Search for the Meaning of Life
Will Barrett is the main character in Walker Percy's The Last Gentleman. In addition to finding meaning and purpose to his life, Will must try to make some sense and understand why his father committed suicide in order to resolve his ongoing grief. Suicide survivors experience dramatic shock and trauma and are often left with questions such as why their loved one killed themselves, and what could have been done to prevent the suicide. Unfortunately, the survivors usually cannot find answers to these questions and only end up harming themselves. They end up staying in the shadow of that tragedy for more than one person should. At the tender age of nineteen, Will not only has the usual identity search of a young man, but he also has a special and time-consuming burden to overcome the heightened feelings of guilt, shame, and rejection caused by his father's suicide. In the end, Jamie and Sutter Vaught, as adopted family, help Will find meaning in life and resolution with his father's suicide. Suicide may be the least forgivable sin of all human betrayals; Ed Barrett selfishly committed suicide, leaving himself dead and unable to answer his son's questions. The straw that broke the camels b
Will now knows who he is, and since he feels he mattered in Jamie's life, he feels he can make a difference in Sutter's as well. Although the baptism and death of Jamie brings Will and Sutter together, it is the aftermath that reminds of the events that lead to Ed Barrett's suicide. Whatever the source of this despair leading to suicide, Will's father has failed to grasp the most important purpose of life; one does not have to save the world or right all the wrongs, but he just has to touch the lives of a few people. It is Sutter who physically constrains Jamie and hastens the priest to finish when he fears Jamie is dying, making it obvious he too wants his brother baptized. A moment passes between the two, and as Sutter takes off in his Edsel, a final question occurs to Will. I, Will Barrett-' and he actually pointed to himself lest there be a mistake, '-need you and want you to come back. After the baptism is complete, Will "contented himself with wringing the priest's hand warmly and thanking him twice" (Percy 407). Will certainly must feel a sense of self-worth and some resolution with the grief he has struggled with; in the aftermath scene with Sutter, he reestablishes a new sense of normalcy and purpose, helping to heal the trauma from his father's suicide. Will is determined that he will find in Sutter the father who chooses not to die but to live. The fornicators, bribers, the hypocrites, they were all the enemies of Mr. Through his determination and increased confidence, Will weakens Sutter's resistance. Therefore, after Jamie dies, a suspicious Will asks Sutter Vaught where he is going and tells him to wait. However, unlike Will's father, Sutter is willing to talk about suicide. Unlike Will's unsuccessful appeal for his father to stay, this appeal is authoritative because Will finally has begun to identify himself. The strongest appeal Will could make to his father, out of his longing for his father to love him and accept him, was rejected by his father.
Common topics in this essay:
Ed Barrett,
Sutter Vaught,
Ed Barrett's,
Father Boomer,
Boomer Jamie,
Percy's Gentleman,
Barrett Sutter,
Unlike Will's,
Jamie Vaught's,
Despite Sutter's,
ed barrett,
sutter vaught,
father's suicide,
ed barrett's,
santa fe,
percy 407,
life barrett,
purpose life,
jamie sutter,
sense normalcy purpose,
percy 403,
ed barrett sutter,
baptism death jamie,
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Acceptance Essays
