Quality by John Galsworthy
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Quality
John Galsworthy
Summary
This summary explains in detail the events that take place in the story.
The narrator has been acquainted with the Gessler brothers from the time of his
youth, for his father was a patron of the shoemakers. The two brothers occupied
an ordinary store in the once fashionable West End area. It was a simple store
without any great signage or advertising, and they only took custom orders –
making unique boots according to each client’s feet. Their storefront was
humble, displaying only a few pairs of boots as if to declare to the world that
they did not subscribe to mass production. As the narrator grows older, he
realizes that the Gessler brothers were not just shoemakers but expert
craftsmen and that their shoes were nothing short of a work of art.
While describing the younger Gessler brother, the narrator said that his
yellow face and the neat folds of skin slanting down his cheek, along with his
sardonic voice, made it seem as if he were himself made of leather. His brother
looked just like him, only paler. The narrator then describes how entering the
Gessler brother’s shop was akin to entering a church, where the client had to
wait patiently on a wooden chair for the masters to do their work. Boots would
be ordered, the foot size would be carefully measured and gleaned through
touch, and then the client would be shown the leather piece that would go into
the making of a perfectly fitted boot.
On one memorable visit, the narrator complained to the younger Gessler
brother that his boots had creaked. This complaint bewildered the skilled
craftsman as if it were impossible for any of his products to have
imperfections. However, with great ingenuity, Mr. Gessler asked the narrator to
send back the shoes for repair, failing which he said he would refund the
amount charged.
Another memorable visit of the narrator was when he entered the shop
wearing boots purchased by one of the more prominent companies. During this
visit, the narrator got to know about Mr. Gessler’s contempt for the larger
boot-making companies that did away with the craftsmanship of the trade, in the
name of mass production, trading quality with an array of advertising gimmicks
to win clients. During this meeting, the narrator became aware of the Gessler
brother’s travails of sustaining a small business of handmade boots when the
more prominent companies were luring away their clients with shallow
advertising. The ice-cold contempt in Mr. Gessler’s voice made the narrator
order multiple pairs of boots, so much so that he had no occasion to visit
their store for the next two years.
After two years, the narrator goes back to the store and finds that
another company had occupied one-half of the store. The narrator later learns
that this downsizing had to happen because running the shop was turning out to
be too expensive. The next time the narrator goes to the shop, an older-looking
Mr. Gessler informs him that, unable to handle the losses their business was
incurring, the elder brother had died. The ordered boots took a long time to
come this time, but their quality was better than before.
After a year, the narrator visited the Gessler shop to find that Mr.
Gessler had aged rapidly, looking frail. However, despite the aging, the man
still knew his trade well and went about the task of measuring the narrator’s
foot for a fresh piece. This time the boots took even longer to come, but their
quality was better than ever.
A week later, the narrator decided to visit Mr. Gessler to compliment
him on how wonderful his latest set of boots had turned out. However, upon
reaching the store, the narrator was bewildered to see that some other company
had occupied the store of the Gessler brothers. The new owner tried to assure
the narrator that they were equipped to offer him any boots he wanted, but the
narrator insisted on knowing what had happened to Mr. Gessler. Upon further
inquiry, the narrator found out that Mr. Gessler had died of slow starvation.
The new company owner disclosed to the narrator how Mr. Gessler barely did
anything apart from making boots, not even setting aside time to eat. All his
money went into rent and to purchase fine leather, leaving very little for basic
sustenance. It was tough business conditions that had finally drawn the life
out of Mr. Gessler – an expert craftsman of boots. Both men agreed that Mr.
Gessler was one of a kind when it came to boot-making artistry. And the
narrator left the store deeply saddened by the loss of such a great individual,
who strived for quality when the world was scrambling for profits and gains.
Analysis
In this critical appreciation, we will analyze the story’s message, in
addition to evaluating its literary aspects.
The plot construction of the short story is fluid, with the narrator’s
visits to the Gessler brother’s shop forming the main blocks of the story. We
find out something new about Mr. Gessler and his trade during each of the
narrator’s visits. During the first few visits, the readers get to know about
the Gessler’s brothers’ commitment to the art of making custom handmade boots
and how they purchased the best leather available for their boots. However, as
the story progresses, we come to know about their impoverishment, which only
occurred to them, for they refused to succumb to the capitalist demands of a
market that only ran on advertising at the cost of quality.
The story is narrated in the first-person point of view. Through the
narrator’s commentary, we see the excellent craftsmanship of the Gessler
brothers and their gradual diminishing into oblivion due to their failure to
adapt to the consumerist culture. The story mainly comprises descriptions and
the commentary of the narrator, interspersed with dialogues that reveal Mr.
Gessler’s state of affairs and his views on his trade and the boot-making
market.
Galsworthy’s art of characterization deserves a special mention in this story
analysis, for he has presented in this story an intriguing anti-hero – the
younger Mr. Gessler. Mr. Gessler can be viewed as an anti-establishment rebel
who, despite incurring severe losses, refused to relent to mass production.
When companies favored quantity over quality and advertising over
craftsmanship, Mr. Gessler continued to make shoes laboriously crafted by hand
as per the unique requirement of each client’s feet. His commitment to quality
and perfectionism drove him towards extinction. Still, till his very last days,
he stayed true to his craftsmanship and integrity, upholding the virtue of
quality above everything else.
“Quality” by John Galsworthy bears a very important message for readers,
for it shows the war between quality and consumerism – one in which quality is
losing. The industrial revolution brought in its wake mass production, which
was a direct attack on craftsmen like Mr. Gessler, who were artists of their
trade. Despite being one of the finest bootmakers of his time, Mr. Gessler was
forced to impoverish, for he did not care to advertise his products as he
wanted the quality of the boot to speak for itself. This made his business
incur heavy losses, for his competitors were producing low-quality products in
bulk and stealing all the clients through marketing tactics. The failure of Mr.
Gessler is the failure of commitment to quality. His downfall bears testimony
to the downfall of humanity, for consumerism has created a world where honest
artists will starve unless they adapt themselves to the shallowness of
advertising their wares, louder than the competitors. And in the case of Mr.
Gessler, the unholy union of consumerism and advertising won, and his
craftsmanship and dedication to his trade failed.
Theme
The overarching theme of Quality by John Galsworthy is a commitment to
quality. One of the massive pitfalls of mass production was a downgrade in
quality. Big companies produced products in bulk with no regard to the unique
requirements of each client. To compensate for this loss of quality and win
clients, they practiced aggressive marketing and advertising to succeed in the
capitalist game of consumerism. Mr. Gessler stood out in this world controlled
by consumerism by staying true to his art and through sheer dedication to his
craftsmanship. He refused to let anybody other than his brother make boots for
his company. And each boot that left his store was unmatched in quality, for it
was the product of hard manual labor instead of blind mechanization. This
commitment to quality caused Mr. Gessler huge losses, but he bore them with dignity
because producing high-quality boots were the biggest priority of his life as
an artist. He refused to stoop so low as to partake in the mad advertising
game, for he believed that a product’s quality was the prime concern of any
trade. In the end, we see that this commitment to quality ultimately drains the
life out of an old Mr. Gessler who could not make ends meet. However, he is the
real hero in the reader’s heart, for he stood true to his principles.
The other themes is dedication and integrity. Mr. Gessler was dedicated
to his craftsmanship till his very last days. He did nothing other than making
boots, not even setting aside time to eat and attend to himself. His integrity
shines through in instances when he offered a full refund for worn boots that
had creaked. His refusal to advertise his products in a world thriving on
marketing also bears testimony to his integrity, for Mr. Gessler was a true
artist and not a sell-out.
Title
“Quality” has been aptly titled for the whole story revolves around the
idea that quality should trump everything else in an ideal world. In this
story, we have an old-fashioned bootmaker, Mr. Gessler, skilled as a craftsman,
that his boots could be viewed as art. The only thing he cared about was the
high quality of his boots, and he dedicated his entire life to deliver the
same. No good artist would be comfortable with aggressive marketing of his or
her work. The same was the case with Mr. Gessler, who prioritized providing
a-grade quality boots above everything else. His dedication to quality remained
resolute even when the going got tough, and the big companies started stealing
his clients. However, this unflinching commitment to quality came at a cost; gradually,
the downfall of Mr. Gessler began when his clients started reducing in number,
and he was left with no means of sustenance. But even in his downfall, there
was grace, for he went on to be remembered as one of the finest bootmakers of
his time. He lived to promote quality and lost his life pursuing quality; and
hence, it makes perfect sense that this short story about an artisan bootmaker
has been titled “Quality”.
“Quality” is the heart-wrenching tale of an artisan bootmaker who stood
true to his principles at a time when the world was running after profits.
Through the narrator’s eyes and commentary, we are introduced to this
one-of-a-kind bootmaker whose sole purpose was to deliver high-quality boots.
He had no care for modern-day marketing and mass production. This gradually
drove him into a life of destitution, but Mr. Gessler bore it with grace, for
he was living a life staying true to his art and principles. By showing us the
life of Mr. Gessler, Galsworthy is trying to drive home the potent point that
the human world has become a cruel place where capitalism will thrive, and
those who wish to pursue a steady commitment to quality or their art will wane
away and die.
QUESTIONS
I. Answer the following
questions in one or two sentences.
1. How does Galsworthy introduce the shoemakers?
2. What is the opinion of the narrator on the shoes that the Gesssler
brothers made?
3. Does Mr Gessler take customer feedback seriously?
4. How does Mr Gessler perceive shoe making?
5. What causes Mr Gessler's downfall in the shoemaking business?
II. Answer the following
questions in 100 words.
1. What is Mr Gessler's attitude towards large firms?
2. How did the narrator consider Mr Gessler?
3. What was the fate that the shoemaker had to face in the end?
4. Describe Mr Gessler's method of taking orders.
5. Describe the narrator's sadness at seeing the Gessler brother's
dwindling business.
6. Write a note on the title of the story.
III. Answer the following
questions in 300 words.
1. Gessler brothers were the tragic victims of commerciali sation and
globalisation. Substantiate.
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