Why Walker Percys Literature Truly Matters :: Biography Biographies Essays

Why go-cart Percys Literature Truly Matters Did you ever so have one of those days when you just werent every last(predicate) there? when your organic structure seemed to be doing your whole daily routine automatic all toldy? when nothing, not up to now the things you love nearly could engage you? I know I have. Walker Percy refers to this disengaged state as sunk in everydayness and as all in(p) in life (The Moviegoer 10). In his novels, Percy relates his fears that many of us argon living in this automaton state perpetually without realizing it. He warns us that until we cure ourselves of this disease, our souls, our truest selves, will remain in bondage. Walker Percy began his life growth up in the South, and after finishing med. school, he interned to become a psychiatrist. Then a bout with tuberculosis drove Percy to marry his wife, transfigure to Catholicism, and give up his practice in pursuit of writing. After a writing essays for a time, Percy published his firs t novel, The Moviegoer, in 1961. Percys heritage shape his literature from the beginning. As a Southerner, Percy understands the South better than other geographies and sets most of his scenes there. As a psychiatrist, Percy knows intimately what goes on in the minds of others, extremely of import knowledge in character development. As a scientist, Percy understands the physical public well and notices things in nature that other authors would miss. As a Catholic, Percy wants to broadcast his faith to others, to sh are the joy he gets from his religion. All these experiences go into the conflate in Percys writing and give his novels a unique, masterful style. Percys protagonists are all questing after an end to the everydayness of their old lives. They are leaving bathroom a life they see as a living death, and they all use different approaches to escaping it. In The Moviegoer, Binx Bolling goes on a search to run a risk himself, his mystify in society, and what he believe s. Will Barrett goes on a similar search in The Last Gentleman, a search to find his place in the world. Binx and Will are both in their twenties and their searches are fitting for their ages. Percys later books use older characters and their search differ from the others accordingly. In The Second Coming, we meet Will Barrett again, but this time he is inquiring to find the truth about his past, prove the existence of God, and find a new occupation worthy of his time.