Evelyn Waugh's 1930 novel Vile Bodies is filled to the brim with wit and satire; the author seemingly makes fun of all his characters and has no mercy even for the old and frail. Nevertheless, some of his more complex and, in my opinion, moving satire is directed at what he refers to as the "Bright Young Things," that is, the new rich generation that followed the end of the First World War. He portrays this generation as weak and fragile underneath their outer semblance of put-on sophistication and savoir-vivre; in reality they entirely lack experience and know-how, as Waugh shows by depicting them as totally unable to comprehend the value of money.
The "Bright Young Things" are at times portrayed brutally and harshly, but most of the time Waugh adopts a more compassionate approach; he is certainly more sympathetic towards them than at the older, Victorian generation whom he viciously mocks, as we shall see. The Bright Young Things are shown to be quite different than the party-crazed, sybaritic and fashionable group that the media portrays them as. In truth their parties are in no way as exciting or risqué as they are described by the media. The older generation (and the tabloid readers) wistfully assume that these parties run rampant with sex and drink, but in fact they are much more innocent than they are perceived to be. Boredom is their main characteristic: the guests are described as "bored young faces," and the novel's protagonist, Adam, falls asleep during the first party (described as "repulsive" according to a gossip-columnist guest). Furthermore, while alcohol is a recurring motif in the novel and copious quantities of drink are consumed, the only really drunk characters are those who belong to the older generation, and the only really drunk speech comes from an American judge. Interestingly alcohol does not seem to play a significant role in the lives of the younger generation - they drink out of boredom and for fun but not to distract themselves from the aimlessness of their lives.
