Quest Motif in the Novels of Evelyn Waugh

“QUEST MOTIF IN THE NOVELS OF EVELYN WAUGH: A JOURNEY WITH PASSION AND PURPOSE’ is a lucid account of the fiction of Evelyn Waugh, the British comic genius. Ranked alongside P.G.Wodehouse and Shaw for his comic brilliance, Waugh was the enfant terrible of the Thirties of the last century. All through his fiction runs an earnest quest for purpose and meaning. A prolific writer of novels--romantic, satirical and catholic-- journals and reviews, he is regarded as a master of style. His works are varied and offer glimpses of a keen, searching mind behind the comic facade. Along with Graham Greene, he strove to revive Catholic fiction. In Brideshead Revisited, through the persona of the proletarian junior officer Hooper, Waugh depicts the rise of mediocrity in the Age of the Common Man. This book presents a comprehensive picture of Waugh’s fiction as a quest for vocation and refuge which he finds in Roman Catholicism. Waugh’s novels retain freshness even now as does his uncompromising quest. His fiction is noted for its intense focus and single-minded pursuit of a haven of peace in a crazy , materialistic universe.