Gardiner chooses simple common place subjects and invests them

Gardiner chooses simple common place subjects and invests them with meaning.

Gardiner’s essays are the light talk of an ordinary thoughtful man.

Ans.

It is true Gardiner chooses simple common place subjects and invests them with meaning. It is therefore that his essays look the light talk of an ordinary thoughtful man. The thing becomes more clear when we take into account a few of his popular essays.

Simple Common Place Subject

A dog is the commonest of all animals. Gardiner decides to write an essay on dogs. Before reading his essay no wise man would ever be willing to know more than what he knows about a dog. But for Gardiner dog is only a medium through which he wishes to express some serious thoughts. Generally these thoughts appear at the close of the essay. For example Gardiner tells the conductor how to act well.

“Rules”, 1 said, “are necessary things, but there are rules and rules. Some are hard and fast rules, like the rule of the road, which cannot be broken without danger to life and limb. But some are only rules for your guidance, which you can apply or wink at as common sense dictates-like that rule about the dogs. They are not a whip put in your hand to scourge your passengers with, but an authority for an emergency. They are meant to be observed in the spirit, not in the letter for the comfort and not the discomfort of the passengers. You have kept the rule and broken its spirit. You want to mix your rules with a little goodwill and good temper.”

The conductor justified his attitude to Gardiner when they were alone and he claimed that he had to follow the rule. Having defeated passengers, he wanted to explain his behaviour. Gardiner remarked the rules are important, but there is variety of rules. Some are hard and fast or essential rules like the traffic rules. If they are broken they lead to accidents. But some are only rules for guidance or ordinary rules which can be observed or ignored using the common sense. That rule about the dogs should be applied only if dog is harmful. The conductor should not take rules for a hunter to trouble passengers. It is a right to use when needed. They are meant to be observed in the spirit. It means their purpose should be followed. They are not to be followed literally. They are for the comfort and not the discomfort of the passengers. The conductor is guilty of breaking the purpose of the rule. Rules should be applied with human sympathy. The conductor followed the sense, and when Gardiner got off the bus he bade good night in a polite way.

Likewise, ‘On Saying Please’ is a simple common place subject but Gardiner makes it a thing of deep reflection. But his tone remains simple and light.

“Please’ and ‘Thank You’ are the small change with which we pay our way as social beings. They are the little courtesies by which we keep the machine of life oiled and running sweetly.”

The law stands against the lift-man yet many people may feel sympathy for him. No doubt, no law can force us to be polite but it is a social tradition which ought to be followed as social beings. Gardiner uses coin imagery to make his idea clear. During a journey everybody needs small coins to make so many payments. The same is with human life. ‘Please’ and ‘Thank You’ are two small words just like those small coins which become important during a journey. These little civilities help in performing social business smoothly. When we are polite, others feel inclined to help us and we also remain willing to serve a polite man. All is done in a friendly manner when we observe civilities.

Treatment of the Subject

The essay opens with a quarrel between a lift-man and a passenger. The passenger asks the lift-man to move the lift to top. The lift-man asks him to speak politely adding ‘please’ with ‘top’. The passenger refuses to do so and the lift-man throws the passenger out of it. The passenger shows discourtesy but it was not a legal offence while physical assault is an offence of this nature. If a burglar enters a house by force, the master of that house is entitled to beat him, because the burglar has committed a crime. But it is not possible to make a law against bad manners. Likewise the law can’t permit the use of violence against it. We may have sympathy with the lift-man but we can’t favour his violent action. If law permits the use of violence against bad manners, the cases of physical attack will grow rapidly and the city channels will flow with blood instead of rain water.

Discourtesy is not a Legal Offence

Certainly, discourtesy is not a legal offence, so the law defends a man against violent reaction by anybody in spite of his bad manners. There is no law to punish an uncivil man except to regard him as an ill mannered person. The law can’t force anybody to be good mannered as it can’t instruct in the matters of personal liberty. In case of an emotional or a mental loss, the law does not become active for its scope is restricted to legal offence.

The Scope of Law is Limited

The scope of law is limited. It cannot help in case of moral and intellectual damages but it does not mean that such damages are unimportant. When the passenger did not use the word ‘please’ with ‘top’, he injured the lift-man’s feelings. The lift-man would have not given importance to a physical assault but it was an insult to his self-respect for which even law does not provide any relief. Such hurts upset the balance of mind and generally an innocent creature, may fall a victim to his fury. Bad temper and bad manners are always fast spreading. Gardiner imagines that the passenger who behaved rudely with the lift-man was angry because his employer did not respond to his bidding of good wishes. The employer was not in good mood because his wife had rebuked him at breakfast. The wife was irritated because the cook had replied, insultingly and the cause of the cook’s insulting behaviour was hidden in the rough behaviour of the house maid. Thus, bad manners and tempers run fast and wide. They pollute the general atmosphere of social life more disastrously than all serious crimes recorded so far. How so comprehensive laws may be but the wide variety of such crimes can’t be covered by them. No law can govern our social civilities like way of speaking, movement of our eyes and all our moods and manners.

Dramatic Situation

Gardiner points out the awkward situation in which the incident took place in the essay ‘All About a Dog’. It was a bitterly cold night with stormy winds: The bus stopped and two women and a man got in together and filled the vacant places. It is Gardiner’s fusion of dramatic style in essay. After dramatic situation, he introduces characters; The younger woman was dressed in sealskin, that is a modern dress, and carried a lap dog in the style of a fashionable lady: The conductor came in and took the fares as an ordinary duty. Then he looked at the dog with ill feeling. It is a paradox for the dog is small, harmless and lovely. Gardiner remarks that causes of big troubles are always unimportant. The conductor waited for the situation in which he could trouble the passenger and he intended to take advantage of the situation. According to H. G. Wells such employees are angry by nature. They are disappointed with everything and jealous of passengers who sit comfortably while he has to stand at the door facing shivering cold.

The Conductor’s Inhuman Behaviour

In a bitter tone the conductor asked the lady to take out the dog. The lady refused to do that and suggested him to take her name and address to register an F.I.R. against her. She had accepted the challenge with a rude reply. The conductor ordered to take out the dog. The lady expressed her inability in travelling at the top of the bus in bitter cold with the dog. The lady’s female and male companions supported the lady.

Display of Authority

The conductor drew the rope of the bell; and the bus stopped. It was his way to trouble passengers and his warning to expose his authority. He got down the bus and waited on the pavement. It was his moment of triumph for he had succeeded in creating trouble for the passengers. He had the law on his side for he was observing the law that dogs are not allowed inside the bus, and with the help of this law he had put all passenger at his mercy. His embittered soul was having a real holiday for it pleased his jealous heart. All passengers began to curse the conducts. The expressions were remark, on the conductor’s inhuman attitude and some demanded their fares back. For all passengers were in support to the lady and the small dog. The little innocent dog was unaware of the trouble created by its presence.

Conclusion: Gardiner’s other essays like ‘On Smiles’ and ‘In Defence of Ignorance’ too are written in this style.