Question

What is the central idea of "My Lost Dollar"?

Answer 1

The theme of lending money, the thoughts that go through the minds of the lender, whether he gets his money back and the behaviour of the borrower.

Answer 2

The central idea of the story is the practice of borrowing and lending.It is a natural tendency to borrow money from near and dear ones.People lend money to their friends and relatives,when the latter is in need.However what is painful about this act,is the fact that while the human memory surprisingly remains strong in the lender's case, it diminishes with time in the case of the borrower.We see in the story whenever the narrator meets his friend,his mind is preoccupied with the thought of the one dollar he has lent to his friend, and much of his conversation is also guided by the same thought.

This idea of lending and borrowing thus forms the basic idea of the story.The author has very aptly represented it using humour and showed us what is right and what is wrong in lending and borrowing money.