Thoughts today on oxymoron (an element of the analysis in my book) and Evelyn Waugh. Reading an article about the author’s experiences in the U.S. It begins with reference to his comic novel The Loved One, which he was inspired to write while in Hollywood to negotiate film rights for Brideshead Revisited, his novel about Catholic aristocracy in England ahead of World War II. The article notes one of the main characters is named Amiee Thanatogenos, an anthropomorphized version to Waugh of the U.S. as a whole, her surname meaning death/race (possibly an oxymoron and/or a commentary on the racial motivations of WWII) in ancient Greek.
The Loved One is considered a scathing satire about U.S. culture, and the article notes Waugh lessened his “ironic distance” from the U.S. upon later visits. Waugh’s cutting satire reminds me of Rowan Atkinson’s remark that comedy boils down to cruelty. This article notes Waugh “had a proclivity toward cruelty.” A friend interviewing him asked how he could reconcile such cruelty with religious faith. He responded “’rather sadly that were he not a Christian he would be even more horrible…and anyway would have committed suicide years ago.’”
In conversation, someone said something like Catholics are no better than other people, and another replied, “we’re worse.”