todd, ignoring the rant, answered, “No, let’s walk.”

The two friends spent the entire evening at the club. The narrator did not refer to his dollar. One simply can’t. But he asked him what currency is used in Bermuda, and whether the American dollar goes at par. He put a slight emphasis on the American dollar. He found that he could not bring himself to make any reference to the dollar Todd has borrowed from him. Todd could not follow what he had in mind. Another day he asked Todd what his trip cost. He said that he kept no accounts. Then he said that he had practically forgotten about the trip itself.

The narrator came to the conclusion that Todd had completely forgotten about his dollar and would never return it. Then a painful thought came across his mind. There must be men to whom he himself owed a dollar which he had forgotten. He did not like the idea as there was then no possibility of his paying it back during his lifetime. He would of course ask such men to speak out. He would make a list so that he could pay them their dollar. But he did not count here men who might have lent him an odd dollar over a bridge table, or a man who lent him thirty cents to pay for a bottle of plain soda. But if ever a man lent him a dollar to pay for a taxi when he was starting for Bermuda, he wanted to pay it back.

2) Bring out the humour in the story ‘My Lost Dollar.’