Elliot Flower’s Short Story ‘The Winner’s Loss’

In this tale about an honest man, we learn that even the wisest can fail.

An honest man has trouble keeping safe the winnings of two friends, in "Winner's Loss. Theera Disayarat/Shutterstock

Life often surprises us with moments when we feel extreme humility. Yet these moments remind us of our humanity and keep us grounded in reality.

In his short story “The Winner’s Loss,” Elliot Flower tells a story which shows how even the wisest and most honest can fail. For, through a lack of communication, poor Jack Strong loses something important to his two friends.

Two friends have made a bet, each placing $200 into the bargain. With their bet made and their money placed, they entrust the $400 in bets into the hands of their poor friend, Jack Strong, who is extremely honest and wise. Jack accepts the money and promises to keep it safe.

After bearing witness to his friends’ bet, Jack heads home. Before he makes it all the way home, he stops at a bar. There Jack enjoys the company of an extremely genial stranger, who buys him a drink.

Jack wishes to pay back the stranger’s kindness and goes to pull out a $5 bill to buy the stranger a drink. While reaching for the $5, Jack reveals the $400 in his pocket. He then pays for the drink and continues enjoying the company of the jovial stranger.

The next day, Jack finds that he cannot find the $400 which his friends entrusted to him. He knows that he is in trouble. His house is mortgaged and he cannot afford to pay back his friends.

After replaying the previous evening’s events in his mind, Jack concludes that his jovial new acquaintance at the bar stole the $400. He returns to the bar and inquires as to the personage and whereabouts of the stranger. But no one at the bar knows anything about the genial stranger.

Even the Wisest

Jack makes his way to his friends to confess his failure. Even though he is poor, Jack promises that he will eventually pay them back. He then heads to the police station where he files a police report against the stranger at the bar.

Jack makes his way back home to wait for the police to contact him. He unhappily waits until about 8 p.m. when the police station calls him, saying that they apprehended the stranger from the bar.

Jack jumps up and moves to grab his hat. But, just as he is trying to head out the door, his wife, who has been silent and pensive, stops him and says: “I’d like a word with you before you go out. Why have you deceived me?”

Through this story, Flower shows a series of unfortunate events which comically demonstrate that even the wisest, most honest people can be wrong. Moreover, it demonstrates an overall need for communication. If Jack had merely shared information with the people around him, he would have avoided worry and trouble.

Jack’s lack of wisdom is apparent, as J.M. Barrie says in “The Little Minister,” that “life is a long lesson in humility.”

Through Jack, Flower demonstrates that we are all human and even the wise make mistakes. All we must do is have humility, acknowledge our faults, and seek to rectify them as best we can.

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