"To play down the religious element is a different matter. It’s to distort the book and ignore, even betray, Waugh’s purpose." Indeed.
... one can’t say that their religion makes any of the family, except Cordelia, happy.
For Waugh this is irrelevant. A settled faith, like Cordelia’s or old Mr Crouchback’s in the Sword of Honour trilogy, may bring you serenity, even ordinary everyday happiness, but that is a matter of fortune. Faith means obedience to God’s will. As Julia in her last conversation with Charles says, ‘the one unforgivable thing’ is ‘to set up a rival good to God’s’. If acknowledging this deprives you of the happiness and love you seek, so be it. Life is preparation for death.
This is a bleak message for those who do not share Waugh’s faith.
Maybe so. I am of that faith, and I definitely don't find it bleak. I don't find it bleak to think of life as a preparation for death. I don't think it bleak to acknowledge that what happens to us in this life, whether good, bad or indifferent, is transient. Faith grants one the possibility of facing all of it with equanimity. And it spares one the expense and desperation of seeking a bogus vitality at the gym or spa.
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