Travel
Traveling is one of the main themes of the novel, since all the characters are not stay-at-home. They are visiting new places, countries, even jungles with a purpose to find themselves, to find the truth. The main character and the narrator of the story – Charles Ryder travels with his friend Sebastian to Venice, Rome, and a lot of different places in England. It is during the travels they open up the world, and along with that they start comprehend the most important things in life, and life itself. And after parting with Charles, Sebastian travels along. His traveling is of a different kind, he runs from his mother’s control, but still the main idea for him is to find the meaning of life. And finally he finds it in some distant monastery in Africa, where his alcoholic addiction is not considered as a mortal sin and fault, but as a means to find the truth, and finally this truth is in God.
Architecture
Charles Ryder is an artist, and a really talented one. What he paints mostly are the images of old houses, buildings. This theme is strongly echoed with the dying of Old England and formation of a new one. Charles depicts places that are becoming history, they are of a step to vanish and there is a strong need to imprint them in memory, and the best way is painting. Some of the houses are going to be destroyed and new ones to be built on their places.
Religion
Religion takes a very important place in the novel, it is not spoken openly and directly, but through the actions of the characters religion becomes significant. First of all it is a means of reaching the truth, for every character it is different. Charles Ryder is not a catholic, the members of Flytes family are. Sebastian’s mother is a devoted catholic, and her devotion is mirrored into her wish to control, her faith is blind. Sebastian’s sister Cordelia believes with a pure heart and her faith is represented by help and care she gives others. Disputes around religion is the book are not very frequent, but it is not quality but quantity that matters, Charles himself does not understand the faith into priests, while born catholic are greatly influences by priests’ words and ideas.
