Goodbye Mr. Chips Summary

English Notes → Goodbye Mr. Chips Summary

Goodbye Mr. Chips by James Hilton

QUESTION NO: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Q.No.10
(i) Discuss Goodbye Mr.Chips as a novel of character.

Goodbye Mr.Chips by James Hilton is a short, simple but interesting novel. It is basically a character novel. The author wants to show some salient features of the personality of an English teacher named Mr.Chipping. it is a modern kind of novel which aims to provide ideas & views of life instead of thrill of action. There is no tale of love, no romantic scenes, no dramatic situation & no sensational incidents to entertain the readers. Similarly the novelist has made no attempt to teach any moral lesson or a new philosophy of life. The plot of this novel is very loose and formless. The story has been narrated in a flash-back & random manner. It is generally a collection of mixed memories. After reading this novel, we come to know about the early life of Mr.Chips, his educational career, his aptitude for the teaching profession, his performance of duties as a teacher, his attitude towards his students & women, his conservative views & humorous remarks & his life after retirement. The novelist has presented the life & personality of Mr.Chips in a vivid & graphic manner. We can see Mr.Chips taking his classes, calling the roll, delivering speech, talking with his students and entertain them with tea & cakes. All these ideas , feelings, impressions, experiences, remarks & memories of Mr.Chips serve as the texture of the plot of the novel. There is nothing super human or extraordinary about Mr.Chips. Although he is an imaginary creature,yet he has been made quite life-like & believable person.

GOODBYE MR. CHIPS CHARACTERS
— Mr. Chips
— Katherine
— Mr. Weatherby
— Mr. Chatteris
— Mrs. Wickett
— Dr. Merival