The Way of All Flesh
Publisher: Standard Ebooks
Published: 2019
Language: eng
Subjects: Autobiographical fiction; England -- Fiction; Domestic fiction; Bildungsromans; Young men -- Fiction; Children of clergy -- Fiction; Conflict of generations -- Fiction; Parent and adult child -- Fiction; Middle class -- Fiction
Description: <p><i>The Way of All Flesh</i> is often considered to be <a href="https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/samuel-butler">Samuel Butler’s</a> masterpiece, and is frequently included in many lists of best English-language novels of the 20th century. Despite this acclaim, Butler never published it in his lifetime—perhaps because the novel, a scathing, funny, and poignant satire of Victorian life, would have hit his contemporaries too close to home.</p>
			<p>The novel traces four generations of the Pontifex family, though the central character is Ernest Pontifex, the third-generation wayward son. The reader follows Ernest through the eyes of his watchful godfather, <abbr>Mr.</abbr> Overton, as he strikes out from home to find his way in life. His struggles along the way illustrate the complex relationships between a son and his family, and especially his father; all while satirizing Victorian ideas about family, church, marriage, and schooling.</p>