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The Gleeful Cynicism of Evelyn Waugh

Chris Chan

The first point that one has to clarify when discussing Evelyn Waugh is the fact that he is a man. (Evelyn was once almost as common a name for males as it was for females.) Once that confusion has been cleared up, one can go straight to discussing his work. Waugh was simultaneously one of the most popular and reviled writers of the twentieth century. Some critics loved his acerbic wit, while others found his views hidebound and narrow.

I have read four of Waugh's novels: Black Mischief, Scoop, The Loved One, and The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold. These four stories all appeared in an anthology of Waugh's work and, in my mind, they were printed in ascending order of quality. Black Mischief and Scoop—the former a satire of British politics set in a fictional African nation, the latter a venomous satire of the desperate profession that is journalism—each has its moments of outrageously cynical humor, but these tales are not nearly so memorable as Waugh's later work.

The Loved One and The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold are far more involving. The Loved One is a brutal send-up of the Californian funeral industry. With the exception of a clever expatriate Englishman, the characters are all as shallow as saucers. Like Nathanael West, something about Southern California provokes feelings of complete and utter contempt in Waugh. The title refers to the fact that the employees of a posh funeral parlor never refer to deceased people as "the late so-and-so" or something along the lines of what an actual human being might say. They always call a corpse "the Loved One" in overtones of nauseating smarminess.

Waugh really hates the subjects of his ridicule. His loathing of people who treat cadavers with infinitely more care and concern than they do the living is palpable, but if one doesn't share his contempt the humor can fall a bit flat. The plot's a little creaky, and the ending is a shade beyond belief. So why did I enjoy it so much? Probably simply because it is an exercise in joyous cynicism. Waugh knows what he hates, and it's great fun to see him rant. He tears into vacuous lifestyles, luxurious excess, New Age sensibilities, and moral relativism like a starving wolf on a lamb chop.

Much as I liked The Loved One, The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold is by far the better book. It is completely different in tone and style than the other three novels discussed here. Pinfold is completely autobiographical, based on a strange but true incident in Waugh's life. Gilbert Pinfold is a blatantly obvious alter ego of Waugh.

Pinfold is an extremely private man, a writer whose public image is that of a crotchety, self-involved misanthrope. Even though the accepted perception of him is grossly inaccurate, Pinfold has no inclination to correct people's view of him. He is vaguely aware that total strangers are inclined to dislike him for no good reason, but he isn't aware of the extent of their malice until he takes a cruise to the Indian Ocean.

Pinfold expects the voyage to be conventional and tedious, so he's taken by surprise when he overhears a number of conversations through the thin walls of his cabin. Some young men have confused Pinfold with an unscrupulous financier and are plotting revenge against the wrong man. One flighty young woman nurses amorous intentions towards him. Throw in the facts that spies may be aboard the boat, the captain may have murdered a passenger, and that Pinfold is isolated from the outside world; and the result is a highly suspenseful and humorous read. Some might complain that that the book is too far-fetched, but those claims are groundless once one uncovers the perfect surprise ending.

I have no doubt that many people won't enjoy Waugh as much I have, and I can understand how Waugh's brutal humor might be abrasive to many people. Nevertheless, I found Waugh one of the most refreshing writers in my recent memory, and I recommend his work to anyone who enjoys good social satire or the ramblings of a true eccentric.

Chris Chan was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1982. After twelve incredible years at the University School of Milwaukee, which introduced him to most of the writers he loves today, he attended Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, where under the guidance of several amazing professors he double-majored in English and History with a minor in Government. Chris is ecstatic to be back in Milwaukee, where he is completing his first year in the Marquette University M.A. history program.

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