The Second Coming (novel)

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The Second Coming is a novel by Walker Percy. It is a sequel to The Last Gentleman. It tells the story of middle-aged Will Barrett and his relationship with Allison, a young woman who has escaped from a mental hospital.

The novel spends much of its content in unspoken but printed dialog of Will Barrett (the principal character) with himself and/or people he has dealt with in his past. He talks his way through his memories and realizes he is a character who suffers form the affliction of his Father; that life as most people (including him) live it is worse than death. His Father's solution was to kill himself (as did Percy's Grandfather), but his Father also opted to try to kill him (Will), in order to save him from a life that what his Father knows will befall him. He reflects on these occurrences throughout the book.

Like most books with complex characters, the main character is actually the author. He works his way through his Father's suicide and attempted murder of him, confronts his personal struggle with spiritual belief, and solves all by falling in love making a commitment to what he would ordinarily consider too flimsy a feeling.

The personal conflict in the book represents a remarkable depiction of the human struggle with faith.

This work contains Percy's often referenced musings on "ravening particles."