Quality - John Galsworthy Exhausted, bitter, and miserable is the way that many people feel when they

wake up in the morning to get ready for work. Even the very thought of work puts som e people in a bad mood. Others may not mind work but still do not look forward t o going. It is a rare occasion to find someone who is completely satisfied with his or her career. However, for one man, work is bliss. In Quality by Galsworthy, Gessler, the shoemaker, is shown to be a man of integrity and of complete dedica tion to his work. Mr. Gessler had his own shoe business where he made leather boots. His dedicatio n is shown through the fact that, He made only what was ordered, never taking rea dy-made shoes down from the shelf. ( Quality pg. 213.) He wanted each pair of boots to be a custom fit to each individual and for every pair he made, he used a patt ern taken from the customer s foot size. One day the narrator of the story walked into Mr. Galsworthy s shop wearing a pair of boots from a big business. Mr. Gessle r noticed them right away and after a short time he said, Dey get id all, dey get id by advertisement, nod by work. Dey take it away from us, who lofe our boots. ( Quality pg.215) Later in the story, the reader comes to find out that Mr. Gessler is forced to sacrifice half of his shop to a big business. This did not faze hi m, and he continued to make his boots for the same price and with the same amoun t of painstaking work. He must be truly dedicated in order to love his business unconditionally. Mr. Gessler spent such an incredible amount of time preparing the shoes, never t rying to expiate the process, in order to make them as perfect as possible and b ecause of this, he stood behind all of his work. The narrator, absent-minded of the fact that Mr.Gessler was so passionate about his boots once said to him, Mr. Gessler, that last pair of boots creaked, you know. Angered by the boy s comment, M r. Gessler said, Zend dem back! I will look at dem. He went on to say, Zome boods, are bad from birdt. If I can do noding wid dem, I dake dem off your bill. ( Quality pg. 215) Not only does this show dedication, but also integrity because he was h onest about his work and wanted to satisfy his customer. Near the end of the story, the narrator comes back to Mr.Gessler s shop after a lo ng hiatus, only to find out that Mr. Gessler was no longer alive. When he questi oned the worker about his death the man said, Slow starvation, the doctor called it. You see, he went to work in such a way! Never gave imself time to eat; never h ad a penny in the house. All went in rent and leather He regular let his fire go out But he made good boots. ( Quality pg.219) That last sentence was the meaning of th e whole story. Mr. Gessler literally dedicated his life to making boots. No matt er what he had to sacrifice, including his life, he was willing to do it for the love of his work. Even in his last few days of life, he never stopped making bo ots, and he even finished the narrator s boots before he died. Mr. Gessler indeed was a man of integrity and dedication. His dedication was sho wn through his struggle to please every customer, and his integrity was shown th rough his honest way of life and his credibility in his work. In his mind, the n eeds of his customers far outweighed his own, and when he was no longer in busin ess, he had no reason to go on living.