A Piece of Chalk by G.K. Chesterton: Summary And Exercises
Summary
One sunny morning, G.K. Chesterton (writer) puts on a hat, a walking stick and some chalks and set off to draw some pictures. He needed paper for drawing. But he didn't have any. So he went to the kitchen to ask the landlady if she can give him a brown paper. She thought he needed it for packing something but he tells her he wanted it for drawing. She then offered note paper but writer told her that he wanted brown paper for its brownness.
He then explains why brown paper was necessary that it appeals his imagination like brownness of trees in autumn, or beer, or dim light in early days of creation. He further says that coloured chalks can create fire gold or brightness of stars on brown paper.
Then he tells about importance of small things like pocket knife and goes towards chalk mountains. Mountains are best quality of England. They are huge and mighty yet merciful or the cottages woukd have been engulfed. Similarly England is powerful but people there are kind and courteous.
He will not draw natural things but will draw the pictures of devils, seraphims, angel, saint, holy men etc.
He says that Homer and Vergil didnt1 understand nature exactly like Wordsworth but their approach was indirect. They used to stare at the falling white snow for great lengths of time, but they expressed it by just drawing a holy virgin in a white robe. They used to look at the vast expanse of greenery all around them, but when it came to expressing their impression, they drew a Robin Hood in his green attire.
Also Read:Unit 2 - Family: All Exercises | Compulsory English Class 12
When the author found a rock to sit on and began to draw, he discovered that he had left the white chalk piece behind. The white coloured chalk is indispensable for drawing. For painters white is the colour to express a positive feeling, especially if the drawing was to be made on brown papers.
H was disappointed to find he had no white chalk with him as without it drawing would be lifeless. White is not just an absence of colour but is itself a sharp and definite one. It makes stars. Morality is similar. Virtue is like white colour in religion. God creates the most magnificent in white like men of virtue and paradigm of creation.
He was frustrated to not have white chalk. He thought his picture would remain incomplete. It would be tragedy. Without white, the picture would be like thinking of a world with no good man in it.
Suddenly, an idea ticked to his mind and he started laughing loudly. He felt like a man who was standing at Sahara desert and searching for handful of sand. He felt like a man who was standing in the middle of the ocean and worrying about not having a little salt water.
He realised that the hill where he was standing was entirely made of white chalk. He became happy, picked a piece of white stone and completed his drawing. Chesterton became so happy after he finished the drawing that he compares the white rock to the white chalk and sees no difference. He may have started out without a piece of white chalk but the end is different. Through his ingenuity and resilience Chesterton has managed to finish his drawing. A drawing that he himself is proud of and expects that others will be proud of too. Chesterton has taken what could have been a tortuous day and turned into a day of ingenuity and happiness.
Also Read: Of Studies by Francis Bacon | Summary And Question Answer | Major English Class 11
