Process of Becoming The ‘Self’ In Walker Percy’s The Last Gentleman

Abstract

Existentialism is a philosophical movement which arose during the war periods of the twentieth century that addressed the issues of human existence including anxiety, alienation, life, death, and free will. The nineteenth century Danish philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard who is considered as the father of existentialism has contributed significantly to this philosophy even before it could germinate. This paper is an attempt to analyse the protagonist of Walker Percy’s second novel The Last Gentleman in the light of Kierkegaard’s theory of three stages of existence. The current study aims to show how the protagonist Williston Barrette explores his existential quest by passing through the aesthetic, ethical and religious stages of life to construct his identity.  The novel revolves around a twenty-five-year-old Southern gentleman Williston Barrette who is on a search for meaning in life and how his association with the Vaught family helps him to find his real ‘Self’.