Sebastian is portrayed as confused and tortured, struggling with his sexuality, religion, as well as his relationships with all of those who are close to him. Sebastian seems to have everything that a young man should want: money, great friends, a family who cares, and an opportunity at an extraordinary education. But, alas, his youthful years are not so happy. Something about his personality and childhood tends to keep Sebastian in a never ending state of unhappiness, first beginning with his religion.
To begin with, Sebastian says "It's very difficult being a Catholic" (Waugh p. 98) He claims that, instead of struggling with temptation, he is convinced his soul "is very much wickeder" (Waugh p. 98) He lets on that every day he prays for God to make him good, but not yet. Possibly Sebastian is haunted by this flaw of character, which may have caused him to begin drinking more heavily. Charles questions Sebastian of his reasoning behind being of faith and Sebastian says, "It's a lovely idea" (Waugh p.98). Charles cannot believe how frail this link is, but Sebastian insists “That is how I believe” (Waugh p. 98).Thus we see that Sebastian is a Catholic merely by his belief in it being a good idea, yet somehow still holds seriously to a Catholic perspective of himself and the world around him. The tragedy in Sebastian's story is that, even though his faith is based on the beauty of the story of Christianity, he is able to see past the facades that people use to distance themselves from the world (which is an action Sebastian takes part in himself through Aloysius). This Catholic understanding of man makes Sebastian realize the sin of the world and even in himself. His religious struggle is with the twistedness of man, the sins that most try to overlook or ignore. As was mentioned before, Waugh is a master of satire. His satire of the nature of man's ignorance of sin is readily seen when Sebastian describes his father's religion and how he left the family behind to escape with his mistress. A normal person in that situation would be angry with their father if this were to happen, as I had been when I experienced a similar event in my early childhood. A man, who has taken a vow to love and protect until death, who leaves his family is not only religiously sinful, but morally bankrupt as well. Strangely, Sebastian says "You must meet him. He's a very nice man." Waugh is making a satire out of Sebastian’s ignorance of his father’s sin, which allows the reader to see that Sebastian is just as twisted and ignorant of reality as the rest of his family. Sebastian knows this and may be using alcohol as a means to cope with the truth.
Thus we can see that Sebastian is not only struggling with his sexuality and ability to see and cope with the twistedness of man, but he is guilty of ignorance of sin as well. Another particular point of interest is when Cara, Lord Marchmain's mistress, tells her own perspective of the truth about Sebastian's character. She proposes that Sebastian is very much like his father in that they, possibly including the whole Flyte family, are "full of hate - hate of themselves" (Waugh p. 118). She describes Alex Flyte as 'hating all the illusions of boyhood - innocence, God, hope" (Waugh p. 119). Thus we, the audience, are given a hint into the nature of Sebastian's struggle with himself and the reason behind the drinking, stealing, and other shady actions. Sebastian is in love with his childhood, with his teddy-bear and his relationship with his nanny as evidence. He is so attached to his childhood that he cannot deal with becoming an adult. Sebastian continues to become drunk, now with more vigor than ever, especially when he is around his family. Part of the reason behind his behavior is the persistent manipulation of Mrs. Flyte with all who are close to Sebastian, so that she can help him how she sees fit. Charles knows that Sebastian is struggling with his own demons, including "his own conscience and all claims of human affection," and can see that his outrageous behavior and yearn for drink will become an increasingly problematic issue. Charles notes that Sebastian has become weary at the thought of his own family, his religion, and now of Charles. He is weary of all that is bound to him. Charles describes him as continuing to love, but lost his joy of it due to their shared relationship losing its ability to be apart of his imaginary happy world. Remember Alyosious and how Sebastian seems to use him, and alcohol, to escape his reality and distance himself from the world around him? Now that Charles is a seemingly more permanent part of that world, Sebastian cannot help but push him away as well. Thus, Sebastian’s drunkenness continues and eventually he escapes to live far away from Brideshead.
The fall of Sebastian is used by Waugh to demonstrate the brokenness of man. Sebastian can experience and feel this brokenness in himself and the world around him, and, as a result, tries to escape it through his drunken reality. His religious understanding of the world seemed to open the curtains to a view of the world, suddenly making clear the harshness of sin. His experience as a child from when his father left behind along with his family has had a lasting effect on Sebastian’s soul. It seems he is trying to remain in a childhood fantasy, before his father left and before he understood mankind. His attempts result in excessive drunkenness, ruined family gatherings, and stealing to gain money to fuel his addiction to alcohol. Sebastian, who pushed his family and Charles away, refused to even attend his own mother’s funeral. Cheifly, it is Sebastian’s faith that causes the most suffering. At one point it was mentioned that no man of faith can live without experience suffering. Sebastian’s fall is testimony to the truth of that statement. Even a faith such as his, based solely on the beauty of the Christian story, is enough to lead Sebastian down this path of humility and suffering. “Man is by nature an exile, haunted, even at the height of his prosperity, by nostalgia for Eden” (Buckley 2003). Waugh uses Sebatian’s fall to make the fall of man clear, intimate, and vividly real. Works Cited
Buckley, F.H.. "The Satirist of the Fall." Crisis Magazine. N.p., January 2003. Web. 14 Mar 2012. <www.CrisisMagazine.com>.
Waugh, Evelyn. Brideshead Revisited. Penguin Essentials. England: Clays Ltd., 2011. Print.
I thought this was a great post on Sebastian, and his regressive progression throughout the story. Alcohol is clearly his vice, which spills into every aspect of his life. At first I was weirded out by his relationship with his teddy bear (Aloysius), but looking back..it's a great tool by Waugh to show early on his separation from the world. He seems to numb his pain with alcohol, but the ensuing numbness becomes his only desire (not his relationship with Charles, etc seen by his emergency letter regarding his 'injury' and his desire to see him). I'm curious if his profound unhappiness was ultimately brought on by the oppressiveness of his mother's religion. Perhaps she is why he retains certain Catholic beliefs, but whose own faith is distant.
ReplyDeleteI am curious too about the role of his mother's oppresiveness in Sebastian's fall. For me it seems too simple that his mother's oppression was the 'straw that broke the camel's back' so to speak. An unhappiness of this nature, one causing him to drink so much and push himself away from his family life must be multidemensional in nature and the cause of several things. Maybe he cannot bear (yes, pun intended) the thought of losing his childhood and relationships that were forever changed then.
DeleteThis was an excellent post on the analysis of the Catholic viewing of Sebastian. He is a character that Waugh manipulates into many different examples of sin and failings and all tie back to the Catholic faith. It is interesting to see the relationship between drunkenness and falling again in another story. I really think that Waugh brings this into his story because he wants to show that even in a social scene, which is where Sebastian is supposed to be in his glory, he becomes too drunk and falls even more, which deepens his superficial character. I really like what Adam touched on about his mother's oppressiveness because that can sometimes be an issue with people and the Church because they feel that the stricter rules of the conservative views of the Church suppress them and it can cause them to run away. Overall, it is very interesting to see how each character in the book reacts to the Church and Catholic ideas differently.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great blog post. I found Sebastian to be the most interesting character in this novel. He is mysterious with his ambitions an intentions. Even though Sebastian seems to have everything, he is empty inside. Instead of turning to religion to cure his problems like his mother, Sebastian drinks. Originally, both Sebastian and Charles deny his drinking problems as simple college fun. Later, the seemingly unbreakable friendship between Charles and Sebastian unravels. I find it interesting that Waugh made Sebastian such an important part to the beginning of the novel and by the end Sebastian is almost nonexistent I found several similarities between Sebastian and his father. Unlike his father, Sebastian does not convert to Catholicism.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! For me, Sebastian was a difficult character to understand throughout the beginning of the novel, and (probably like the rest of you) the teddy bear creeped me out. I like what Adam said about the teddy bear being used to illustrate Sebastians detachment from the world. He was unable to get too close to anyone throughout the story, except this teddy bear. This in itself says a lot. First of all, the idea that Sebastian cannot let go of his childhood is perhaps the most obvious understanding of the bear, but the bear does show his struggle to be active in the world around him. When he cannot turn to the bear as an escape, he turns to alcohol, which is in many ways just as much of an escape from reality as the bear is. Maybe this is why Sebastian insisted on keeping Charles away from his family- as long as Charles was a part of his surreal life of partying at school, he could keep Charles in his life. As soon as Charles becomes part of his REAL life at home, things begin turn.
ReplyDeleteI had a different read on Sebastian than most. To me, I feel like he was one of the more important characters in the story and underwent a significant conversion himself. He was struggling with personal happiness and living the way his Catholic family had expected. He never saw these two lifestyles intersecting. He was much happy living his playboy lifestyle of partying and drinking. He knew he wasnt living the way his family wanted him to, but that was because that lifestyle was too hard. It was inconvenient. In the end, I think he realized that the only way he could live out his faith was to completely remove himself from his party boy lifestyle. By moving in with a bunch of lepers, he was able to struggle with his faith and come to know it without any distractions.
ReplyDelete