Excerpt from A Defence of Skeletons
G.K. Chesterton
The importance of the human skeleton is very great, and the horror with which it is commonly regarded is somewhat
mysterious. Without claiming for the human skeleton a wholly conventional beauty, we may assert that he is certainly not
uglier than a bult-dog, whose popularity never wanes, and that he has a vastly more cheerful and ingratiating expression
But just as man is mysteriously ashamed of the skeletons of the trees in winter, so he is mysteriously ashamed of the
skeleton of himself in death. It is a singular thing altogether, this horror of the architecture of things. One would think it
would be most unwise in a man to be afraid of a skeleton, since Nature has set curious and quite insuperable obstacles to
his running away from it.
One ground exists for this terror a strange idea has infected humanity that the skeleton is typical of death. A man might
as well
say that a factory chimney was typical of bankruptcy. The factory may be left naked after ruin, the skeleton may be
left naked after bodily dissolution, but both of them have had a lively and workmanlike life of their own, all the pulleys
creaking, all the wheels turning, in the House of Livelihood as in the House of Life. There is no reason why this creature
(new, as I fancy, to art), the living skeleton, should not become the essential symbol of life
Question:
How does the author respond to the popular idea that skeletons are reminders of death?
A)He shows that skeletons are not really alive, so they cannot really die
B)He argues that skeletons are one of the liveliest parts of the human body
C)He maintains that the fear of death and skeletons is irrational and should be
conquered
D)He urges that more education about human anatomy is the best way to
dispel the association of skeletons with death
