Waugh's Teaching Career Allegory
Waugh claims that the Welsh school in which Paul teaches is based on the school that he himself taught before becoming a writer. It was unremarkable in its educational achievements and was so far from civilization that the public at large barely realized that it was there. He maintained that most of Paul's experiences at the school were based on his own including attraction to the parent of one of the boys he was teaching.
Humor Motif
Satire is often funny but it is also often meant to be crushingly cruel. This novel was intended to be humorous, and Waugh often went to great lengths to remind people of this. When it was suggested that the book was spiteful in its views of high society he was keen to point out that it was meant to be funny and that was the reason for the outlandish nature of the escapades in which Paul becomes involved.
The Bollinger Club Symbol
The fact that the club is named after a champagne is a symbol of its only purpose, which is to drink as much as possible.
Bollinger Club Outside the Window Symbol
At the end of the novel Paul is back at Scone College, but unlike the first time around, he is not fraternizing with the members of the Bollinger Club, but listening to them outside his window. This symbolizes the fact that he has changed and that he is taking his education more seriously, listening to the debauchery rather than joining in and becoming part of it.
People's Facade of Decency Motif
Throughout the book, the characters appear to be something quite different from who they actually are. For example, Margot, whose prefix is "the Honorable" is really anything but honorable, as she is guilty of trafficking young women for prostitution and running a brothel. Paul, on the other hand, is branded a drunk, a drop-out and a trafficker of women for prostitution but he is actually none of those things. The novel continually shows that one's outward appearance one's actual reality can often be quite different.
