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Subject: Percy-L: Literary, Religious, Scientific, and Philosophical Discussion of Walker Percy
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- From: lowry.charles AT gmail.com
- To: "and Philosophical Discussion Percy-L: Literary Religious Scientific" <percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: [percy-l] A Small Note
- Date: Thu, 24 Jul 2025 10:45:30 -0400
There have been some profound and original reflections offered on Walker
Percy generally and The Last Gentleman in particular, by several list
members.
My note here is about a small point raised by Janet: she hoped that someone
would identify the scene in The Moviegoer which contains the “just try to do
a little good and leave the world a better place” sentiment found near the
end of The Last Gentleman. In The Moviegoer, Binx is accosted by Nell
Lovell, his cousin, who expounds to him on the topic of her new, meaningful
life.
<<“Eddie and I have re-examined our values and found them pretty darn
enduring. To our utter amazement we have discovered that we both have the
same life goal. Do you know what it is?”
“No.”
“To make a contribution, however small, and leave the world just a little
better off.”>>
She explains the mechanism: “—we gave the television to the kids and last
night we turned on the hi-fi and sat by the fire and read The Prophet aloud.”
Three observations:
(I) The younger members of the list may without prejudice or judgment consult
their elders to inquire what exactly a hi-fi is, or was.
(Ii) This passage is not without a serious point. The obvious derision and
satire expressed in this passage are clear indications of Percy’s horror of
what Kierkegaard called “cheap grace,” what today’s cultural critics call
“virtue signaling.”
(Iii) This passage contains a great example of a recurrent Percy technique,
mentioning in a derogatory way phenomena of popular culture. I graduated
from high school in 1967, and I can affirm that in 1967 and for a year or two
before that, every sensitive soul in the United States would not be caught
dead without a visible copy of The Prophet. It is even possible to imagine
that cynical souls—oh the horror—carried visible copies for the sole purpose
of engaging the attention of the sensitive souls. Another example from The
Moviegoer: “Monks have their Compline; I have ‘This We Believe.’” In this
example Percy abandons all subtlety as Binx openly ridicules the guests of
“This We Believe .” A more nuanced example of this technique, possibly
passed over by more contemporary readers, occurs toward the beginning of
Chapter 5 of The Last Gentleman, in Will’s conversation with Val. Will
reacts to Val’s meticulous attentions to the hawk: “It scandalized him
slightly, like the Pope making a fuss over a canary.” At the time of the
publication of The Last Gentleman, Pope Pius XII had been dead eight years.
It was widely known (pictures are easily available on the internet even
today) that Pius XII had several pet birds who were his only dinner
companions. No silliness was safe from Percy’s scorn.
Thanks again to everyone for a rewarding summer read.
Chuck Lowry
Brooklyn, New York
-
[percy-l] A Small Note,
lowry . charles, 07/24/2025
- Re: [percy-l] A Small Note, Doug Brown, 07/24/2025
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