Review of Goodbye Mr.Chips

Review by Nick Riina

             

First Impression
               When I first saw this book, the name caught my eye.  Then after reading the back I had to read the book.  The back boasts of this book’s legendary status, “walking on the Earth next to classics such as A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.”  And how amazing and wonderful this book is, so I had to find out if the boasts on the back cover, could be supported by the context.

         Theme and Summary   
              This novel is about a lovable school master, Mr. Chipping.   Before a life changing event, Mr. Chipping was described as a dull, boring teacher, not a lot of students enjoyed.  Eventually on a mountain climbing trip, he met his true love and it changed his life forever.  He became a joyful, humorous teacher, who remained friends with his students until he reached his old age, and even then was visited by former students.  The story tells of his life, and of how when the time came, the students and district had to choose between him, and a new, young principal.  A main theme of this book is that everyone and everything has a story behind it.  This is illustrated by how Mr. Chips new and fun attitude had a story behind it.  Not many knew about Mr. Chips’ wonderful wife, a girl who turned him into a man loved by his colleagues.   His story was not known by his work place, and by the time Mr. Chips grew old, many felt bad for the man.  He lived alone and many thought his life was always that way.  But the gracious man they know all those years ago was still there. 

Character Development
 The story does not contain many characters; the ones it contains develop and grow very well.  The main character, Mr. Chips grew from a grumpy old school teacher, into a lovable amazing schoolmaster.  He grew from his life changing event where he met his wife, and she made him into the man people love.  Another character was his wife. She was introduced as a reckless, joyous girl, who spent her time have fun.  When she met Chips she turned into a responsible, fun person to be around for all ages.  The story also tells of how some key students grew to be into older, more responsible people.  A student described as, “always late, and never prepared,” turned into, “clean cut,” and, “self-presenting.” 

          Outside Connection   
             This book could almost be real in the world itself.  It is a sensible story of a man whose life is changed by his wife, a common real world scenario.  Also many teachers, can turn into, or be happy, joyous teachers, while others can be less pleasant.  This reminds me of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens because in that book, a man transitions from grumpy, into joyous and loved.

          Epiphany   
               In this story, many quick things change, and happen, much like a real school.  After the school board tried to fire Mr. Chips, the board had an epiphany.  This epiphany was that people don’t love Mr. Chips because he is a clean cut, perfect teacher.  He is a man molded by his work, that all students, teachers, and people in the community love.
          Movie Comparison

             Like many movies, Goodbye My. Chips the novel is much better than the movie.  The movie is a romantic film about a retired school master whose wife died in childbirth and he was scarred by her death.  After this life changing event he became a better man, the book, on the other hand, is much more in depth.  His wife dies at old age, and she makes him into a better man.  In the movie, Mr. Chipping is much less close to the students as he is in the book, although the book had very close character overall development, the book still rains ahead.

          Recommendations   
              I would definitely recommend this book to kids grades 8 and on, all the way to senior citizens.  This book is pretty easy to understand, and brings joy to one’s heart the entire way through.  The plot never lets go of the reader’s attention, despite not having much physical action.  Although the book might not be what it said, it will always be one of my favorite books.