SOURCE: Crowley, J. Donald, and Sue Mitchell Crowley. “Walker Percy's Grail.” In King Arthur Through the Ages, edited by Valerie M. Lagorio and Mildred Leake Day, pp. 255-75. New York: Garland Publishing Inc., 1990.

In the following essay, the Crowleys expound on Percy's Christian vision as it is expressed in his fiction and nonfiction, noting that the author often used Arthurian motifs in his writing to embody a Southern code of Stoicism. The critics also point out that despite Percy's theological stance, he did not shy away from using the Grail quest to parody the chivalric code associated with the South.

In the concept of the Second Coming the motif of Withdrawal-and-Return attains its deepest spiritual meaning. … In the myth of the Second Coming of Arthur, … the vanquished Britons consoled themselves for the failure of the historic Arthur to avert the ultimate victory of the English barbarian invaders.

—Arnold...