Known to his students and most of his acquaintances by the affectionate nickname Mr. Chips, Mr. Chipping is the protagonist of Hilton’s novella and the character whose memories and reflections constitute its third-person limited omniscience. A former classics teacher and headmaster of the fictional British public school Brookfield, Mr. Chips has spent over 60 years of his life within the small, orderly world of the school, whether living on campus or in a rented room across the street from Brookfield. Roughly 85 years old in the novella’s present time, Chips first joined the school in 1870 at the age of 22, after a rough year at a different boys’ school, Melbury. Well aware of his lack of brilliance as a teacher or scholar, Chips finds Brookfield, a “second-rank” school, to be an ideal niche for his limited abilities. The school’s staid culture and academics are also a good fit for his innate conservatism. When a new headmaster, Ralston, tries to introduce new methods of teaching Latin, Chips objects, and his former pupils rally to allow him to keep his position.

What makes Mr. Chips a beloved figure at Brookfield is his kindness and firmness, which command both respect and affection, along with his inimitable wit, which includes puns on Latin that also serve as mnemonic devices for his students.