British Society of the 1920s

Evelyn Waugh was a social critic. Employing black humor and absurdist mechanisms, he pinpointed, highlighted and parodied the inherent flaws, pretensions, false values and decadence of the aristocracy. He illustrated the class system by juxtaposing the inequities of the struggles of the lower classes against the upper. Decline and Fall skewers its targets in a satire that rips apart the curtains of pretension and lays all bare to be viewed and judged in harsh light.

British ideals of culture, education, sportsmanship, honor, chivalry and integrity all come under fire. Education is a sham, there is no pretense of justice, punishment is reserved for the lower classes. The “old boys’ network” will protect its members, regardless of their crimes. Those who try to affect good in society, like the governor of the prison, do so only to gain fame and admiration, not from a real...