Solved Textbook

Workbook Solutions of My Lost Dollar by Stephen Leacock

I.

 (i) Todd is a Major in the army and the narrator’s friend, who had borrowed a dollar from the narrator a year ago. Todd and the narrator seem to be close friends because they meet each other frequently and the issue of the borrowed dollar does not make any difference in their trust and friendship for each other.

 (ii) Todd borrowed a dollar from the narrator to pay his taxi fare because he did not have any change with him. One year had passed since he borrowed the dollar from the narrator.

 (iii) Todd has failed to return the loan because of forgetfulness. This tells us that Todd is a careless and forgetful man.

 (iv)
(a) It means that the narrator’s friend’s act of borrowing a dollar and then forgetting to pay it back would not make any difference to their friendship.
 (b) The narrator means to say that if somebody borrows something from him, he will remember it throughout his life.

 (v) The human memory is strong in the case of lenders, whereas it diminishes with time in the case of the borrowers. For example, the narrator not only remembers that he had lent a dollar to his friend, Todd, but also the exact date on which he had lent the dollar. But, the borrower, i.e., the narrator’s friend, Todd not only forgets of having borrowed a dollar, he does not even get any hint from a number of indirect references made by the narrator about debts.

 (vi) No, the narrator does not seem to have any hope of being paid back the dollar his friend has borrowed. This is because a year has already passed since his friend has borrowed the dollar. He seems to have totally forgotten about it because a number of indirect references given by the narrator about debts does not have any effect in reviving his friend’s memory.


 II.

(i) Todd was away for three weeks to Hamilton, Bermuda. He wrote to the narrator about the extreme temperature conditions in Bermuda, the temperature reaching nearly 100° F.

 (ii) The narrator went to the railway station to receive Todd because he felt that his friend, Todd might feel happy to see him waiting for him on the station after being away for three weeks. This shows that the narrator values friendship and does things that makes his friend happy.

 (iii) Todd and the narrator were close friends. They liked each other’s company and therefore, met practically everyday at the club and remained in touch with each other. There existed trust and mutual understanding between the two. The small issues of one dollar did not affect their friendship in anyway.

 (iv) The University Club of Montreal, where Todd and the narrator used to meet practically everyday is referred to. The narrator suggested that they should take a taxi because that might remind his friend of the dollar he had borrowed from him a year ago for paying his taxi fare.

 (v) The narrator and his friend, Todd talked about the latter’s trip to Bermuda. Then, they talked about the currency used in Bermuda and whether it is at par with the American Dollar. During the conversation, the thought of the dollar borrowed by Todd was at the back of the narrator’s mind.




 III.

 (i) Major Todd’s trip to Bermuda is being referred to in the extract. It lasted for three weeks. Todd said that he had practically forgotten everything about his trip.

 (ii) The extract tells us that Todd is a forgetful and careless man for he forgets the dollar he had borrowed from his friend as well as practically everything about his trip to Bermuda, just after returning from the trip.

 (iii)
(a) It means that the narrator does not have any negative feelings for his friend, Todd despite Todd having forgotten to pay back the dollar he had borrowed from the him a year ago.
 (b) It means behavior or attitude. The narrator says that no change occurs in his behavior with his friend Todd who had borrowed a dollar from him an year ago and has forgotten to pay him back.

 (iv) The narrator’s borrowers have forgotten to pay back the money they had borrowed from him. The narrator’s attitude towards his borrowers does not undergo any change on account of their not having paid back the borrowed money.

 (v) The practice of lending and borrowing referred to in the extract points to the painful fact that the lenders remember the money they have lent, whereas the borrowers forget about it.


 IV.

(i) In the first sentence of the extract, ‘them’ refers to the people to whom the narrator owes some money and has forgotten to pay back. By the phrase ‘on this side of the grave’ the narrator wants to say that while he is alive, he may not pay back the money he has borrowed from some people.

 (ii) The narrator’s act of writing down names in the alphabetic order suggests that he is serious about repaying the money he has borrowed. That is why, he even asks his creditors to speak out and tell him if he owes them any money.

 (iii) The narrator feels that it is not necessary to pay back the money lent over a bridge table or for drinking soda water. The narrator feels so because these are friendly exchanges among friends.

 (iv) The narrator wants to start a Back to Honesty Movement, which calls for repayment of all the money borrowed in times of need. This plan of the narrator reveals that he is meek and eccentric for instead of asking his friend straightaway to pay back the borrowed dollar, he thinks of starting such a high-sounding project.

 (v) The title of the story My Lost Dollar is quite appropriate because:
 (a) the entire story revolves around a particular dollar that the narrator had lent to his friend, Todd. Todd has completely forgotten to pay back and the narrator considers it as lost for ever.
 (b) the observations that the narrator makes in the story like he himself must have borrowed money from some people and would have forgotten to pay back and difference in memory between the lenders and the borrowers and starting a Back to Honesty Movement, are a reflection on the practice of lending and borrowing based on the one dollar that he had lent to his friend, Todd.