The Way of All Flesh (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798897187317)

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler is a semi-autobiographical novel that critiques Victorian family life, religion, and morality.

It follows four generations of the Pontifex family, focusing mainly on Ernest Pontifex, who struggles under the weight of rigid religious upbringing and oppressive parents. Raised to be a clergyman, Ernest gradually rejects traditional beliefs and the hypocrisy of his family. Through missteps, disillusionment, and hardship-including disastrous relationships and poverty-he begins to form his own independent identity.

The novel, both satirical and philosophical, exposes the hypocrisy of Victorian respectability while emphasizing personal freedom, self-discovery, and the rejection of blind conformity