The Second Coming

The Second Coming is a novel by Walker Percy published in 1980. It is the sequel to Percy’s 1966 novel The Last Gentleman, continuing the story of Will Barrett as a middle-aged man. The Second Coming explores issues prevalent across Percy’s novels: existential crisis in the modern age and the search for philosophical meaning in life. Like many of Percy’s other works, the novel utilizes the setting of the American South and contemplates how the legacy of war, racial discrimination, and cultural secularization have resulted in widespread alienation and a general crisis of faith.

This guide is based on the edition published by Farrer, Straus & Giroux in 1980.

Content Warning: This work and this guide extensively discuss suicide, and suicide attempts are depicted in this novel.

Plot Summary

The Second Coming follows the character of Will Barrett, the protagonist of Percy’s 1966 novel The Last Gentleman. Many years after his pivotal trip with the Vaught family, Will Barrett has retired to North Carolina, concluding a successful career as a lawyer in New York City. His wife, Marion Peabody, was a woman with disabilities and the heiress to a large fortune.