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ABSTRACT Walker Percy and the Catholic Sacraments Rhea Scott

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ABSTRACT Walker Percy and the Catholic Sacraments Rhea Scott ABSTRACT Walker Percy and the Catholic Sacraments Rhea Scott Rasnic, Ph.D. Mentor: Ralph C. Wood, Ph.D. A noticeable void in Walker Percy studies is the absence of a full- length theological analysis of his treatment of the Catholic sacraments, an unfortunate omission considering the place they occupy in his work. This project will attempt to fill that void, specifically exploring Percy’s presenta- tion of the sacraments in his fiction, focusing on both the theological and lit- erary implications of Catholic sacramental theology. The impetus for the theological discussion is prompted by Henri de Lubac’s claim that the sacraments are by their very nature communal rather than individualistic. In the bulk of Percy’s work, we see the importance of community within the Christian life, and the sacraments play a crucial role in establishing such community. This theological treatment of his novels will also supplement previous Percy criticism, much of which deals with his phi- losophical relevance to the detriment of his Catholicism, by focusing primar- ily on the specifically Catholic elements in his novels. In addition to these theological concerns, I argue that Percy’s early-mid fiction (The Moviegoer, The Last Gentleman, Love in the Ruins, and Lancelot) are superior novels due partly to Percy’s respect for the inherent “mystery” of the sacraments. In his last two novels (The Second Coming and The Thana- tos Syndrome) the sacraments occupy a less significant role, having been re- placed with either sentimental romanticism (The Second Coming) or a horta- tory, moralizing tone (The Thanatos Syndrome). By his last novel, Percy re- lies upon the vocabulary of Catholicism to express his seething contempt for modernity, rather than the subtle sacramental theology we see in his early fiction. The unfortunate literary consequence is fiction more prescriptive than descriptive, more dogmatic than ironic. Walker Percy and the Catholic Sacraments by Rhea Scott Rasnic, B.A., M.A., M.Div. A Dissertation Approved by the Department of English ___________________________________ Dianna M. Vitanza, Ph.D., Interim Chairperson Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Baylor University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Approved by the Dissertation Committee ___________________________________ Ralph C. Wood, Ph.D., Chairperson ___________________________________ Joe B. Fulton, Ph.D. ___________________________________ David L. Jeffrey, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Sarah K. Ford, Ph.D. ___________________________________ Rosalie Beck, Ph.D. Accepted by the Graduate School December 2007 ___________________________________ J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean Copyright © 2007 by Rhea Scott Rasnic All rights reserved TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments vi Dedication vii Chapter 1. Introduction 1 Walker Percy’s Intellectual and Theological Pilgrimage 5 The 20th Century Catholic Renascence 14 Henri de Lubac and 20th Century Catholic Theology 18 Henri de Lubac and Walker Percy: A Natural Synthesis 23 2. This We Believe: Binx Bolling and the Backward Quest for the Community of Faith in The Moviegoer 30 Binx’s Solitary Malaise: The Necessity of the Search 33 Binx’s Quest for Community 35 Lonnie Smith and the Sacramental Life 38 Binx’s Sacramental Journey 41 Binx’s Leap of Faith 45 The Soldier’s Futility and the Necessity of the Sacramental Life 49 3. Ex Opere Operato: Baptism and Christian Community in The Last Gentleman 55 Will Barrett: The Peregrine’s Rift 56 Rita Vaught: The Humanist’s Love 64 iv Sutter Vaught: The Moral Pornographer 65 Val Vaught: Militant Catholicism 68 Jamie Vaught: Ex Opere Operato 71 4. “Eating Christ”: The Eucharist and the Return to Community in Love in the Ruins 82 Communion Lost: Tom More’s Abandonment of Christian Community 87 Communion Regained: Tom More’s Return to the Sacramental Life 98 5. Sic et Non: Sacramental and Anti-Sacramental Confession in Lancelot 109 Lancelot: Diary of a Madman 110 Lancelot’s Diagnosis: An Indictment of Modernity 113 Lancelot’s Solution: A Brave New World of the Strong and Pure 118 Confession or Apologetic? The Sacraments in Lancelot 121 Father John’s Return 126 Percy’s Kierkegaardian Indirection 131 The Foreshadowing of Percy’s Literary Decline 134 6. Conclusion: Sacramental Shadows in Percy’s Later Fiction 140 Percy’s Literary and Theological Decline 140 The Second Coming: Sentimental Romanticism vs. Sacramental Matrimony 142 The Thanatos Syndrome: The Moralist’s Rage 148 v Conclusion 154 Works Cited 161 vi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been completed without the encour- agement, hard work, and support of various individuals. First, I would like to thank my director, Ralph Wood, for directing this dissertation and, more- over, for introducing me to the works of Walker Percy. He has been a true doktorvater in every possible way. His insightful, penetrating criticism was always balanced with the encouragement necessary to finish this project. He has ever been the model of a Christian scholar, and for that I will always be grateful. I would also like to thank the following members of my committee: David Jeffrey for his crucial help regarding de Lubac and the dissertation’s methodology; Joe Fulton for offering countless suggestions regarding my in- terpretation of Percy’s novels; Sarah Ford for making invaluable recommen- dations concerning the first major revision; Rosalie Beck for agreeing to serve as outside reader from the Religion Department and for reminding me that “history matters.” I could not have asked for a better dissertation committee and will always be thankful for their concern and helpful advice. Much gratitude is due the English department of Baylor University, especially Graduate Director Robert Ray, who generously supported me dur- ing my graduate studies with various forms of funding. The department is fortunate to have two excellent Administrative Assistants in Lois Avey and Amber Adamek, and I am thankful for their help. Thanks also to Sandra vii Harman of the Graduate School for her patience and guidance in formatting the dissertation. I would also like to offer my appreciation to the department of Liberal Arts at McLennan Community College for providing me with many opportunities to hone my teaching skills. I have been fortunate during my life to have many good teachers serve as role models in both teaching and scholarship. I would especially like to thank various professors from my time at King College, the University of Virginia, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Baylor University: John Craig McDonald, Anthony Petrotta, Linda Mills Woolsey, and Stephen Woolsey; Langdon Gilkey, E. D. Hirsch, Jr., James Nohrnberg, and Richard Rorty; Diogenes Allen, Bruce McCormack, and Wentzel van Huyssteen; David Jef- frey, Scott Moore, and Ralph Wood. More than I deserve, I have been blessed with many friends and family who have provided support and encouragement throughout the years. I would especially like to thank my parents, the late Rhea and Peggy Rasnic. I will always be grateful for the lessons they taught and the sacrifices they made. I miss them dearly. Finally, no words can express the thanks due to my wife, Deanna. She has borne more than her share of the burden of this dissertation and deserves more credit than I can ever offer her. Her love and friendship made this work possible. viii For Deanna ix CHAPTER ONE Walker Percy and the Catholic Sacraments Throughout his fiction, Walker Percy (1916-1990) offers a vision of the world in which God’s grace works in the lives of men and women through the Catholic sacraments, those “efficacious signs of grace, instituted by Christ and entrusted to the Church, by which divine life is dispensed to us” (CCC 1131). By examining his novels in light of this emphasis, we can see how the sacraments, properly understood, help rescue Percy’s characters from the dangers of the solitary and self-absorbed life. The theological impetus for this discussion is prompted by Catholic theologian Henri de Lubac’s claim that the sacraments are by their very nature communal rather than indi- vidualistic. De Lubac argues that the grace “produced and maintained by the sacraments does not set up a purely individual relationship between the soul and God or Christ” (Catholicism 82). Rather, “each individual receive[s] such grace in proportion as he is joined, socially, to that one body whence flows this saving life-stream” (Catholicism 82). This understanding of the social nature of the Catholic sacraments will prove invaluable as we examine the importance of sacramental theology in Percy. This specific theological analysis of Percy’s novels will also supplement Percy criticism that fails to address the specifically Catholic facets of his fic- tion. Because of Percy’s admitted predilection for existentialism,1 especially 1 Kierkegaard, he has often been characterized as an existentialist novel- ist/philosopher, one who also happens to be Catholic.2 If the Catholic ele- ments are addressed, they are either dismissed as “no longer viable” (Quinlan 9) or treated only as generic Christian “themes.” Many critics (e.g. Allen Pridgen) have discussed at length the sacramentalism in Percy’s fiction, but little attention has been paid to Percy’s concrete presentation of the sacra- ment themselves. Thus, this dissertation focuses primarily on the specifically Catholic elements in his novels, 3 especially his presentation of the sacraments, using Henri de Lubac as a primary guide. Though we have no evidence that de Lubac significantly influenced Percy, he nevertheless sets out the categories and concerns of Catholic sacramental theology. As a theological representa- tive of the Catholic Renascence, de Lubac provides useful lenses through which Percy’s work can be interpreted. Michael Kobre has also argued that Percy’s fiction has a decidedly Bakhtinian “dialogic” quality (Tolson 279). Thus has Percy’s philosophical voice been most often studied.4 This disserta- tion, by contrast, addresses the sacramental voice—Percy’s fictional represen- tation of Catholic sacramental theology—a much too neglected aspect of Percy’s fiction.
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