QUALITY

John Galsworthy

I. BIOGRAPHY (Ái Mỹ)

- John Galsworthy (August 14, 1867 - January 31, 1933).

- He was born in Kingston Hill, Surrey, (1)England.
- An English writer and playwright who won the Nobel Prize
for Literature in (2)1932.
- His first works are (3)Jocelyn were published under the
pseudonym (4)John Sinjohn.
- John Galsworthy's authentic literary career began in 1904
with the novel (5)The Island Pharisees.
- His famous works are The Forsyte Saga, A Modern
Comedy, On Forsyte Change, and End of the Chapter.
II. SETTING (Ái Mỹ)

- Quality by John Galsworthy was first published in

(6)______________________________in 1912.
- Place: The setting of the story is in a shoe-making shop “
(7)__________________________________________________”, a part in
London.
- Time: The time of this story takes place (8)during the Industrial revolution of
the 20th Century in England.

III. PLOT & SUMMARY (Phương Trang)

1. Point of view

- The story is narrated in the (9)__________by an unnamed narrator.

Tone: (10)____________about Mr. Gessler’s story

2. Brief summary

- Mr. Gessler was a perfect artist.

- The narrator wanted a pair of Russian leather boots.

- He also spoke about (11)the hard times of his trade. His own business was
(12)going down.

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 - After two years the narrator goes back to the store and finds that one half of the
store had been (13)occupied by another company. 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 (14)had died.

- It was only after a year that the narrator visited the Gessler shop to find that
Mr. Gessler (15) had aged rapidly, looking frail and weak.

- The narrator was bewildered to see that the store of the Gessler brothers had
been occupied by some other company.. Upon further inquiry, the narrator found
out that Mr. Gessler (16 Mr.Gessler had died of slow starvation

3. Plot analysis

Plot diagram

- Exposition: It provides the reader with the (17)knowledge of Gessler Brother,

their shop, and their (18)attitude toward making boots.
- Rising action: Mr. Gessler (19)completed with a Big Firm
- Climax: Mr. Gessler (20)lost one of their shop
- Falling Action: Mr. Gessler elder brother (21)was dead
- Resolution: Mr. Gessler died.
4. Conflict
a. (22)Internal: within the young brother himself

- He is boot maker he always makes the best quality to his boot but because he
was very (23) and he has (24)__________he was hiding his merchandise

- He always be (25)__________to whom visit to his shop until his dead

starvation because he was very poor

b. (26)External : between Gessler Brother and the big firm

- He build his shop between the most fashionable shops and the big firm in
London.

- His shop was few visitor because he (27) never advertised his shop

IV. CHARACTERS (Asima + Đông Ngọc)

1. Mr. Gessler
- Mr. Glessler (the younger of the two Gessler Brothers) is the (28) protagonist of
the story who is an established shoemaker.

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- They may be (29)German immigrants or Englishmen of German origin.
- He has a lot of respect and love and (30) passion for his work.
- Mr. Gessler was a (31)perfectionist by nature.
- He is a (32)professional in his field.
+ By looking at the shoes, he can easily know which area of the shoes were
defective.
- Not only is Mr Gessler committed to his work but he is also (33)driven
+ Mr Gessler does not appear to mourn the loss of his brother
+ Despite the fact that the bigger shops are talking his business away. Mr
Gessler does not give up. He continues to work to the best of his ability.
+ For Mr Gessler life is work and he is determined to do the best that he can for
his customers.
2. Elder Gessler - the older brother
- He is the (34)co-owner of the shoe store.
- He looks merely like his brother but a batch paler.
+ They would recognize that it was him once he said “I will inquire my brudder. ”
=> they respect each other
- The meaning of their death
+ Their death reveals a (35) value.
3. The narrator
- The narrator is the author
- The first-person narrator acts both as a part of its plot and as an ordinary customer.
- The narrator is a curious person, particularly to the boots that Mr. Gessler makes
- The narrator is a very loyal customer, a fan of Mr Gessler”s shoemaking.
- The narrator’s description provides the reader with the quality manual, information
about the Gessler’s shop.
V. THEME (Kim Ngân + Nhật Nam)
1. The Title “ Quality”: Quality' has a double meaning:
- The quality of Gessler Brother's boots: M the temporary-some,..."
"...in shape and fit, in finish and quality of leather, they were the best he had ever
made…"
→ The boots made by Gessler Brother are high-quality, (36)durable, comfortable.
- The quality of human nature
● Commitment:
- The Gessler Brothers had devoted their entire lives to making the best quality shoes.
"I knew him from the day of my extreme youth…"
"...would 'ave the best leather, too, and do it himself…"
→ He has been tirelessly making shoes since his youth. The only thing he cares about
is the (37)__________, and he makes sure that he can meet his customer's demands.

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- Mr.Gessler has a great (38)__________for making shoes: he performed all the
activities himself (working on leather, taking measurements, stitching the shoes).
He made sure that the shoes made by him were not only durable but also
comfortable.
"....he placing my foot on a piece of paper,he would two or three times tickle the
outer edges with a pencil and pass his nervous finger over my toes, feeling himself
into the heart of my requirements."
His commitment was so strong that he had no time to eat and relax.
→ The Gessler Brothers' commitment for their work is deeply touching. For them, the
struggles, the hardships are nothing as long as they keep doing their work. This is also
a (39)__________for workers who dedicate their lives to their works, their passions.

● Honesty & integrity:

- Mr.Gessler always used the best (40)__________ to make boots, and he takes
time to make perfect shoes.
- He offered a full refund for worn boots that had creaked: "...If I can do noding wid
dem, I dake dem off your bill "
- His refusal to advertise his products in a world thriving on marketing also bears
testimony to his (41)__________. Mr. Gessler was a true artist and not a sell-out.

● Perfectionism:
- He made shoes only on orders & performed every stage in making boots.
- He can (42) distinguish between shoes made by him and shoes made by
somebody else by simply looking at them: "Dose are not my boods."
- He also knows which part of big firm's shoes will make customers uncomfortable
"He took his hand down and pressed a finger on the place….quite not
comfortable". "It 'urds you dere." He said."
→ “Quality” not only expresses the high-quality of boots but also expresses the
quality of shoemakers.

2. Competition:

Small business (Mr.Gessler's shop) Big firms (industrial revolution)

-Rely on the (43)quality of the shoes they -Rely on the quantity and
make to attract customers. (45)advertisement.
-Use his own (44) German name of -Use "Royal Family" to indicate that
"Gessler Brothers" they made shoes for Royal Family
-Take longer time to make shoes -Can deliver a number of shoes
instantly.
“Dey get id all,” he said, “dey get id by adverdisement, nod by work. Dey dake it
away from us, who lofe our boods. Id gomes to this – bresently I haf no work. Every
year id gets less-you will see.”

→ The fact that big firms with modern day marketing and mass production are
gradually (46)__________and replacing small businesses like Mr.Gessler's shop.

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 3. Loss of their Sanctum Sanctorum
- Sanctum Sancorum: the part of a building or organization where few people are
allowed to go, especially where the (47) most important or (48)secret work is
done.
- The Gessler Brothers work in their workplace day and night and perform all the
activities there: The Gessler Brothers have “two little shops let into one, in a
small by-street - now no more, but then most fashionably placed in the West End”
- When they have to leave that area, they feel (49) as if they have been woken up of
their dream of boots: "as if awakened from some dreams of boots, or like an owl
surprised in daylight and annoyed at this interruption"
- Due to the (50)__________number of customers in the business, they can't afford
the rent and have to part with one half of their shop to a big firm selling shoes.
- Mr. Gessler elder brother is so (51)__________at losing his sanctum sanctorum
that he can't bear the pain and dies: “I suppose, the cause of death. He could not
ged over losing de oder shop”
4. Loyalty & Sympathy
- The narrator is a (52)long time customer of Gesslers Brother’s shop, from the
time he was young: “I knew him from the days of my extreme youth, because he
made my father’s boots”
- Every time the narrator buys boots at Mr. Gessler’s shop, he doesn’t buy one but
many pairs: “... during the next few minutes I ordered many pairs”, “I ordered
three pairs, though I had only wanted two…”
- The narrator feels (53)feels compassionate after complaining about his boots
having creaked: “A feeling of compassion for my creaking boots surged up in me,
so well could I imagine the sorrowful long curiosity of regard which he would
bend on them”
- When the narrator (54)absent-mindedly wears boots that he buys from a big firm
and goes into the shop, Mr Gessler recognizes that the boots isn’t a product of his
shop, so the narrator tried to “explain the circumstances of the purchase of those
ill-omened boots”
→ The narrator is (55)loyal to the old shop.
→ (56)Compassion between human and human

VI. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE (Thái Thư + Trúc Phương)

1. Irony
- The Gessler brothers didn't (57)compromise on the quality of their boots but
compromised on their way of living. Despite fewer and fewer customers, they did
not (58) degrade _the quality of boots and did not (59)advertise their shop.
Finally, they were so poor and died of (60) starvation.
2. Symbols

Symbols Meaning Example

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The Gesslers’ boots The Gessler’s boots, made of "...they were better than
the best leather, stand for ever. One simply could not
their (61)artistic talents and wear them out..."
supreme quality of human
"...but your boots are
nature.
really too good…"

The Gessler shop - Stands for small businesses "...Dey get it all…"
with owners working hard to " ...outside one of the two
create high quality products. little windows of his shop
- (62) The closure of the
another name was
shop is a symbol of (63)the
collapse of small businesses painted..."
at that time. "...when I came to where
his shop been, his name
was gone…"

The Gessler brothers - Their professional ethics "...Isn't it awfully hard to

show the richness of do, Mr. Gessler?…"
(64)human value. "...Id is an Ardt!…"
- Their tragedy (65)signifies
"...Would ‘ave the best
a moral decay in search of
(66)material civilization. leather, too, and do it all
Human values are (67) “imself…"
threatened by material gain. "...If I can do noding wid
dem, I dake dem off your
bill "

The Gesslers’ death Their death symbolizes the

(68) decline of smaller
businesses because of
(69)larger corporations and
lacking customers.

3. Metaphor
a. Pondering over
- When the brothers had died, the narrator returned in memory to those days when
they have been yet alive, but only after the death of Mr. Gessler, he, the narrator,
(70) the troubles and hardships of the shoes master.
“These thoughts came to me later”
“some inkling of the dignity of himself and brother haunted”

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 “such boots as he made - seemed to me then, and still seems to me, mysterious
and wonderful.”
b. Sincere love
- Mr. Gessler had once made the shoes for the narrator, but they had
(71)__________.
“A feeling of compassion for my creaking boots (72)surged up in me, so well
could I imagine the sorrowful long (73) curiosity of regard which he would bend
on them” – the metaphor shows how much love the master had put into his work.

c. Dreadful tone
- The narrator dared once to enter the Mr. Gessler’s shop wearing the shoes which
he had bought elsewhere. Mr. Gessler told that those shoes were not his with the
“tone not one of anger, nor of sorrow, not even of contempt, but there was in it
something quiet that froze the blood”.

4. Simile

a. The atmosphere of the shop

- Customers enter the shop “as one enters a church; and, sitting on the single
wooden chair”
b. The Gesslers’ face
- The narrator describe his face as “ peering down...as if awakened from some
dream of boots, or like an owl surprised in daylight and annoyed at this
interruption”