The Way of All Flesh

The Way of All Flesh (1903) is a semi-autobiographical novel by Samuel Butler that attacks Victorian-era hypocrisy. Written between 1873 and 1884, it traces four generations of the Pontifex family. Butler dared not publish it during his lifetime, but when it was published it was accepted as part of the general reaction againstVictorianism. Devoted family man and bank worker August Schilling (Emil Jannings) leaves Milwaukee for the first time to deliver bonds to a bank in Chicago. On the train, August falls prey to the seductive advances of Mayme (Phyllis Haver), the girlfriend of gang leader The Tough (Fred Kohler). When The Tough's gang attacks him, August resists, hurling the leader into an oncoming train. A shell-shocked August then assumes The Tough's identity and sets off on a far more difficult journey than he'd planned. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked The Way of All Flesh twelfth on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century