In addition, his father did not even like children, and yet he felt compelled to have them because of societal mores about family. Families were the epitome of happiness according to society, but Ernest's father wished Ernest had been born fully-grown. Butler writes, "If Christina could have given birth to a few full-grown clergymen in priest's orders -- of moderate views, but inclining rather to Evangelicalism, with comfortable livings and in all respects facsimiles of Theobald himself -- why, there might have been more sense in it" (Butler, 1998, p. 80). Clearly, this continual punishment and dislike throughout his childhood did not have a positive effect on Ernest. Later in life, he gets in trouble in school, ends up in jail, joins a splinter religious organization, and lives in poverty with an unhappy and drunken wife. His story seems miserable, but there are some highlights, including his Aunt Alethea, one of the only people in the novel who is kind to him, and Edward Overton, Ernest's godfather and a benefactor and mentor who aids Ernest as he grows older. Ernest's story ends happily, but not before he has flaunted society by denouncing Christianity, marrying a woman who is already married, and engaging in a used-clothing business catering to the poor and downtrodden. Ernest's life is far from what his family would like it to be, and far from what society dictated a "successful" young man should be, and that is a big part of the satire of this novel.

             One of the more enjoyable aspects of the novel is the author's own voice, which comes through the book as the voice of the narrator; a young neighbor of the third generation of Pontifex's who grows up with them. The author's voice is always biting and sarcastic, but wickedly funny, too. For example, early in the book the narrators muses, "I wonder whether he would feel disposed to cry out before a real Michael Angelo, if the critics had decided that it was not genuine, or before a reputed Michael Angelo which was really by some one else.