[percy-l] New Member Greeting

Beck, David A dabeck at iupui.edu
Thu Mar 1 22:12:33 EST 2012


Harry,

Another way of reading Lancelot is to see Fr. John as the main 
character (my students have a hard time at first seeing this). He is 
the one who really changes. He moves from a crisis in faith (not 
wearing his "priest clothes" at the beginning and refusing to pray for 
the the dead, etc.) to redemption (wearing his priest clothes, turning 
from the window and looking at Lance eye-to-eye (intersubjectivity) and 
taking a parish in Alabama).

Frankly, I don't see that much change in Lance. And, what change I do 
see, isn't good.

As for someone's comment about LIR being too preachy: I'd like to hear 
in what way. I just re-read it over the summer for the 
I-don't-know-how-many-times and have never seen it (or any of his 
novels) as "preachy." If fact, most my students "miss" the Christianity 
part (I've only taught The Moviegoer, Love in the Ruins, and Lancelot 
(the latter goes over the best)).

Good to see some discussion again!

-David

Quoting Harry Whelchel <hhw3h at virginia.edu>:

> My name is Harry Whelchel and I am a 4th year at the University of
> Virginia majoring in Religious Studies and Economics. I am currently
> taking a class in our Religious Studies department taught by Prof.
> Bill Wilson and Prof. Vigen Guroian on the subject of Walker Percy
> and Flannery O'Connor. So far we have read The Loss of the Creature,
> Metaphor as Mistake, The Message in the Bottle, and Lancelot by
> Percy. We have read essays from O'Connor's Mystery and Manners as
> well as her first novel Wise Blood.
>
> I am interested in Percy to learn more about his works of fiction,
> philosophy, and the conversation surrounding him. Recently I wrote a
> paper on Lancelot detailing how the process itself of sharing his
> story with Percival allows Lancelot to apprehend narrative's power to
> convey sovereign experience. I then argued this apprehension changes
> the world view Lancelot had developed and leads Lancelot to be open
> to the possibility of God's existence (yet Percy leaves the reader
> uncertain as to whether Lancelot will accept or reject God's
> existence).
>
> The exercise of writing on Lancelot, a difficult work that I am sure
> I still do not fully grasp, led me to search for more academic
> resources on Percy. So I decided to join this listserv.
>
> Best,
>
> Harry Whelchel






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