WHAT IS A FARCE?

A farce is a comedy performed in the theater with the goal of entertaining the audience through highly exaggerated, extravagant, and thus improbable situations. Physical humor, the deliberate use of absurdity or nonsense, and broadly stylized performances are also characteristics of farce. It also frequently takes place in a single location, where all of the events take place. For stage and screen, farces have been written. The French word for "stuffing" is the origin of the term farce, referring to the improvisations that actors used in medieval religious plays. During the 15th and 16th centuries, later versions of this play were performed as amusing interludes.

Summary

The major theme of the play is ‘failed education system that tries to prove itself correct with logic than taking responsibility for its failure to teach students to be able to survive in this world making use of their knowledge learned at school”.

The play "Refund" is centered on the character sketch of Wasserkopf. He is depressed and has given up hope of finding work. He is so gullible that even when people tell him he doesn't know anything, he believes them. His frustration and rage grow as a result. Wasserkopf is about forty years old and unemployed. When he goes looking for work, every place he goes turns him away. Wasserkof has no manners and speaks abusively. He has no employment. Even if he gets a job, he won't be able to keep it for long. Everywhere he goes to apply for a job, people tell him he is useless and hasn't learned anything valuable in school.

He once runs into Leaderer, a former classmate, on the street. Wasserkopf says he can't understand Leaderer when they talk about investing in foreign exchange and the Hungarian currency. He begins to inquire about currency exchange. Leaderer claims that he hasn't learned anything in school, if he doesn't know about such a minor detail. He suggests that he return to his school and request a refund of his tuition. Wasserkopf, who is jobless and broke, thinks it's a good idea that will help him. So, after 18 years, he goes back to his old school and asks for his tuition money back, claiming that he hasn't learned anything useful from them.

Hearing such an absurd demand shocks the principal. Wasserkopf even says that if he doesn't get justice, he will go to the education minister. He says he needs to get his money back if he fails the second test. The principal calls for an urgent meeting of all the masters after becoming quite perplexed and finding himself in an unusual circumstance. They agree to conduct the reexamination and agree to validate his correct or incorrect responses. They are aware that Wasserkopf would purposefully attempt to cheat on the exam in order to receive a refund from the school. As a result, each staff member makes the decision to outwit him and cooperate with one another. In an effort to be kicked out of the school, Wasserkopf addresses each master with abusive and derogatory language. The masters, on the other hand, outwit him by demonstrating his superiority in manners, physical culture, alertness, perseverance, logic, and ambition.

The history, physics, mathematics master, and geography teacher ask the easiest question to Wasserkopf, but he intentionally gives wrong answer to prove himself right that school has taught him nothing. When history teacher asks, ‘how long did thirty years war last?’ Wasserkopf says, seven meters and using logic teachers grade his answer correct. Similarly, physics teacher asks him about optical illusion citing an example of clock becoming smaller as we move farther from it. Wasserkopf’s answer to this question is ‘donkey’. This answer is also graded correct using logic by teachers. Then came the geography teacher who asked the capital cities name telling the in the question. Even if Wasserkopf said the capital city’s name was ‘same’ in order to neither be neither wrong nor correct, the teachers bring a wrong instance of the history and proved the wrong answer correct.

Finally, mathematics teacher asks two questions and tells that one is easy and another is hard. He asks the difficult question first saying that it is the easy one. The question is so absurd that it is completely illogical and the answer given by Wasserkopf is termed wrong. Becoming happy, Wasserkopf asks them to return the money but the Mathematics teacher asks another question about how much the school needs to pay. Wasserkopf answers it accurately and mathematics teacher tells him that it was the difficult question. At last, mathematics teacher tells that Wasserkopf’s answer to the difficult question was wrong slightly, but the difficult question was accurate. Thereby, Wasserkopf was classified as a brilliant student at last and sent back without a refund.

UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT

a. Why is Wasserkopf requesting a reimbursement from the school for his tuition?

Wasserkopf is a person who is jobless because he knows nothing about anything. Even if he gets a job, he is dismissed after sometime. He is already frustrated and one friend casually tells him to get a refund from school as he does not know anything about the foreign exchange. He had no money in pocket and thinking that if he gets a refund it would be useful for some days survival. Therefore, he wants a refund.

b. Why does Wasserkopf believe that he is worthless?

His self-esteem was extremely down because of multiple failures in life. He had faced many downsides and rejections in life that he started to believe that he was truly worthless after that.

c. When Wasserkopf asked for a refund, what did the teachers do?

The teachers devised a plan to prove Wasserkopf wrong. They planned to work together as a team and pass the candidate in the test they would take even if his answer was wrong. They cheated and proved Wasserkopf as a brilliant student and dismissed his demand of refund for the failure educate him correctly.

d. Why did Wasserkopf offer absurd responses? Why were these responses accepted by the teachers?

The agreement was that if Wasserkopf gives wrong answer, he would get his refund. The school did not want to refund the money, but Wasserkopf wanted the refund. Therefore, in order to get his money back, he gave absurd answers and it was accepted by the teachers because their intention was not to refund him.

e. How does the Mathematics Professor characterize Wasserkopf?

The Mathematics Master describes Wasserkopf as a clever and sly individual who intends to deliberately fail his exam and recover his tuition fees. He claims that Wasserkopf is an immature individual who lacks proper communication skills.

f. In what way did the educators deceive Wasserkopf?

Wasserkopf was intentionally giving wrong answers. Despite that using various arguments and examples, both fake and real, asking the easiest of all questions; the teachers deceived him.

g. What is the final decision regarding Waserkopf's request for a refund?

Among 5 questions asked; one of history, one of physics, one of geography and two of mathematics, Wasserkopf gave 4 answers wrong but was accepted as correct by the teachers and one answer to the question of calculation of fees to be refunded, he gave accurate answer. Therefore, he was categorized as a brilliant student and his request for refund was denied.

REFERENCE TO THE CONTEXT

a. Read the following excerpt from the play and respond to the following questions:

“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 and who is he speaking to?

The speaker is speaking to his principal and the speaker is Wasserkopf.

ii. Why is the speaker uttering these phrases?

The speaker is saying this because he is upset about not being able to apply the education to earn a job and on top of that the principal does not recognize him.

iii. Where exactly is the speaker right now?

Presently, the speaker is in the Principal's office.

b. Read the dialogue excerpt provided below and respond to the following questions:

“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. To the question, "How do you do?" what should you say?

It should be, “I am doing fine and you?”

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

No, absolutely not.

iii. How does Wasserkopf rebuke the employees?

Wasserkopf scolds the employees by calling them loafers.

iv. What does principal mean by "How dare you"?

The principal is showing his anger. Wasserkopf claims himself to be the student of the school and shows manner less behavior to the leader of the institution.

c. Describe the following lines from the play.

“Because I didn’t get my money’s worth, that’s why!”

This line is taken from the one act play ‘Refund’. This line is uttered by Wasserkopf and he is replying to the principal of his school when the principal asks why he needed a refund. He means to say is that whatever he learned at school did not come into application in his benefit.

d. What is the theme of the play?

The major theme is the futility of modern education system that fails to prepare students for life. It is also trying to show that teachers can unite against ill-natured student if necessary.

e. Sketch the character of Wasserkopf (Describe Wasserkopf).

Wasserkopf is a forty-year-old petty and manner less individual. He was born in Hungary. He is a rude man with a bad temper who has been fired from multiple jobs due to his bad manners. He doesn't know anything about anything. He knows neither shame nor respect. He feels good about himself for nothing. Without any remorse, he goes to his school to demand his tuition. He acts immorally in front of the principal and other educators. He refers to the teachers as "loafers." He refers to teachers in infuriating ways, describing the History Master as a "numskull," the Physics Master as "a cannibal," and the Maths Teacher as "an old stick in the mud."

REFERENCE BEYOND THE TEXT

a. The play is a satire on the educational system of today. Do you believe that students are not adequately prepared for life through our educational system? Discuss.

No, I do not think so. There isn’t one student in the school; there are various. Not every student is equally talented as the other. In addition, there is a time limit to teach and there is a syllabus to complete. Teachers and students are both in pressure all the time. If every student fail and become unsuccessful in life, then we could say that schools do not prepare students for life. However, there are only few students who fail. In addition to that, education system is designed to facilitate every student and it is also the responsibility of students to learn, research, ask and prepare themselves for life. The school cannot always hold their hands and walk them. Eventually, it is their responsibility to work hard because school cannot work hard for them.

Nonetheless, the modern education system is designed in such a way that every student pass their examination even if the student is not competent enough. This may be to clear up the space for new comers. This has illusioned the students that they are competent enough because they got good grades and they feel reluctant to work hard. The effect of this is seen when they enter the job market or start a firm of their own. They feel like Wasserkopf that they have learned nothing in the school. However, it is not that they were not taught, instead they did not care to learn what they were taught.

b. Instead of encouraging creative thinking, our educational system emphasizes memorizing facts. Do you think that education imparts knowledge that may not be applicable to everyday life? Who do you attribute this to?

I partially agree to this. Generally there are two kinds of education prevalent; one is vocational training and another is academic training. Academic training is based on theories and facts. In order to excel in this training one need to know the facts and memorize them. The subjects related to this are history, geography, morality, theology and so on. On the other hand, on vocational training subjects related to science, medicine, hospitality, business should be included. These subjects require practical training and not memorization. However, our education system is not able to set distinction between them. So everything is cramped in one curriculum which creates confusion in students and teachers. Therefore, memorizing becomes prevalent because it is easier for schools to do as setting of spaces for practical training is costly and there is less manpower for it.

c. The majority of students prefer knowledge over exam preparation. Do you believe that certificate will be beneficial to them in the future?

No, I don't believe that certificate will assist students in their careers in the future. The majority of students are currently on the wrong path. There is a set amount of time allotted for their examination preparation. Before their examination in two or three months, they are seen much more frequently. They are averse to the idea of knowledge and believe in taking shortcuts to pass exams. Their approach to passing the exam is not beneficial to their future. Since certificates never reveal true talent or knowledge, they will undoubtedly face a lack of authentic knowledge in the future. The majority of students today receive fake certificates as well.