NEB Grade: 11(English) 4.3 Refund - by Fritz Karinthy (Play) - Part-2

       NEB Grade: 11(English) 4.3 Refund - by Fritz Karinthy             (Play) - Part-2      

Refund : Setting

}  A School of Hungary, Principal room, examination hall or meeting hall and school play ground.

}  A hilarious play ‘Refund’, underscoring that what we are taught in schools is hardly useful in our practical life.

}  Realistic set, costume, lights and music as well as acting entertained the theatre buffs a lot.

Refund : Summary

}  Fritz Karinthy’s one act play “Refund” is the story of a former student Wasserkopf, who visits to his former school and demands his tuition  back because he feels his education was worthless. The  play satires  on the present day education system with humorous incidences and an extraordinarily absurd situation.

}  Wasserkopf is forty years old.  As he does not get any job and wherever he goes people tell him that he is fit for nothing and he has learned nothing worth in his school.  According to him, once, he meets his old classmate Leaderer on the way and asks him about his business. When Leaderer tells him about investment in  foreign exchange and Hungarian money with him, he could not understand anything and starts asking several questions about foreign exchange.

}  Leaderer says if  Wasserkopf does not know such a silly thing then he has not learnt anything significant in his school and he should better  go to the school and get his tuition fees back.  A Wasserkopf is jobless and penniless, he takes this idea as  something beneficial.  Therefore, he visits to his school where he studies before and asks to refund of his tuition fees back which he had paid eighteen years ago because he was taught badly. The principal gets shocked after listening such an absurd claim and he calls for an urgent meeting with all other staff members. 

}  The masters realized the fact that Wasserkopf’s real motif is  to fail in the exam and claims for the refund.  Therefore, they decide to outsmart the old student by proving all his answers right.  Furthermore, the Mathematics Master uses his wit and says that they are to be united and help each other to accomplish their plan.  As Wasserkopf rejects to write , the teachers decide to take oral exam.  They make plan to prove him right whether he gives wrong or right answers.

1.   The History Master asks him how many years the ‘Thirty Years’ war lasted. Even though, answer lies with in the question itself, Wasserkopf thinks to give wrong answers, says that it is ‘seven metres.’  At the time,  the History Master does not know how to prove this answer right but it is the Mathematics master who proves the answer right on the basis of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The Master argues that time and space are relative terms and actual war took place only for 7 years and therefore years can be represented in terms of meter as well.  Wasserkopf calls the History Master a numskull.

2.     Then, the Physics Master asks if the clocks in church become smaller if someone walks away from it or is it because of optical illusion.  Wasserkopf calls his Physics teacher as an ass.  The master proves his answer as correct giving the reason that the ass does not have any illusion of vision or imaginative power.  Thus, Wasserkopf’s metaphorical answer is right.

3.     The Geography Master asks Wasserkopf for the name of the capital city which has the same name as the capital of German Providence, Brunswick.  He replies as ‘Same’.  The Master says that his answer is right taking the reference of a legend of the emperor Barbarossa and a young peasant (farmer) girl.  He offers  her ‘God Bless you’ and asks her the name of the city and she replies, ‘same to you sir for his wishes’, and Emperor mistakenly thinks that the name of the city as ‘Same’.

}  Even though Wasserkopf  provides wrong answers using abusive words for each teacher,  they take his words positively without showing their anger  and they prove his answers correct  and him as an excellent student.

4.     Last question, the mathematics teacher asks him a difficult question as well as an easy question together.

For the easy question on the circumference of  109 degrees sides polyhedron with an irrelevant data for the calculation, he gives incorrect answer and the mathematics teacher  gets angry and says that he has failed in his examination so he deserves his tuition fees back. The master  asks for the exact amount which he has to get back. Wasserkopf without knowing that he is going to fall into their trap gives them the exact  total amount as 6450 crowns and 50 hellers.

The mathematics teacher says that Wasserkopf has given the right answer question and now he is proved excellent in the entire subject and they throw him out of the school justifying him with distinction in all subjects.

In this way, the teachers of the school display their ability and wit to manage such a difficult and absurd situation maintaining the reputation of the school.

Understanding the text

Answer the following questions.

a. Why does Wasserkopf demand a refund of his tuition fees from the school? Wasserkopf demanded the refund of his tuition fees from the school which he had paid about 18 years ago because in his view, he was taught nothing significant at the school.

b.     Why does Wasserkopf consider himself good for nothing?

    Wasserkopf considers himself as  a good-for-nothing fellow because he does not get any job and wherever he goes people tell him that he is fit for nothing and he has learned nothing worth in his school.  Even, one of his classmate leader tells him to the school and asks his refund as he does not understand his opinion about foreign exchange.

c.      What did the teachers decide to do when Wasserkopf asked for a refund?

    The teachers understood Wasserkopf's objective to fail in the re- examination as he demanded his money back. Therefore,  they decided to accept his answer as correct and to  pass Wasserkopf in examination at any cost beforehand whatever answer he may give.

d.     Why did Wasserkopf give ridiculous answers? Why did the teachers accept these answers?

    Wasserkopf   gives ridiculous answers to the questions asked by the teachers so that he gets failed in the reexaminations  and gets his refund but the teachers accepted his whatever answers beforehand to prove him as correct  and to ensure that he was upgraded.

e.     How does the Mathematics Master describe Wasserkopf's character?

    The Mathematics teacher describes Wasserkopf as a person who is more 'Shrewd' (Sharp witted/ intelligent) than the former pupil as first question was a simple one but Wasserkopf answer was out of the way.  But while calculating the refund correctly, he makes him as a mathematical genius.

f.       How did the teachers outwit Wasserkopf?

     Wasserkopf, the central character of the play 'Refund‘ demanded for refund as he was rejected everywhere. However, the clever teachers hatches a plan to outwit him and accept whatever answers Wasserkopf might give and ensure that he was upgraded.

g.     What is the final judgment on Wasserkopf's demand of refund?

     As per the judgment of the teachers, Wasserkopf  answers correctly to all questions and  then, the Principal declares that Wasserkopf has passed with distinction in every subject and again he is upgraded with the certificate of graduation in stead of refund.

 Reference to the context

a.     Read the extract from the play given below and answer the questions that follow:

  "It's possible I've changed. What the hell...! Your class records will show I've got a right to come here."

       i.            Who is the speaker? Who is he speaking to?

             The speaker is Wasserkopf and he is speaking to Principal.

     ii.            Why is the speaker say these words?

            The speaker says these words to get refund back.

  iii.            Where is the speaker at this moment?

            The speaker is at the principal room of the school.

b.     Read the extract dialogue given below and answer the questions that follow:

    THE STAFF: (bowing, heartily) How do you do? WASSERKOPF:  Who the hell are you? Sit down, you loafers! (He grins, waiting to be thrown out)

     THE PRINCIPAL: How dare you -”

       i.            What is to be the response to 'How do you do?'

            The response is to be “How do you do?” Or “I’m fine and you?”

     ii.            Is Wasserkopf's response polite enough to the staff?

          No,  Wasserkopf’s response is not polite enough to the staff rather it was harsh and rude.

  iii.            How does Wasserkopf rebuke the staff?

            Wasserkopf rebukes the staff saying “You loafers!”

   iv.            What does the principal mean by “How dare you-”?

         The principal by “How dare you-” means how he dares to talk his staff like this in the school.

c.      Explain the following line of the play:

    "Because I didn't get my money's worth, that's why!

  The given line is derived from the play “Refund” by Fritz Karinthy where Wasserkopf, the main character responds to the question of the principal, “Why do you want it back?’ saying that he wanted his money back in the sense he did not get anything worth or he learnt nothing  from the school in return except the certificate. Therefore, he asks for the refund from the School Principal.

 

d.     What is the theme of the play?

}  The play “Refund” is full of humour which deals with an extraordinarily absurd situation, created by a former student Wasserkopf, who demands that his tuition should be refunded because he feels his education was worthless. It mainly deals with the dedication of the teachers to safeguard their school’s dignity working collaborately  with the moral message that joint work or working together helps people to gain objective even in absurd situation through useful wits.

}  Wasserkopf, a forty years old man can not get any job anywhere and wherever he goes people tell him that he is fit for nothing. His one of classmate Leaderer suggests him to go the school and gets his tuition fees back as he understands nothing about foreign exchange. Wasserkopf who is jobless and does not have any finance, thought this idea as something beneficial. Therefore, he visited to the school and asks for refund paid about 18 years ago.

}  But the Math teacher proposes a solution and he gets trapped in that as he calculates exact refund of money.  By using tricky questions-answer techniques the school teachers jointly save the dignity of the school from the hand of silly man, Wasserkopf who gets nothing at the end except double certificates.

e.     Sketch the character of Wasserkopf.

Wasserkopf is the central character of the play ‘Refund’.   He is an unemployed man, about forty years old.  He is a man of total failure who is dejected from all places where he goes for seeking employment. He is so gullible that he believes on the words of the people, when they tell him that he knows nothing. It makes his frustrated, hopeless and infuriated.

Once, one of his old classmate suggests him to go back to school and asks the money back as he does not even understand simply the process foreign exchange told by him telling him that he  has learnt nothing from school.  He finds this idea a  little bit beneficial. Therefore, he visits to school after a period of eighteen years, to ask for a refund of his fees thinking  that the reason of his failure is his school and his school teachers as they did not make him a good student and did not teach him well.  He was very much infuriated at the teachers as he enters in the school. He puts all the blame on the school and his teachers.

However, the clever teachers hatch a plan to outwit him. They hold a test to prove that he is intelligent. They go about proving that even the most incorrect answer from Wasserkopf is correct. Finally, Wasserkopf is justified wise through the useful wits of teachers and he is passed out with distinction marks from the school.

Reference beyond the text

a.     The play is a satire on the present day education system. Do you think that our education system does not prepare students for life? Discuss.

“Refund”- a play of satire on the present day education system

}  Karinthy’s play “Refund” satires on the present day education system in the sense in many cases; the present-day education system doesn’t prepare students for life.  Higher education only burdens to the students with thousands of dollars of debt and furthermore, fail  them to get stable jobs. They get degrees but not appropriate jobs in their practical life.

}   The play is about a former student who visits his school with a peculiar motive to get his money back which he had paid 18 years ago as he comes to know that he has learnt nothing worth from the school . It is a biting satire on the modern education system because today the education provided by the school is not as per the wish and need of students. In this case, the mistake is of modern education system as it is not educating them rather just making fun of them.

}  In a way, Wasserkopf’s situation bears resemblance to the predicament of students in the United States. Many students pay lots of money to attend colleges and earn degrees. However, these degrees don’t always beget secure jobs or stable earnings. Not only does America’s education system regularly not prepare students for life, it often hampers them by putting them thousands of dollars in debt before they graduate.

}  Thus, we can say that modern education system is making the students weak and lazy. They are finishing their thinking and logical mind.  They are turning the children into robots or machines, making them hard worker  instead of smart worker.

b. Our education system focuses on memorisation rather than creative thinking. Do you think the knowledge imparted by education may not have practical relevance in one's day-to-day life? Who do you blame for this?

Obviously, our education system focuses on the memorisation rather than creative thinking because teachers teach the student how to pass the exams not how to tackle with practical life. Our education is based on certificate based not the job based or practical life based.

As is implied in Refund, knowledge imparted by education might not have practical relevance if it doesn’t help someone earn a living.  Thus, I think the knowledge imparted by education should have practical relevance in one’s day-to-day life and it should help people to acquire a stable job and a decent income.

If the relevance is lacking, there’s ample blame to go around. In Wasserkopf’s case, blame could be assigned to his teachers and his school for endowing  him with misinformation. If it took him nearly 18 years to realize the fact that the education, he gained from his teachers was insufficient or of worthless perhaps Wasserkopf is just not very sharp and there’s little his educators could have done. Thus, blame might be assigned to Wasserkopf himself as well.

Moving away from Wasserkopf  into real life, we find many examples of people whose education does not bear a practical relevance to their day-to-day life. There’s an array of people holding master’s degrees but they are unable to meet their day to day needs and acquire shelter, a stable job, and a decent income.

We consider several factors as responsible for all this such the person himself or herself,  the education system, the teachers, the government and additional factors, like race, gender, environment, peering , socioeconomic status and many others. To some extent, parents themselves are also responsible for this.           

c. Most of the students want to learn just for examination rather than knowledge. Do you think that certificate will help them in their future career?

§  Indeed, this is a great question in the sense the majority of my students are interested in getting good grades. In fact, I find getting good grades and gaining knowledge as two sides of the same coin.  As we all know that gaining knowledge leads us in getting good grades. Yet, it is the good grades that matter. In this post modern era, students have understanding that if they achieve good grade,  they gain name, fame and finance in their life. They get admission in good college and university and acquire jobs, shelters and a decent income. But it is my advice to the students to stress on acquiring knowledge which, in the long run, will the students to get good grades and they may solve their life obstacles with application of it.

§      No, I do not think  that certificate will help educators in their future career because I have seen many degree holders are wondering here and there in search of shelters and jobs but they are getting nothing except disappointments,  harassment and emptiness in life.  But certificate is essential to get a job, promotion, shelter, job and a decent income. There are many other factors such as nepotism, favoritism,  corruption, unstable government,  and no practical education system which prevent people from acquiring jobs. Both certificate and practical knowledge are required for getting a good job with  decent income.

Extras:

1.      How does the History teacher prove that the answer given by Wasserkopf is             correct?

§   The History teacher proves that the answer given by Wasserkopf is correct saying that actual warfare took place only during half of each day so 30 years become 15. For warriors 3 hours needed to eat-reducing 15 to 12 hours. we deduct hours for noonday napping, non-warlike activities, and other activities then we have left only the time which Wasserkopf answers. Thus he proves that Wasserkopf is correct.

                           

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