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

[Thomas Gollier <tgollier AT gmail.com>]

Mike,

Sorry for the ambiguity in what I wrote. In reading Lancelot I felt all along that he was talking to God
— primarily because he wasn't getting any answers — and I didn't realize until pretty far along that this
other character was Percival. It was not a conversation with God but a conversation with another

seeker of the Holy Grail. This was even better, more Walker Percy to me, but either way, God or Percival

was already dead or beyond life, and when I wrote "he too" I was referring to Lance dying in the
explosion along with the others in the house.

So when Percival says "yes," he still has to tell Lance that he too is no longer living, and what they
have been discussing all along has been what "heaven" is, or should be. If I can go further out on the
limb here, I'd posit that "heaven" (as well as "hell") is how and what we are with ourselves. Unlike

how we maintain ourselves with others intersubjectively and with things objectively, there can be no

dishonesty or pretense about who we are with ourselves. If there is, that subjective self will evaporate. If
that is what heaven or hell is, what we are with ourselves, then that can be one thing for Lance and
another for Percival, and while we are living, that subjective self is a "poison" to the social and
objective selves of being alive among others and things. Lance's confession all along seems to be the
story of that poisonous influence in his life and how it became his redemption at the end.

That view of "heaven" is probably no less ambiguous than what I wrote the first time, but in my defense, I
think it's what makes art art ("poetic writing" that also involves "poetic thought" as Wallace Stevens
put it). Anyway, I'm not trying to substantiate all this; I'm just trying to describe the vista Percy opened

up in my own imagination. I'd certainly be interested in your take on it.

Thanks,
Tom

On Thu, Jul 16, 2020 at 1:49 PM Michael Larson <larsonovic AT gmail.com> wrote:

Tom,

Thanks for the note. I find the idea that Percival has died in the explosion to be intriguing. Would his final visit to Lance then be that of a ghost? Are you suggesting that what he has to tell Lance comes from beyond the grave?

I'm not following the end of your thought, though. They might have two different ideas of heaven, but I don't see how there can be poison in both ideas, especially if we allow, as the two men do, that it cannot be both, objectively. And further, though they might both "pick" an idea, the reality remains indifferent to their choices. It just is what it is.

But do steer me differently if I have not understood your meaning.

Best,

Mike