Refund 
Fritz Karinthy (1887-1938)
Introducing the author
· he was a Hungarian satirical writer
· he excelled as a novelist, short-story writer, poet, essayist and playwright
· deeply interested in natural sciences, he studied to be a teacher, but became a journalist and joined the literary periodical Nyugat.
· Strongly philosophical and humanistic in his outlook, he raised his powerful voice against the barbarism and horrors of World War I
· His work such as That’s How You Write (1912), Journey around My Skull (1939), Please Sir (1916) and Professor won him a lot of recognition.
Setting
Office of a high school in Hungary. The main character named Wasserkopf approaches the headmaster in the office and demands his fees back. The headmaster calls emergency meeting to discuss the matter. The entire play takes place in the office.
About the play
The play Refund written in 1938 is about a man about forty who goes back to the school in which he had studied and demands a refund of the fees he had paid eighteen years back claiming that he had learnt nothing useful at school and he is now good-for-nothing. This play was adopted by the American playwright Percival Wilde for a general audience. Refund brings out the extraordinary sense of parody, word play in Karinthy’s literary art. The play is full of humour which deals with an extraordinarily absurd situation.
Characters
The principal
The principal is seated at his flat-topped desk in his office in a high school. He asks his servant to inform the visitor to see him only in office time. After being sure that the visitor is not a school inspector, he permits the servant to let the visitor enter his office. The visitor is a former pupil named Wasserkopf. The principal gets shocked by the unusual demand of Wasserkopf. He calls the emergency staff meeting to hear from the teachers about that unparalleled case.
The servant
The servant informs the principal that a man named Wasserkopf wants to see him. after the principal’s consent, he sends Wasserkopf into the principal’s office. He considers Wasserkopf an intelligent man.
Wasserkopf
Wasserkopf is a bearded man, carelessly dressed and of under forty. He is a former student who goes to school to demand his tuition fees back since he remains jobless until 18 years after he is certified from the school. Once he got a job but he was fired due to his incompetency. He is broke. He doesn’t understand what foreign exchange is. He doesn’t understand his friend while talking about currency. It is his friend’s idea that he should ask his tuition fees back because he doesn’t know a damn thing. Then he goes to school to demand the refund of his tuition fees for he is broke and he has lost his job. He thinks that he is badly taught by taking a lot of money. He demands re-examination to prove that he knows nothing but the teachers marks him excellent and chase him from the office giving nothing.
The mathematics Master
The mathematics Master is very clever and cunning. He brings the idea of making easy questions and preventing Wasserkopf from failing the re-examination. He convinces the staff to be agreed beforehand whatever Wasserkopf answers are correct. It is his idea to outwit Wasserkopf who calls him ‘old stick in a mud’.
The physics Master
The physics Master considers Wasserkopf’s demand as a natural case. He states that the law of conservation of energy proves that any given pupil will lose, in any given period, as much knowledge as a teacher can drill into his head in another period of like duration. He marks Wasserkopf ‘Very good’ in Physics.
The staff
The staff fully supports the teachers who handle re-examination for Wasserkopf. Whatever the teachers mark the candidate, Wasserkopf they agree.
The geography Master
Wasserkopf calls him ‘the old hypocrite’ and ‘nitwit’ but he is not annoyed. Instead, he asks the question ‘what city of the same name is the capital of the German province of Brunswick?’ and justifies Wasserkopf’s ridiculous answer to this question bringing the reference of a legend about an Emperor and a young peasant girl.
The history Master
The history master says that there is nothing like the Wasserkopf’s demand in the history of civilization. According to him, it is said that the Bourbons learned nothing and forgot nothing. He asks Wasserkopf very easy question in the re-examination. Though Wasserkopf gives wrong answer, he justifies that as the correct one. He regards the answer as not only superficial but also based on investigation and modern research.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions.
a. Why does Wasserkopf demand a refund of his tuition fees from the school?
Wasserkopf demands a refund of his tuition fees from the school because he doesn’t get his money’s worth. He realizes that he has not learnt anything, and the school education has made him an incompetent ass out of him. He has lost his job and also he is broke.
b. Why does Wasserkopf consider himself good for nothing?
Wasserkopf considers himself good for no thing because he can’t do the things that he should have learned in school. He claims that he can’t do anything because he was taught so badly.
c. What did the teachers decide to do when Wasserkopf asked for a refund?
The teachers decided to mark him excellent in the re-examination. For that, they decided to agree beforehand that his every answer was correct. In other words, whatever he answered would be correct.
d. Why did Wasserkopf give ridiculous answers? Why did the teachers accept these answers?
Wasserkopf gave ridiculous answers to be failed in the re-examination. If he fails, he will get his tuition fees back. The teachers accept these answers because their object is to prevent him from failing. If Wasserkopf fails, he succeeds.
e. How does the Mathematics Master describe Wasserkopf’s character?
The Mathematics Master describes Wasserkopf as a sly, crafty individual who will try to get the better of them, and his money back. He has pursued advanced studies in the school of life, and now he is about to place them in an awkward position.
f. How did the teachers outwit Wasserkopf?
The teachers outwit Wasserkopf by agreeing whatever he uttered as the answers to the questions in the re-examination. Wasserkopf gave ridiculous answers to the questions asked by the teachers with the hope of failing, but all answers were marked as correct ones by the teachers. In this way, he passed the exam and did not get his tuition fees back.
g. What is the final judgement on Wasserkopf’s demand of return?
The final judgement on Wasserkopf’s demand of return is that of rejection. He is marked excellent in the re-examination. He passes all the subjects, so the teachers make him leave the office empty hand.
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. He is speaking to the principal.
ii. Why does the speaker say these words?
The speaker says these words because the principal doesn’t recognize him as a former student.
iii. Where is the speaker at this moment?
The speaker is at the principal’s room in the school where he was a pupil eighteen years ago.
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 -?
· What is to be the response to ‘How do you do?’
‘How do you do?’ or ‘Nice to meet you’ is to be the response to ‘How do you do?’
· Is Wasserkopf’s response polite to the staff?
No, his response is not polite to the staff.
· How does Wasserkopf rebuke the staff?
Wasserkopf rebukes the staff as loafers.
· What does the principal mean by ‘How dare you’?
By ‘How dare you?, the principal means Wasserkopf behaves badly to the staff, or he is appropriate by his response to the teacher staff.
c. Explain the following line of the play:
“Because I didn’t get my money’s worth, that’s why!”
This line has been taken from the one act play, ‘Refund’ by Fritz Karinthy. The speaker ‘I’ refers to a former student of a high school, named Wasserkopf who demands his tuition fees back. He is talking to the principal and claiming that he hasn’t learned anything from the school. That’s why he asks the principal to return his money paid eighteen years as the tuition fees.
d. What is the theme of the play?
The theme of the play is certificate doesn’t validate its holder’s talent. The one who is certified from the school can be failure in life, like Wasserkopf in the play. Our education system is certificate oriented. It will not help students to enjoy their future career. The certificate, they get from school, hardly help the students to earn their life. Some of them are fired from the job due to lack of efficiency and competence. Some of them are always broke. The play is a bitter satire towards present day education system which is not productive or skill oriented. Knowledge imparted by such education system doesn’t make students behave well. They are poor in etiquette as well. By the response of Wasserkopf to the teachers, one can understand that modern education system has been failure. It neither teaches skills nor morality.
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.
The play ‘Refund’ is a bitter satire on the present-day education system. I don’t think our education system prepares students for life. The present-day education system prepares talkative man powers who can say larger things but can’t do trivial things. It is not skill based rather it is more theoretical which can hardly be put into practice. Too few students will be employed after spending large amount and approximately half span of life.
The play is a satire on the present-day education system for it reveals the bitter reality of an educated man, named Wasserkopf who is fired from the job and is incompetent as well as good-for-nothing until his middle life. Following his good friend, Leaderer’s advice, he demands refund of his tuition fees, but his principal and the teacher staff mark him ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’ in the re-examination to make him leave the school empty hand. Its irony lies on the practicability of the certificate that doesn’t show the talent of its holder.
b. Our education system focuses on memorization 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?
Our education system focuses on memorization rather than creative thinking. Unless the students become creative, they can not invent something useful for entertaining life or discover alternative ways to earn life. Memorization helps students to be certified but doesn’t provide them skills to manage life. Knowledge imparted by education is not relevant and practical in one’s day to day life for he/she remains jobless, unable to handle the job and good-for-nothing after being certified. The certificate holders are always broke and do not understand a damn thing
The policy makers, and educational institutes are to be blamed for such faulty education system. They fail to plan and implement a vocational, practical and relevant education for the children.
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?
It is the bitter truth that most of the students want to learn just for examination rather than knowledge. I don’t think that certificate will help them in their future. Education should be for life. We need both hard and soft skills. In other words, both knowledge and wisdom are necessary for the smooth run of life. The students are certified as educated or qualified but that label doesn’t always validate his skills to earn and manage life.
Education system needs improvement. It should be knowledge and skills oriented, but not examination or certificate oriented. Certificate doesn’t always show its holder’s talent. It merely shows some sort of knowledge on a particular subject matter or field. Students in Nepal are mostly worried about what grade they are going to obtain in their board exam. They are hardly anxious about the future career. It is evident that many Master’s Degree and Bachelor Degree holders are wandering in search of job. Some them are going abroad for their living. Those who are employed also not enjoying the posts as they deserve. Such problems are resulted from the fault in education system that fails to connect the students with their future career.
To conclude, the certificate will not help its holder in his/her future career unless there is reasonable change in our education system. Our school education and our way of life hardly match. So, it’s the government’s duty to provide quality and vocational education. The government must ensure that certified ones will not be unemployed; they must be either self-employed or employed as per the need of the nation.
