Two Loves

"Good-bye, Mr. Chips" is a love story but not in the traditional sense. It is the story of two loves, diverse in type. The story first introduces the young Mr. Chips as a rather stoic, conservative man who is appears to be a solitary, lonely figure. There are no signs of "love" in his life. Mr. Chips, at age 48, finally meets a young woman, Katherine, with whom he falls desperately in love. The deep emotion that was always there is awakened in the middle-aged Chips. Tragically, Katherine dies, along with Chips' only child, in childbirth just a little over a year after they marry. He is alone once again, but Katherine had taught him how to love, or rather, showed him that he had love within himself to give.

The other love Mr. Chips experiences is that for his students. He loved every student for his own...