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percy-l - [percy-l] The Last Gentleman Discussion / Chapter 5.7 - Chapter 5.12

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Subject: Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy

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  • From: Leonard <leonardh6363 AT gmail.com>
  • To: percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [percy-l] The Last Gentleman Discussion / Chapter 5.7 - Chapter 5.12
  • Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:20:26 -0400

 

This post is a collaboration between Janet and Leonard (mainly Janet 😊) about Chapter 5.7-Chapter 5.12 of “The Last Gentleman.”

 

The concluding episodes, revealing a possibly clearer and more pro-active Will Barrett, may be said to begin with his knocking racist deputy Beans Ross to the floor (“You done hit Beans.”), building to his taking charge at the hospital and chasing down suicidal Sutter Vaught who may be planning a violent end.

 

 

1.     Percy, the image-maker is a master of metaphor: "As if...a swamp decay had come to the surface" and "Sutter is as busy as a one-armed paper hanger," and "He wrapped himself snugly in his fever like a scarf." In his essay “Metaphor as Mistake,” he discusses in part the value philosophically of metaphor. When Will discusses Jamie with Sutter at the hospital, we’re told, “He watched the other like a hawk” (p. 366). Is there a larger significance of comparing Will to that particular bird?

 

2.     Taking up Jamie's berth in the cabin of the trailer, Will reads more of Sutter's ramblings. What did you think of Sutter's ideas about Christ (“He is too much with us…,” etc.)?

 

3.     Will's memory returns with a jolt after his visit with a fellow owner of a camper. What do you think triggered it?

 

4.     What was the significance for Will of the last line of Sutter's notes ("I won't miss next time.")?

 

5.     Will reads more things about Val and her beliefs, according to Sutter. Sutter concluded that Val got all dressed up for the bridegroom, but the bridegroom didn't come. So he does not wait for a sign because there is no sign. So when Val became hopeful even then, Sutter lost patience with her. All the while Sutter is talking about Val and Christianity, Will is waiting for some sign that Sutter will give him an answer to his questions. But Sutter is ignoring him. Or is he? Is Sutter giving him answers by not answering?

 

6.     Sutter keeps trying to tell Will that he is neither the one with answers, nor the one who has interest in telling Will what to do. And when Will tells Sutter he plans to marry Kitty, that they have a lot in common and they have even settled on accepting religion, he waits for Sutter to put him down; he waits in vain. Instead Sutter hands him his blessing for his choices. Does Will need Sutter's acceptance of his choices? 

 

7.     What does Percy imply about Will’s new-found plans for his vision of the future with Kitty?

 

8.     When Sutter tells Will he should call the family and tell them to be here for Jamie, Will says, "You will be here." Sutter tells him no and Will is confused. But then there's that "I won't miss next time." Ouch. Section 10 ends with a suggestion that from this moment on Will will live a normal life like everyone else. He will be his own man now. Making his own decisions and in control, instead of relying on others and events taking him in their tide. His new life begins when he sees Jamie dying. Will grieves. Is Will using his will to grieve?

 

9.     What about Jamie's baptism? Can it be done against his will? Is it part of the engineer’s new clarity that is now thinking about Jamie's WILL?

 

10.  Why does Percy create such a troubled, drawn-out scene of Jamie’s baptism?

 

11.  Will thinks Sutter judges him and wants to help him, while Sutter professes never to have had any such intentions. Is Will right?  

 

12.  Is the final scene a triumphant resolution, or a tentative victory of Barrett’s new found will?

 

Throughout the slow read, we’ve drawn comparisons and contrasts with “The Moviegoer.”[i]  Here are some other questions to consider:

 

13.  Compared to Jamie, Lonnie already has a love of religion. Jamie has resisted, but may be influenced by Val. Would you say that both Jamie and Lonnie influence the end of their stories with families pulling together because of their dying?

 

14.  Suicide in Percy's history moves both novels. Percy only hints that Binx’s father committed suicide—or at least that he met an untimely death. Does confronting the subject more directly drastically affect a change in tone between the two books?

 

15.  A number of times, Will asks Sutter to lead him: “All you have to do is tell me [what to do]” (p. 366), reminiscent of the incident when Kate says to Binx, "If you tell me what to do, I may be okay." In the end Binx tells her to take this bus, bring this here, etc. so Binx can get on with what he has to do that day. Contrastingly, Will takes charge in the last scene. Is that a victory for Will as it is for Binx?

 

16.  Would you agree with this conclusion about the two novels? The end of each book is some version of get over yourself and learn to care for another, and prepare yourself to accept G-d's grace. The engineer will marry Kitty and take care of her and love her and be loved by her. And with all of the goings on with Jamie and the baptism, maybe some of it will affect his own acceptance of religion. As well, Sutter, influenced by the boy/man engineer, may learn a few things for himself.

 

17.  Will has a positive vision of his future with Kitty, specifically saying he plans “To make a contribution, however small” (p. 369). Who said these exact words in “The Moviegoer,” and what might that portend about Will’s plans?

 

18.  Finally, as scholarly readers, we try to explicate, interpret and even promote a writer’s work. A newspaper critic has a different mission, to evaluate the quality of a book. It might be fun to play critic and say a few words about which book you like best (or dislike!), and why.

 


Thank you for a great month of Percy!

Janet and Leonard

 


[i] For a surprising revelation about Percy’s first published novel, see Leonard Hughes’s “The Great Gatsby’s Southern Exposure: Walker Percy’s Debt to F. Scott Fitzgerald in The Moviegoer,” in the “Mississippi Quarterly,” vol. 73, no. 4, 2020.

 




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