My Financial Career- Stephen Leacock- Short Story

Work introduction:

“My Financial Career” is humor illuminated short story by Stephen Leacock. The witty satire here is pretty intense. It shows how feeble a man feels deep inside when he fails to deal with the fear that he is so determined to overcome.

Work Summary:

The narrator evinces how dull-witted he becomes once he steps into the aisles of banks. He wants to open a bank account, following a rise in his pay, up to fifty-six dollars. He initiates a talk with an accountant, saying that he needs to meet the manager. Though it is unnecessary to consult a manager to open bank accounts for such small amounts, he proceeds to create a shadow image.

Misreading the gestures, the manager promptly takes him to a secret room. The narrator knows that the manager thinks him to be a detective. The narrator feels so bad to break it that he just intends to open an account. The manager no longer is welcoming about it. He opens the door and urgently directs him to the accountant. He is assisted in depositing those fifty-six dollars he had with him. Right away, he wants to draw out about six dollars. He is given a cheque book and quiet managed to write some impressions on it. The accountant speaks out in surprise as the writer wants all the money back. He feels so miserable when he realized he has written fifty-six dollars instead of six dollars. So feeble inside, he can not show any objection to it. It occurs to him that all the clerks must think of him being offended. The clerk pays back the money the way he wants.

He realizes how miserably he has failed; he can hear a roar of laughter inside while leaving out the door. Since then, he decides never to visit a bank, in embarrassment. He keeps his money in trousers and savings in a sock, remembering the awful experience.

Citation:

Leacock, Stephen. My Financial Career and Other Follies. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart.2010.

Moritz, A.F. Stephen Leacock. Markham, Ont.: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. 2006