Questions tagged [father-brown]
Questions about the series of 53 short stories by G. K. Chesterton featuring Father Brown, an English Catholic priest and detective. Use with [g-k-chesterton] and [short-stories]
25
questions
1
vote
2answers
68 views
In The Blue Cross, what is the mailbag trick?
From the Father Brown story "The Blue Cross":
It was he who had kept up an unaccountable and close correspondence with a young lady whose whole letter-bag was intercepted, by the ...
2
votes
2answers
492 views
What does “at all” mean in “The Vampire of the Village”?
In "The Vampire of the Village" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown was talking about an old parson and his son, saying:
‘I mean,’ said Father Brown, ‘that the son still speaks of his father ...
3
votes
1answer
39 views
What does “follow him even in thought” mean in “The Vampire of the Village”?
In "The Vampire of the Village" by G. K. Chesterton, the author was describing Father Brown while visiting some persons, saying:
The conversation of Miss Carstairs-Carew, on whom he called ...
3
votes
2answers
73 views
What's meant by “It would be almost irregular, if the clergyman’s son were quite regular”?
In "The Vampire of the Village" by G. K. Chesterton, Dr. Mulborough was talking to Father Brown about a Great Scandal in their village, while they were going to a village by a train, saying:
...
11
votes
1answer
1k views
Do clergymen usually use spades?
In "The Quick One" in The Scandal of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton, the author was describing two strange men entered a hotel with beach, saying:
Two quaintly assorted figures did, ...
5
votes
2answers
106 views
Does the title of “Marquis” change the name of its holder?
In "The Chief Mourner of Marne" in The Secret of Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton, the main character was named James Mair, and his cousin was named Maurice Mair; the author said that after ...
5
votes
2answers
184 views
What's meant here by “ his serving as second proves very little about what he thought of the quarrel”?
In "The Chief Mourner of Marne" by G. K. Chesterton, Mr. Outram was talking to Father Brown about an old duel between Mr. James Mair, whose second was Mr. Outram himself, and his cousin ...
7
votes
2answers
411 views
Meaning of “the humility of a charge” in “The Chief Mourner of Marne”?
In "The Chief Mourner of Marne" by G. K. Chesterton, Mr. Mallow went to Father Brown to consult him about very serious problem, but he found him sitting on the floor with a serious ...
4
votes
1answer
106 views
Meaning of “private gentleman” in “The Worst Crime in the World”?
In "The Worst Crime in the World" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown and his friend, a lawyer, was talking to a rich old man who has lived alone in a castle for a long time, and who has just ...
2
votes
1answer
79 views
Who are “we” in “The Worst Crime in the World”?
In "The Worst Crime in the World" by G. K. Chesterton, a lawyer was talking to Father Brown:
“I must apologize for everything I said about the Captain,” he said to the priest as they drifted ...
4
votes
1answer
70 views
Who is “the man in Dickens” in “The Worst Crime in the World”?
In "The Worst Crime in the World" by G. K. Chesterton, a solicitor was talking to Father Brown about Captain Musgrave whose old father was living in an old castle:
“This young Musgrave,” he ...
7
votes
2answers
746 views
Meaning of “interrupted spirals, inverted cones and broken cylinders” in “The Worst Crime in the World”?
In "The Worst Crime in the World" by G. K. Chesterton, the author was saying in its beginning:
FATHER BROWN was wandering through a picture gallery with an expression that suggested that he had ...
3
votes
1answer
90 views
How can he be “so shabbily dressed” and “must have been a millionaire”?
In "The Song of the Flying Fish" by G. K. Chesterton, the author was describing a group of neighbours, a collector, a priest, a biologist, a bank manager and a traveller, that usually got together in ...
1
vote
1answer
68 views
Does “think” mean “think about” or “think by” in “The Secret of Father Brown”?
In "The Secret of Father Brown" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown was saying that he prefers studying the murder from inside not outside:
I don’t try to get outside the man. I try to get inside ...
4
votes
2answers
111 views
Meaning of “ethical fellowship” in “The Secret of Father Brown”?
In "The Secret of Father Brown" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown said:
If you try to talk about a truth that’s merely moral, people always think it’s merely metaphorical. A real live man with two ...
4
votes
1answer
106 views
What connects “dripping with gore” and Buddhism & Christianity in “The Dagger with Wings”?
In "The Dagger with Wings" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown was explaining some philosophical aspects of the murderer, saying:
It was his whole game with me to be as idealistic as possible; and ...
3
votes
1answer
75 views
What's meant by “all things return” in “The Dagger with Wings”?
In "The Dagger with Wings" by G. K. Chesterton, Mr Aylmer was talking to Father Brown, trying to convince him by mesmerism
Don’t you feel in your heart that these contradictions do not really ...
4
votes
2answers
97 views
What's meant by “in the symbol of windows and of doors” in “The Dagger with Wings”?
In "The Dagger with Wings" by G. K. Chesterton, the author was describing a situation where Father Brown was sitting in a central room with a staircase leading up from it on one side and a door ...
7
votes
1answer
582 views
What is “negative” and “positive whiteness” in “The Dagger with Wings”?
In "The Dagger with Wings" by G. K. Chesterton, the author was describing the falling of snow,that appeared through a barely opened door, saying:
What he had seen shining through the crack was not ...
3
votes
1answer
119 views
What would Mr Aylmer resent in “The Dagger with Wings”?
In "The Dagger with Wings" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown went to someone, Mr Aylmer, who was asking for protection against another one who wants to kill him, but the priest wasn't sure ...
1
vote
2answers
182 views
Why both “noticed” and “thought noticeable” in “The Oracle of the Dog”?
In "The Oracle of the Dog" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown was talking about someone, saying:
"To be found with a weapon, let alone a blood-stained weapon, would be fatal in the search that was ...
4
votes
1answer
103 views
Meaning of “vision of the world’s desire” in “The Oracle of the Dog”
(Spoilers for the solution to "The Oracle of the Dog".)
In "The Oracle of the Dog" by G. K. Chesterton, Father Brown was talking about
Brown said (emphasis added),
It is the megalomania of the ...
3
votes
1answer
52 views
What does “after something had really happened” mean in this G. K. Chesterton story?
In "The Oracle of the Dog" by G. K. Chesterton, the author was talking about a secretary of a murdered colonel, who was very active and always doing everybody’s work, saying (emphasis added):
"It ...
4
votes
1answer
88 views
What does “in the way of business” mean in “The Oracle of the Dog” by G. K. Chesterton?
In "The Oracle of the Dog" by G. K. Chesterton, the daughter of a murdered rich colonel was talking about her husband, a nobleman and skilled surgeon, who wanted to challenge the secretary to a duel, ...
3
votes
2answers
230 views
Meaning of “spelt backwards” in “The Oracle of the Dog”
The story "The Oracle of the Dog" by G. K. Chesterton begins like this:
“YES,” said Father Brown, “I always like a dog, so long as he isn’t spelt backwards.”
What is meant by "so long as he isn’t ...
