My Lost Dollar - a Summary

‘My Lost Dollar’ by Stephen Leacock is a first-person story that deals with the attempts of the author to get back the ONE dollar which he lent his friend – it is all dolour over a single dollar, in the sense that all over the story a great exaggeration takes place (something very minuscule is bring magnified). The story opens with the author stating, “My friend Todd owes me a dollar. He has owed it to me for twelve months”.

The author has lent a dollar to his friend Todd to pay for his taxi to leave for Bermuda, and, in their friendship, the author just naturally lent the dollar. He expects that Todd return this dollar as soon as possible. He gets a letter from Todd and sees hundred mentioned in the letter, but only about the temperature in Bermuda. Once Todd returns, the author continues to try and get back the dollar, but fails repeatedly. It is obvious that this trivial dollar is highly important to the author.

There are many funny moments in this story. When Todd comes back from Bermuda, the author meets him at the train, and is anxious to convey to us that he did so not for his dollar, but because he esteems Todd. He suggests that they take a taxi up to the University Club, Montreal, but Todd refuses and says instead that they walk – but the author mentioning the taxi ride is for Todd to remember the dollar he owes the author. When they spend the evening talking about Bermuda, the author was fully thinking about the dollar Todd owes him, but of course didn’t mention it. He enquires, instead, about the currency used in Bermuda and whether the American Dollar goes at par, of course putting a slight emphasis on the American Dollar. He again finds himself unable to refer to the dollar that Todd owes him. Finally the author realises that Todd had completely forgotten about the dollar he owed the author. On another, separate occasion, at dinner, Todd mentions that Poland never pays her debts. The author waits for the moment of enlightenment, when Todd would...