Samuel Butler: the Way of All Flesh

"The Way of All Flesh," an autobiographical account of a harsh Victorian upbringing and troubled adulthood, was penned by Samuel Butler and hailed by George Bernard Shaw as "one of the summits of human achievement." Butler's novel satirizes Victorian hypocrisy in its chronicle of the life and loves of Ernest Pontifex. Along the way, it offers a powerful indictment of 19th-century England's major institutions. Beginning with the life of John Pontifex, a carpenter, the novel traces four generations of the Pontifex family, each of which perpetuates the frustration and unhappiness of its predecessor largely as a result of parental repression. Only Ernest Pontifex, the great-grandson of John, is able to break the cycle. After being ordained a minister, serving a prison term because of a naive misunderstanding, and unwittingly entering into a bigamous marriage with the family's sluttish servant girl, Ernest providentially inherits enough money from a favorite aunt to change his life and become a writer. Even today, 100 years after the book's publication, readers will find much to identify with in "The Way of All Flesh." Anyone who felt unjustly treated by his or her parents or teachers will find much to sympathize with here. Anyone who has wrestled with the conflict between Reason and Faith will find much to think about here. It is easy to see how many people have described reading Samuel Butler's "The Way of All Flesh" as a turning point in their lives.