The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the novel "The Way of All Flesh" by Samuel Butler. Specifically it will respond to the book and its insightful look into Victorian society. Butler's book was written at the end of the 19th century but it was not published until after his death in 1903. Butler's book is a sarcastic and biting glimpse into Victorian society and its mores. He was quite critical of this society, and it shows throughout this book. In fact, many people feel the book may be roughly based on Butler's own life. The book is a detailed and yet sarcastic look at Victorian life in Great Britain, including Butler's views on the Church of England and Victorian life in general. It can be biting in its satire but is still an important historical novel today, because of the intimate way it looks into the homes of the different British classes at the turn of the 20th century.

             The novel follows the Pontifex family from the 1750s through the late 1800s as three generations of Pontifex men influence the family and the family's fortunes. The main character of the novel is Ernest Pontifex, an unhappy young man whose parents are exceptionally cruel and heartless. Ernest's young life is difficult because his parents punish him for the slightest infraction, and the entire family "rats" on him to the authoritarian father when they see him doing something "bad." Butler explains that at least some of their cruelty is associated with a large sum of money that came into the family during George's (Ernest's grandfather) life. He writes, "Yet when a man is very fond of his money it is not easy for him at all times to be very fond of his children also. The two are like God and Mammon" (Butler, 1998, p. 23). Thus, there was a family history of cruelty toward the naughty children, and Ernest unfortunately seemed to fall into that category according to the family.