Question Answers - My Financial Career by Stephen Leacock
Summary of the story:
The narrator of the story My Financial career is a man who gets nervous when he goes to the back. The clerks make him nervous, the little windows at the counters and the sight of money, everything makes him nervous. When the narrator enters the door of the bank he behaves like a responsible fool. The narrator is aware of this. But now his salary has been increased by 56 dollars a month. Now the narrator thinks that the Bank is the only safe place to keep his money. So one day he goes to the bank and while he looks at the clerk he has an idea that the person who wants to open an account at the bank must meet the manager. He goes to the counter of the accountant who is a tall cool fellow. The narrator is nervous looking at him and with a deep and hollow voice he says "can I see the manager alone?"
The narrator does not know why he has used the word Alone. The accountant says yes and takes him to the manager. The manager was a calm man. The narrator has 56 dollars in his hand in the form of a ball made up of notes. He tells the manager that he wants to meet him alone and the manager feels that he has some secret so he wants to meet alone. The manager takes him to a private room and tells that this is the safe place where he can sit down. The manager asks if you are one of the Pinkertons men?. The manager thought that he was from a detective team. The narrator says no I have come to open an account. Manager thought that he was the son of a rich man and wanted a large account. The narrator says he has 56 dollars to deposit monthly. The manager was disappointed, got up and called the accountant and said that this man wants to open an account. Then the narrator got up and entered a big iron door which was open at the side of the room. The manager was annoyed and asked him to come out.
Deposit and Withdrawal of 56 dollars
Then the narrator went to the accountant to deposit the money. The accountant took the money and gave it to another clerk. The narrator finds it in a book. you're confused about it. The accountant said that the money was deposited. Now the narrator Told the accountant I want a checkbook to draw the money. He wanted to withdraw 6 dollars for his present expenses. He got the cheque book and he began to write on it. In Hari he was confused and he wrote 56 instead of 6 and gave it to the accountant. The account said you want to draw the whole money. The narrator realized his mistake but did not want to accept it and said yes. prepared the money to pay the narrator. He gave $50 bill as notes and then give $6. The narrator got the money and rust out of the bank. As soon as he was out he heard a big laugh. Everyone laughed at him.
Now the narrator decided to keep the money in cash in his trouser pocket and the rest of the money which is saving would keep in a silver silver dollar in his socks. This way he decided he will never go to the bank and may make mistakes in life.
Question and Answers:
What makes the narrator nervous?
The narrator is nervous in the bank The whole set up and people, the counters, people at the counters, the sight of money, the sight of clerks, the windows and the doors everything makes him nervous.
How does the manager behave when he comes to know that the narrator wants to deposit 56 dollars?
The manager seems to be unhappy because he had a high expectations from the narrator. He expected the narrator to be detective either or a son of a rich baron and wants to deposit a huge sum in the bank. When he comes to know about such a small amount of 56 dollars he calls his accountant Montgomery and asked him to open an account for the narrator. He seem least interested in the narrator.
How does the narrator deposit and withdraw 56 dollars?
The narrator is quite nervous and the accountant helps him to deposit the money. He goes to the counters and pushes the ball like thing made up of the money towards the accountant in an sudden movement. The accountant gave the money to another clerk. Then the narrator was asked to write the amount and sign in a book. This way he deposited the money.
After this he asked the accountant I want check since he wanted to withdraw 6 dollars for his expenses. Someone gave him the cheque book and instructed him how to fill the cheque book. In a hurry the narrator wrote something and gave it to the accountant. The accountant was surprised and asked him ' are you withdrawing everything?'' The narrator realized his mistake but wanted to prove that he was right and said yes.
He was shy rather unwilling to accept his mistake in writing. he presumed that he no longer wanted to do business with the bank and so withdrew the entire amount.
Write the character sketch of the narrator in My Financial Career?
The narrator is a man who is nervous and gets upset when he goes to the bank. He behaves like a foolish man in the bank and has no control over his emotions and behavior. We can say that he does not have the emotional intelligence to keep a balance on his feelings emotions and behavior and actions.
He is overall a gentleman with a pretty good intellect and wisdom. Since he is working and has received an increment in the salary we assume that he would be sound and good at his work place. The narrator seems to be an honest man who is ready to speak about his weakness openly in the story. This shows his honesty and openness as a human being.
The narrator is man who wants to improve his weakness. This can be noted when he goes to the bank despite knowing his major weakness. We can say that he is a man who wants to change and move in life. The narrator is also a sensitive man in his emotions. When he listens a echo of laugher after he comes out of the bank he is somewhat not too happy. He decides that he would never do any business with the bank because he feels insulted by the people.
The narrator is also a status conscious person we see that when the account asks his about withdrawing all the money. he does not accept his mistake rather he is in his imaginary world what people will think about him. This reflects his social ego in his personality. One side of his personality shows fear towards banking process and other side of him shows he wants to behave like a sound and able person in the society.
Where does the narrator keep his money after the mishap?
After the mishap the narrator no longer wants to go the bank. He keeps his savings in the silver socks and his money in his trousers. This way he handles his money.
What word the narrator uses in the bank which he did not want to use?
The narrator used the word 'Alone' which he never wanted to use. He also did not understand why he used this word
1 Comments
Very useful for exam studies
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