After he retires from many years of teaching at Brookfield, a boarding school for boys in England, Mr. Chips moves to Mrs. Wickett's house near the school. He is peaceful and happy here, because, despite the sadness of losing his wife after a brief marriage, he can look back on a happy and fulfilling life spent as a beloved teacher.
Second, he is a man of few and simple wants. A cup of tea, a warm fire, and a detective novel are enough to keep him happy and content. He enjoys remembering the old days at Brookfield, a school he liked from the beginning when he first arrived on a sunny June day.
Finally, Chips carries a sense of humor with him into old age. He even sees the humor in aging, and often when Mrs. Wickett comes in with his tea, she finds him crying tears that are mixture of remembering humorous incidences and experiencing a sweet sadness over days gone by.
Overall, because he has lived a good, quiet, and honorable life, Mr. Chips has a peaceful old age, looked in on and cared for by those who cherish him.
After returning from Germany for medical treatment, the retired Mr. Chips stays in a rented room at Mrs. Wickett's house near the school. Here he leads a very cozy, comfortable life, drinking endless cups of tea by the fire, marking the occasional exam paper and contributing articles to the old boys' magazine. Mrs. Wickett is a kindly old lady who used to be in charge of the linen room at Brookfield, so she knows Mr. Chips very well indeed. She also understands just how much Chips misses his late wife Katherine and how important it is for him to live in an environment in which he can experience the comforts of home.
Though retired from teaching at Brookfield, Chips still organizes his daily life according to the rhythms of the school day. For example, before retiring to bed for the night, he always winds up his clock after the last bell at Brookfield has rung. It would seem that you can take the master out of the school but you cannot take the school out of the master.
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