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The Way of All Flesh
novel by Butler
The Way of All Flesh, autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler, published posthumously in 1903 though written almost two decades earlier.
Beginning with the life of John Pontifex, a carpenter, the novel traces four generations of the Pontifex family, each of which perpetuates the frustration and unhappiness of its predecessor largely as a result of parental repression. Only Ernest Pontifex, the great-grandson of John, is able to break the cycle. After being ordained a minister, serving a prison term because of a naive misunderstanding, and unwittingly entering into a bigamous marriage with the family’s sluttish servant girl, Ernest providentially inherits enough money from a favourite aunt to change his life and become a writer.
This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.
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