The humanizing factor: Evelyn Waugh's very personal view of providence

Abstract

Evelyn Waugh had a highly developed sense of the workings of Providence and, as well, a uniquely personal belief that all men and women were called to perform some task, which they alone could perform, and on which their salvation might depend. Several texts, read with Helena and Sword of Honour, support this view of his meaning. But for Waugh this was not a mere point of theology. The belief marked his progress from intellectual conviction to mature belief. It helped him come to terms with an institutional religion that could appear more a moral code or belief system than a means of touching the divine. Arguably it also reflected Waugh's experience of dispelling a sense of meaninglessness by action. In a society dominated by mass politics and culture, it also asserted the value of the individual.