What is Waugh's view of the society in which he lives?

Evelyn Waugh was born in 1903 as a middle class person. He wrote the story of “Decline and fall” in 1928. This was a period of new inventions and ideas, but in this book, we can see many different points of view.

In the first prison that Paul was sent to, the governor managed the place in a strange manner, and had a distinctly strange attitude towards his prisoners. He give his prisoners an opportunity to do activates and craftsmanship involving tools, and sharp objects. His theory was that this will contribute to their therapy and that their mental condition would improve. His ideas were not very successful, because there was an increase in suicides and attempted suicides. For instance he allowed them to use carving knives in the arts and crafts area. The chaplain, Fagan was murdered in the arts and crafts department by one very sick prisoner who claims to see visions of angels.

The governor, Sir Lucas Dockery was conducting experiments at Black Stone, and different ways for curing prisoners. He had many different theories to why they commit their crimes

At Black Stone prison we find it was less strict. The rules, laws and punishments were not as harsh. Their hardest punishment was regulations on diet. In the prison there were funny rules like a guard must read all letters before being sent out. This was to hide what the prison was really like and to disguise it.

Evelyn Waugh talks about examples of how the prisons were different. For instance in Black Stone, they did not mind when visitors came and they did not care what the prisoners talked about to their visitors. It was all a bit different in the second prison. In Egdon Heath, there was a rule that the guard must be present in the room while the prisoners were talking to their visitors. This was to make sure they would not talk about the prison or anything of the similar matters. It was sarcastic and satiric when Margo arrived to visit Paul at Egdon Heath. She was told to put her hands on top of the table so that the guard could see them. As they began to talk, Margot asked weather Paul was able to shave or not. Straight away, the guard stopped them and said how there was to be no discussion of the prison regime. He also told her how the prisoners were only allowed to make a plain statement of their health. The warder also gave them a strict time limit for the visit. This was not done at Blackstone, and this shows us the differences between the prisons.

In my opinion, Paul found it a lot easier in the second prison because he was given a greater choice of reading books. For example, there were books that were brand new and were only two days old. Where as in Black Stone he was only allowed to read the Holy Bible, the book devotion, and a book entitled “Prayers on various occasions of illness, uncertainty, and loss”. As well as a wider choice of books, he was also given special food in Egdon Heath, which no one else in the prison got. This was mainly because of Margo’s ...

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Nearer to the end of the book we find that Paul manages to escape from the prison. While Paul was still in prison he was called by one of the guards telling him that some one had arranged for him to see a private doctor, he was to be sent to a private nursing home where he would have his appendix removed. He was to be under medical care of MD Augusts Fagan. When he arrived at the nursing home he was welcomed by Fagan and a drunken doctor. They then pretend that Paul died under the anaesthetic and had the doctor fill out his death certificate. This was how Paul managed to escape from the prison and returned back to Margo

In the chapter of King’s Thursday, we see Evelyn Waugh’s views of architecture. King’s Thursday was a large country house in Hampshire, which was originally built in the time of Mary and William. The house was originally an old building, which was out of date for its time. It had no running water or electricity, which was why Margo decided to put it in place and get it redesigned.

Kings Thursday was at first considered the most beautiful building between Bond Street and Park Lane. It had not been changed for three hundred years. When Margo bought the house, there was no indoor sanitation or gas, and the only few small repairs and restorations had been done by a carpenter. There was also no lighting for the house and rush lights had to be used to light the house. The only drains for this house were underground, and these were thought as pointless. There were also other problems in the house; For instance it was very hard to get servants and very difficult to live in, which was why Margo had it rebuilt.

A strange architect Otto Silenus did the rebuilding and designing. Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde saw his sad design of a chewing gum factory. This was the reason she chose him. Mrs. Beste-Chetwynde’s plan for redesigning was something clean and square. She specifically stated that she wanted the work done by spring.

Otto Silenuses designs were very strange and the theory he had about redesigning was that the house should be provided with the essential things only, and that the decoration was not important at all.

At the entrance to the new house the floor was of bottle green glass, which lead to the dining hall. There was a vulcanite table and according to Paul, and that was it.

In the house there was a lift made from aluminum, and in one room there were black glass pillars and a half finished mosaic floor. In their bedrooms there were aluminum blinds.

Evelyn Waugh numbers the strange designs through out the house. Evelyn Waugh also writes about the Otto’s theory of life. In his opinion, life was like a Luna park wheal. He says that some people are on the outside of the wheel like Margo. These people hold on for dear life and enjoy it. He then says that in the centre, there was a point of complete rest and only a few people get there and others sit and watch. He says how there was no difference from sitting and watching than being in the centre of the wheel. All the people in the middle are the people who struggled in life.

Through this book, we see Fagan’s hatred of the Welsh and how he describes them as being animals. He even decides to write a book about the Welsh and what he thinks about them. In the beginning of the book, Fagan was the headmaster of the school and he instructs Paul to teach music although he has no musical ability. Fagan also used to take lessons in speech and he used this to pretend that he was of the middle class. Evelyn Waugh lets us see many Fagan’s different enterprises. For example: Fagan was also meant to be a doctor or MD but he was not properly qualified and pretends to be one. He had the nursing home, which was not an actual nursing home, and inside it, there was a drunken surgeon. He was also involved in a criminal act, which involves the escape of Paul and then saying how he died during surgery.

In “Decline and Fall,” Evelyn Waugh sees the Church as if it was going down, and how it was in a way, corrupted.It all begins in Scone College. The head teachers do not care about the Church, and they even pray God that the members of the Boilenger Club run sack the chapel, and destroy as many valuable goods as possible, so that they can claim more money.

We can clearly see this in the way he describes the Churchman of the time and how he does not really need to believe in God. All that matters to him was that he can do his job. He also talks about the Catholics at the time, and tells us about the way Prendergrast does not believe in God and then asks him self “Why God even created the world?” We also find out that most of the people of the time do not go to Church to pray, but only use the mass as a social event where they can show off, and put other people down.

During the sports day we find out more about the posh people of the time. The band, which was playing, refuses to play any other song but “Men of Harlem.” They ‘believed’ that it would be unholy to play a holy song while somebody was smoking a cigarette. To them, this would be blasphemy to their creator, but they do not see a problem in it as long as they get paid an extra ‘quid’.

As the event of the sports day progresses, it was extremely satiric how the Vicar himself talk’s about how it was wrong to ever give the black people their freedom and how the whites would be much happier as if they were slaves forever.

Nearer to the end of the book there was another chaplain, which denied Christ and the existence of good, the legality of marriage, and the validity of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

From “Decline and fall,” I can conclude that Evelyn Waugh was a person that does not like people. The reason I say this is that he is mainly negative and he looks at every thing from his point of view.

L.D.S.

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