G.K. Chesterton

G.K. Chesterton

Introduction

G.K. Chesterton was a prominent fictitious writer in London during the early 20^th century. The legend was born in May 1874 in England and died June 1936 in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. He was referred to as the prince of paradox for his exceptional skills in art critic, philosophy, theology, and literature. Despite being highly multitalented, he gained much respect for being a Christian apologist and an orator.  His work covered a wide range of genres, and he was able to write all types of literature materials, starting from poems, drama skits, novels, biographies, and other creative forms of writing. He was also known for his stunt Christianity and served in the Roman Catholicism. Some of his best known Christian apologies include the ‘Orthodoxy’ and ‘The Everlasting Man.’  Chesterton had a Unique style of writing which was characterized by his uncommon use of proverbs and metaphors, which he would twist in a paradoxical manner depending on where he was using his and thus earning him the epithet prince of paradox. He was also outspoken and a great political thinker, concerned about conservatism and progressivism. Chesterton was not able to finish his college and started his first career as a manuscript reader in a publishing company. During this time, he developed his skills in criticism writing and gradually developed into writing articles, short stories, essays, and poetry. He also became famous for writing detective novels and being the first man to introduce fiction into writing

Early life, Career, and Achievements

During his early life, Chesterton loved literature and was highly skilled in arts. He started his school in St. Paul al later joined the Slade Arts School intending to become an illustrator. He took literature classes; unfortunately, he was not able to graduate.  After that, Chesterton joined the Redway and T. Fisher Unwin publishing team, where he worked as a script reader from 1896 t0 1902. During this time, he also worked as an art critic and a freelance journalist. He published the collection of his first poems, the Greybeards At Play in 1900, followed by two literary biographies of Robert Browning and Charles Dickens in 1903, and 1906 respectively. His first novel, published in 1904, was The Napoleon of Notting Hill, which was set to reflect the future and present of the author, depicting an alternative reality of his period with no impacts on the society or technology. This novel inspired Michael Collins to lead the Irish independence movement.  He also released a metaphysical thriller novel, The Man Who Was Thursday, in 1908 containing most elements of Christian allegory.  In the same year, he wrote the Orthodoxy, a Christian class apology in which he presented the imaginative view of the Christian faith in his career and his personal opinions of it. The poem, The Ballad of the White Horse (1911), was a traditional epic poem that idealized the exploitations of King Alfred the Great. Most of his fictional detective stories are compiled in a collection of his short stories.  Chesterton wrote the book Eugenics of Other Evils in 1922 to present his critic argument s against the eugenics movement, which was so popular in the early 1900s. In 1925, he wrote another Christian apology, The Everlasting Man, which tried to explain the human spiritual journey after the western civilization. This book influenced an atheist writer, C.S. Lewis, to convert to a Christian. Out of his remarkable works, Chesterton was invited to take part in a series of talks BBC radio in 1931, and every year he delivered more than 40 talks until e died. Chesterton was informal and cherished in nature, and the talks made him even more popular. Throughout his life, this inexhaustible writer is said to have written 200 short stories, 80 books, and 4,000 poems and essays. Chesterton was a great friend of George Bernard, a playwright, and the two acted in a movie cowboy; however, it was not released. He was a happily married man and died of heart failure.

Achievements and Social Contributions

Chesterton expressed his ideas eloquently through a variety of religious, social, and literary topics. He also made use of his paradoxical phrases to persuade his readers to reflect on the understated difference between reality and appearance. His pieces of writing stimulated the aesthetic understanding of the moral implications behind every message in his writings. The critical essays in religious and literature writings reveal his intellectual abilities; however, his most significant achievements were in detective fiction. From 1911 to 1935, he managed to publish five volumes of a collection of short stories in which he used Father Brown as his amateur sleuth of a Catholic priest. These stories explored the theological and moral topic, depicting the importance of intuition in solving confounding crimes. Chesterton also influenced other writers such as Christopher Dawson, Marshall McLuhan, Jorge Luis, and Neil Gaiman. His most significant achievements in society were the influence he put in people through writing and talks, which were majorly based on social and moral uprightness, and his primary goal was to bring out the idea of civilization through religious belief. He also introduced the Chesterton’s Fence, a principle that stated that n reforms should be made until everyone understands the reasoning behind the current state of affairs. This principle has been widely used in political and religious reforms up to date. His hymn O God of Earth and Alter is one of the famous hymns in the Commonwealth and English Hymnal, and some of its lines have been included in other songs like the Revelations by the Iron Maiden band in Britain.

The poems

Chesterton wrote 59 poems; however, the most famous poems include The Ballad of the White Horse, an epic poem that speaks about the utilitarian form of leadership. The Logical vegetarian criticized the food offered in the Inn, and in this poem, he inveighs against the influence of the monotonous and oppressive modernity. The other poem is Gloria in Profundis, where he exposes the startling truth about incarnation. He tries to express the human journey from the physical world to the spiritual world, more so, speaking about life after death. In the poem, The Song of the Strange Ascetic, Chesterton criticizes the life of a heathen; he doesn’t understand the right thing behind being a heathen without having fun. According to him, religion is fun, and it originates from the culture of cults. Lepanto is a fantastic history masterpiece type of a poem, where he captures the political history and the social life of Britain. Another impactful poem is The Song of Right and Wrong. This poem highlighted most of the common wrongdoings criticizing the misunderstanding between good and bad. He lost his job after publishing the poem. Chesterton’s Elegy in a Country Churchyard was one of the greatest poems that fought against the government with the aim to end war during the time. The donkey is a short poem and the best phrase for Palm Sunday. Three of his poems, A Child of the Snow, The Rolling English Road, and O God of Earth and Altar, were recited as hymns and short choruses, and they inspired several songwriters. Lastly, we have the poem A Ballade of Suicide, which spoke much about issues of depression, helping the readers to deal with their depression. However, this poem did not help him deal with his state of depression.

These poems reflect the ideal nature of Chesterton, as a man full of Christian faith and with a critical attitude towards socialism and capitalism. Having being raised in a theologically open-minded family, Chesterton converted into a Roman Catholic at the age of 48. However, in his work, he was so determined to provide his audience with the truth about life and Christianity. He used Father Brown to explain his journey of salvation and detective personality. One can tell that he stood for the truths and humanity from how he exposes the evil. He speaks of common things that people assume to be right yet oppressive to most people. Chesterton probably wanted to see people convert to Christianity, and he thought it was more practical and made sense as compared to other beliefs. Through his impacts in society, Chesterton proved to be a life-changing and inspirational figure of the time. Despite being a spokesman for the Catholic ideals, his charity, humility, and goodness drew people closer to him.  He also brilliantly articulated the social teachings, showing how people can create a free society through self-governance and self-competence. He helped bring out a clearer understanding of catholic education, which a significant percentage in the society misunderstood.

Conclusion

Chesterton combined both with and seriousness when expressing some truths about the society. He tried to bring out the message in such a way that he made sense and wouldn’t hurt his readers. However, the culprits always felt offended. One root of approach to literature is the use of paradox against the thankful reception of the social ranking. According to him, people are more motivated by the general attitude of doing good deeds by the high merit of the doubled joy and halved sorrow. Human beings have the same set of needs, physical, psychological, and spiritual needs. People fear world inflicted pains but enjoy the pleasures. However, the fear of damnation is the root cause of social decisions and sects as each person seeks to accept their stereological beliefs as a way of avoiding physical and psychological suffering.  Almost all his poems are put in this theme, whereby he explains human beings as people who are not ready to accept the truth; however, clear it is to them.  He also describes the society as a union of people trying to escape from the reality which they have created. Chesterton brought out the reality, and his writing does not just depict one character but the society as a whole. His contributions to the Roman church and the society are still being felt in the world today, and many writers have taken after his type of writing.