Chesterton On Vulgarity

It is a common occurrence to miss a mark you do not aim for. For, you might find you are aiming at the wrong target; or, perhaps you do not even realize you are drawing the string & releasing the arrow in the first place. At the present, my quiver of essays draws nearer to empty as February draws dearer to a close. How successful this (ad)venture has been remains to be seen. What I aim for may be summarized in one name: Chesterton. The master essayist inspired this very project, and he remains the standard target to which I aim my words, wit, & effort. So, I turn once again to the master himself, drawing from a distinctly brief essay concerning one word: vulgarity.

Chesterton does not want the reader to simply couple the word vulgarity with the likes of mob or crowd, nor does he consider vulgarity to apply merely to certain colorful words & topics. Rather, he states:

"What I mean by Vulgarity is this. When six men stand up and we suddenly see that one of them is a dwarf, we are startled to find him stunted. We only realize that he is stunted because he is standing up; because he is stretching himself to his full height.

It is by the showing off that we see how little there is to show. When somebody tries to impress us, either with his wit or assurance, or knowledge of the world, or power, or grace, or even poetry and ideality, and in the very act of doing so shows he has low ideas of all these things---that is Vulgarity. In other words, a thing is only vulgar when its best is base."

First of all, I hope to offer descriptions & definitions as simple & helpful as Chesterton does. Second, the comedy of the illustration gets at the heart of what makes vulgarity vulgarity. We all know people (or presidents...) who make you stifle laughter when they 'show off' all their magnificence & still come up hilariously short. When I think of this kind of vulgarity, I think of Michael Scott from The Office.

Now, Chesterton is not advocating that people with low intelligence, skill, or age deserve laughter & ridicule. Rather, he points to the more subtle human vice of pride. When a child performs a song to her best, it is a joy for the family to celebrate & cheer her on. Why? Because she is learning & growing. No basketball player should feel condemned for not matching Michael Jordan in skill (or height!). Performing & acting to your best is not vulgarity. Vulgarity arises from the kind of pride which intends to impress & thus merit admiration as if the world waits with bated breath.

Since Chesterton defined the term so well, I find no need to embellish more and will simply close with one final point. If pride is the subtle root of vulgarity, then humility is the only proper solution. For, it may not be possible to simply tack on more skill, knowledge, or height to match one's claims. The one dwarf among five regular sized men ought not feel shame over his size, but he would be foolish to claim he is as tall as the others. You, I, & our leaders ought to consider the kind of pride we take in making claims about our abilities. Though every inch is a gift, every skill a treasure, all your knowledge a wonder, there is no need to falsify it beyond your best. For then you not only risk appearing as a fool, but also might end up missing the joy of what you have been given.

Vulgarity, at heart, is a kind of deception. We might be deceived about how skilled we are or perhaps what the world & our peers expect from us. As I pointed to in another essay, humility contains the power to both accept one's weakness & one's affirmations from others. Humility remains at once the ultimate equalizer & the only possible path for true skill & gifts to grow. May we follow those who do not feel the need to embellish; may we all aim for humility.