In the business world, a letter of credit helps to
facilitate a transaction between multiple parties. Often it will revolve around
the notion that one party may make a payment to another based on a line of
credit or a loan that is issued by a bank. The word “credit” is defined by the
Oxford English Dictionary as “the estimate in which
the character of a person (or thing) is held; reputation.” Banks (lenders) give
out credit to individuals (borrowers) based on the idea that the debt will be
repaid in full at a later date in the future. This is done under the assumption
that the borrowers past patterns of behavior are an indication of their present
actions, that their present actions are an indication of their future actions,
and ultimately, that these actions are a sign of their character.
In Mark Twain’s short story The £1,000,000 Bank-Note, Twain
illustrates such an idea through the journey of the story’s narrator. In the
first paragraph of the story the narrator states, “I was alone in the world,
and had nothing to depend upon but my wits and a clean reputation; but these
were setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I was content with
the prospect” (Twain 316). The narrator in this instance is discussing his voyage
to England and is foreshadowing the “clean” start he will have abroad. This suggests
that those around him have not yet observed his patterns of behavior and have
not yet settled on his reputation in society.
A reputation is developed by the way in
which people in society perceive an individual’s actions or patterns of
behavior. In contrast, an individual’s character is defined not as the
perception of one’s actions or patterns of behavior but rather as “who they
really are” or more distinctly, by the moral qualities that they possess. In
the story, when the narrator first arrives in London, his actions are perceived
as “ragged and shabby,” which leads to his reputation as a destitute stranger.
This peaks the interest of two brothers living in the town and prompts them to
ask the narrator more about his character, which results in them secretly offering
him a £1,000,000 bank- note. “They saw many honest faces go by that were not
intelligent enough; many that were intelligent, but not honest enough; many
that were both, but the possessors were not poor enough, or, if poor enough,
were not strangers” (Twain 318).
Upon discovery of the sum of the bank note,
the narrator feels that the two brothers have made an honest mistake in their
giving, which leads him to return to their house in order to fix the problem.
This shows the narrators character and moral integrity. “I was pretty nervous;
in fact, pretty badly frightened, though, of course, I was no way in fault; but
I knew men well enough to know that when they find they've given a tramp a
million-pound bill when they thought it was a one-pounder, they are in a
frantic rage against him instead of quarreling with their own near-sightedness,
as they ought” (Twain 319). After his visit to the house the narrator later
discovers that he money was given to him as a loan for a period of time without
interest. In essence, the two brothers choose to give the narrator a “credit”
based on the assumption that the narrator’s present actions or patterns of
behavior (his reputation) along with his character may lead to either his
success or his failure in the future.
The “credit” afforded to the narrator by
the two brothers results in the narrator experiencing a drastic shift in the
way he is outwardly perceived in society. This is most evident when the
narrator goes to the tailor-shop in his ragged clothes and is harassed by one
of the shop employees. Once the proprietor of the store discovers the
narrator’s wealth, he reprimands the employee for his careless attention to
detail. "Sell an eccentric millionaire such an unspeakable suit as that!
Tod's a fool - a born fool. Always doing something like this. Drives every
millionaire away from this place, because he can't tell a millionaire from a
tramp, and never could" (Twain 322). This elucidates the fact that the way
in which an individual is outwardly perceived (their reputation) is directly
linked to their social status (or identity) in society.
The idea that a reputation is created and
changed through another person’s perceptions of their actions suggests that an
individual’s reputation is perhaps one of the most valuable assets they possess
in their life. While a reputation can be influenced by your actions, it can
never be controlled. It is for that reason individuals work diligently to
maintain their good name in society, recognizing that people will see past
patterns of behavior as an indication of what is to become of them in the
future.
References:
Twain, Mark, and Charles Neider. The
Complete Short Stories of Mark Twain. New York: Bantam, 1981. Print.
In response to the concept of reputation and character within the context of "The £1,000,000 Bank-Note" story - I also noticed the notable progression and significance of both aspects of identity that you explain in your post. From the transition of bright-eyed newcomer to fortunate pauper, you can see how the narrator earnestly depends on his good Character to navigate his way through the prospect of being a multimillionaire. However, this hits a crossroads with his Reputation when other people's assumptions of him gets mixed in with the perception he has of himself; his ragged appearance to plentiful budget confuses social perceptions of status. I agree with you that one's Reputation is one of the most valuable personal assets because of the power it possesses to either to make you or ruin you. Like we have discussed, Reputation can be symbolized as a 'house of cards' - no matter how upstanding you maintain your Character to be, your Reputation is at the hands of others and easily threatened by careless slander and gossip. I think one of the messages we can take away from our narrator's experience is how easily people are swayed by their perceptions of others simply based on external and quantitative factors and how mindful we must be in utilizing and presenting ourselves in accordance to that knowledge.
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