Waugh's Multifaceted Satire of British Society: The Opening of 'Decline and Fall' Anonymous 11th Grade

In Decline and Fall, Waugh uses satire to mock and portray 1920s British society as largely corrupt, undisciplined and twisted. Waugh satirises various aspects of society, including social classes, religion and racism, as well as education. The frantic and amalgamated nature of Llanabba Castle, provides the perfect setting for Waugh to parody the unruliness of society that he views as the primary reason for its decline and decay. Satire, by definition, is the use of humour to ridicule and illuminate vices and opinions, mainly used in a political context to criticise political topics. In this way, the use of satire is prevalent in Part One of Decline and Fall.

Waugh satirises the social classes through the characterisation of Solomon Philbrick, a character who is portrayed as simple-minded and is vilified early on in the novel. He is initially made out to be a comic villain, as his monologuing stories tend to have a punchline withheld until the end. For instance, Philbrick references his father’s abuse towards him and his mother, with an almost nostalgic tone, saying “There aren’t many left like him nowadays”. This presents the lower classes in a somewhat negative light, as they are portrayed as too simple-minded to recognise...