The Way of All Flesh

“The way of all flesh,” or another translation “the way of all earth” appears in 1 Kings 2:2 and in Joshua 23:14. To go the way of all flesh is used in the bible to mean to die, but in other areas it is used slightly differently. The book The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler is a story of a father and son from the father’s perspective. It follows the son’s path through life and how his father’s influence on the son waxes and wanes. In the 1927 movie The Way of All Flesh and the 1940 remake, the main character gets stolen from and is thought to have died an ensuing train accident and thus escapes the punishment of the law. He cannot go back to his family because the police would come for him and he lives out his life picking up trash in a park. Ted Conover uses it much more literally. His article The Way of All Flesh is about being undercover in an industrial slaughterhouse and how he witnesses 5,000 cattle die a day and how it affects his morals and how it affects how he eats. The allusion is used in a heavier way than some other allusions and is seldom associated with a happy story.