Leaf by Niggle Summary & Analysis

Niggle is reluctant to prepare for a long journey he knows he’ll have to set out on. He would rather spend all his time painting. But the laws of his country dictate that he must spend his time on other tasks, and his neighbor, Parish, keeps requesting his help with various errands. Every now and then, Niggle remembers he needs to pack for his journey and tries to prepare—but he’s not very thorough, and he doesn’t make much progress.

Niggle has a number of paintings he hasn’t finished, mostly because they require a level of skill he doesn’t have. One painting particularly preoccupies him: a painting that began with a single leaf and has now grown into a landscape with a huge tree and a vast background of a forest and mountains. To house this painting, he has built a shed on the patch of land where he used to plant potatoes. He decides that this tree is his one “real picture”—the one he needs to complete before he goes on his long journey.

One day, Niggle stands back from his painting, trying to decide what he thinks of it. He feels at once that it is both beautiful and “wholly unsatisfactory.” What he wants most is for someone to praise the painting and provide him with a public pension so that he can complete his work without needing to tend to other tasks. There is, of course, no public pension for Niggle to work on his art. Just as he begins to focus on completing the tree, more and more interruptions spring up in the form of errands, visitors, and favors for Parish, who has a bad leg.

Niggle wishes he could refuse his visitors and turn down Parish’s requests, but he finds himself unable to say no to anyone. He halfheartedly carries out his duties and welcomes his visitors, who comment on the state of his neglected garden. Hardly any of Niggle’s acquaintances are aware of his painting, though even if they were, they probably wouldn’t find it very impressive. They begin to wonder when he’ll finally leave for his journey.

One day at the beginning of autumn, Niggle is in his shed, working on his painting. As he attempts to perfect the light on the peak of a distant mountain on the canvas, he considers his imminent journey. He has only just enough time to finish his painting. Even then, parts of it will barely resemble his vision. He hears a knock at the door: it’s Parish. Niggle doesn’t like Parish much: he asks for too many favors and doesn’t think much of Niggle’s painting. (Parish places more value on gardening—something Niggle doesn’t spend much time on.) But Parish is Niggle’s “only real neighbor,” and Niggle feels obligated to help him.

Parish explains that his wife has fallen ill and his house has been damaged by the stormy weather. He asks for Niggle’s help to fetch the doctor and the builder. Parish only seems to notice Niggle’s painting when he mentions his need for wood and canvas to patch the hole in his roof. Niggle, ignoring the request for materials, nevertheless offers to go into town to ask for the doctor and the builder, sacrificing precious painting time.

Niggle rides into town on his bicycle to ask for the doctor and builder. It’s wet and windy, and the sun is going down. As he rides, he sees visions of his painting and feels waves of frustration at losing his chance to finish it. Now that he has left the shed, he can envision how to paint the mountaintop perfectly—but he worries he won’t have time to make it happen.

Niggle returns home from his errand with a fever from the cold rain. The next day, the doctor visits not only Parish’s wife but Niggle, too. While Niggle is sick, he imagines leaves sprouting in his mind and on the ceiling. Parish doesn’t visit him, and neither does Parish’s wife, who recovered quickly from her cold and is now busy cleaning up the flooded house. Left to himself, Niggle has to crawl out of bed to find something to eat.

After about a week, Niggle is well enough to get up. He goes out to the shed to continue his painting, but as soon as he begins, there’s a knock on the door. The Inspector of Houses has arrived and tells Niggle that his neighbor’s house is not in an acceptable state. He says that Niggle should have helped to repair Parish’s house with the canvas, wood, and paint he’s using for his art, and adds that the law places priority on houses rather than on paintings.

When Niggle begins to protest, another man enters the shed. He is almost identical to the Inspector and introduces himself as the Driver. He tells Niggle he has come to collect him for his journey, which starts today. Niggle begins to feel ill again and weeps when he realizes he will not be able to finish his painting. As he leaves with the Driver, the Inspector mentions that they will at last “make some use” of the canvas that Niggle has now “finished with.”

The Driver tells Niggle he should have prepared for the journey earlier, and he gives him no time to pack. Niggle takes a little bag from the hall as he leaves, which contains only some paints and sketches. They arrive at the train station, and almost as soon as Niggle boards the train, it enters a dark tunnel and he falls asleep.

Niggle wakes up to find that the train has stopped in a large station. Instead of calling out the name of the stop, the Porter yells Niggle’s name. In his hurry to leave the train, Niggle forgets his little bag on board, and when he turns around to get it, he finds the train has already gone. The Porter tells him he is headed to the Workhouse. Niggle, still feeling unwell, faints on the platform.

Niggle is taken to the Workhouse Infirmary. The medicine he takes is bitter, and his only interactions are with “unfriendly, silent, and strict” officials and attendants and a “severe” doctor. Niggle is given tedious and difficult tasks, he’s not allowed outside, and even the windows look inwards—he feels he is in a prison rather than a hospital. It seems like whole centuries are passing. For the first long stretch of time, he dwells on the past, regretting his reluctance to help Parish and the fact that he didn’t finish his painting in time. Eventually, though, he forgets the details of his past life and focuses only on his Workhouse tasks.

Niggle becomes more efficient in the completion of his tasks, and he experiences a kind of satisfaction in place of pleasure, in a “bread rather than jam” way. But as soon as he begins to get some proper rest, the officials change his schedule, assigning him work more tedious and difficult than before. Niggle works until he is completely exhausted, with no thanks from anyone. The doctor visits and orders him to rest in the dark. 

When Niggle has been lying in the dark long enough to have completely lost track of how much time has passed, he hears voices nearby—perhaps in a room next door. They sound like the voices of a medical board or a court, and they’re discussing “The Niggle case.” There are two distinct voices. The First Voice is harsher, while the Second Voice is gentler but still commanding, “at once hopeful and sad.”

The Voices are trying to decide what should happen to Niggle—if he should stay on in the Workhouse or move to the “next stage.” The verdict seems to rest on the question of what Niggle did wrong in his life to turn out relatively unremarkable, unsuccessful, and unprepared for his journey. The First Voice argues that Niggle’s heart “did not function properly” and his head “was not screwed on tight enough,” partly because of the way he neglected the tasks demanded of him by the law. The First Voice therefore suggests that he should stay at the Workhouse longer.

The Second Voice is more sympathetic to Niggle, referencing the unique charm of his paintings and his tendency, however reluctant, to help Parish with his errands without expecting any reward. The Second Voice proposes that Niggle be given “gentle treatment,” in large part because of the sacrifice he made when he rode to town for Parish instead of completing his painting.

When Niggle hears that he may be given “gentle treatment,” he blushes and hides in his blanket, feeling that he doesn’t deserve the praise the Second Voice has given him. The First Voice notices Niggle’s reaction and realizes he has been listening to the debate. He asks Niggle if he has anything to say, to which Niggle responds by asking about Parish, expressing concern for his leg and a desire to see him again. When he finishes speaking, the two Voices move away from him, and he hears them agree to allow him to move to the “next stage.”

The next morning, Niggle wakes up to a more pleasant situation. His cell is lit by the sun, there are comfortable clothes (not a uniform) laid out for him, and the doctor treats his sore hands, giving him a bottle of tonic and a ticket for the train. Niggle leaves the Workhouse and, to his surprise, finds himself alone on a windswept hill. He descends the hill towards the train station.

At the station, the Porter recognizes Niggle immediately and directs him to a clean, bright train with only one car. The car is empty. Niggle asks the Porter what the train’s destination is, but the Porter only tells him, “You’ll find it all right.” Niggle boards the train, which seems to arrive at his stop very soon after leaving.

Niggle climbs the flight of steps from the train to the top of a hill, where he sees what looks like his old bicycle, which is labeled with his name. It’s a beautiful day, and he jumps on his bike and rides off down the hill. The landscape feels strangely familiar, as if it’s from his own dream. He looks up to see a tree—the tree from his painting—and is so shocked that he falls off his bike.

Niggle exclaims that the tree is a “gift.” Its leaves are a mixture of the leaves he actually painted and ones he only imagined, along with leaves he hadn’t even had time to imagine. Some of the most beautiful leaves appear to have been created “in collaboration” with Parish. Niggle notices that the tree is home to birds’ nests, and some of the birds are flying into the forest (the forest from his painting), beyond which are the mountains Niggle painted and imagined.

Niggle walks into the forest, realizing that even as he walks into the distance, it retains the quality of being distant “without turning into mere surroundings.” However, the mountains in the distance slowly get closer, and they seem to signify the start of another picture: “a further stage.” Niggle explores the forest, noticing everything in detail, and he plans how to begin working on the land.  

Niggle realizes that he does not know much about tending to land and needs Parish’s help. As he settles down to begin working, he sees Parish in the distance. Niggle calls out to Parish, who walks towards him with his spade, still limping a little from his bad leg. They begin to work happily together, agreeing wordlessly where to build the house and garden and walking around arm in arm. It becomes apparent that Niggle is strangely more invested in the practical tasks of building and gardening while Parish spends more time wandering around, looking at the trees. Parish thanks Niggle for “putting in a word” for him so that he could pass into Niggle’s forest. Niggle says that it’s the Second Voice who deserves thanks.

At first, Niggle and Parish occasionally disagree and grow tired. They each find they’ve been given a tonic, which, when taken with water from the spring, renews their energy. They each only need a few doses of tonic before they stop using it. Parish’s limp disappears.

Niggle finds himself looking to the mountains more and more. On the evening that he and Parish complete their work on the land, they go for a long walk and reach the foot of the mountains. A shepherd walks down the slope to them and asks if they want a guide to lead them. Niggle feels that he wants to, and should, go on, but Parish does not yet feel ready: he wants to wait for his wife.

Parish asks the shepherd what the country they’re in is called. The shepherd tells him it’s called Niggle’s Country. When Parish is surprised that the land has come from Niggle’s imagination, the shepherd tells him that Niggle had been working on his painting of it for as long as they knew each other, but Parish had not paid it any attention. Niggle forgives Parish for his ignorance: he was not particularly kind himself when they were neighbors.

Niggle bids Parish farewell and looks back at the blossoming tree one last time before turning to walk into the mountains with the shepherd.

Back in Niggle’s old country, a few of Niggle’s acquaintances discuss the importance of his life. Councillor Tompkins thinks Niggle was worthless and useless, while Atkins, a schoolmaster, questions what Tompkins means by the word “use.” Tompkins replies, “No practical or economic use.” If he were in charge, he would have “put [Niggle] away” early on. Atkins asks Tompkins whether he thinks painting has any value, and Tompkins replies that paintings might have value if they’re useful, but paintings like Niggle’s are nothing more than “private day-dreaming.”

Perkins, another acquaintance, joins the conversation to break up an impending argument. When he asks who they’re talking about, Tompkins tells him it’s someone unimportant—but Atkins points out that Niggle’s old house is now Tompkins’s second residence, so perhaps Niggle does not deserve to be disregarded. When Perkins learns who they’re discussing, he mentions that he didn’t know Niggle was a painter. Their conversation is probably the last time Niggle is mentioned in his old country, but Atkins frames a single leaf from Niggle’s painting and gives it to the town museum. It hangs for a while in an inconspicuous place until the museum burns down, taking with it the last trace of Niggle’s life.

Meanwhile, the two Voices discuss the success of Niggle’s Country as a place of convalescence for many people before they journey into the mountains. It has been so effective that the Second Voice has sent increasing numbers through the region. The First Voice suggests that they decide on an official name for the place, and the Second Voice replies that the Porter has already chosen one: “Niggle’s Parish.” He tells the First Voice that when Niggle and Parish learned about the Porter’s choice, they laughed so loudly that “[t]he Mountains rang with it!”