Independence Day | Literary Precedents

Independence Day Literary Precedents

Ford's novel is closely related to the Rabbit novels (see separate entries) of John Updike. The main character of those books, Harry Angstrom, also wrestles with his role and his life in modern America, and like Updike, Ford has returned to his narrator at different stages in his life to assess his current situation.

Ford's most important literary forebear, however, is Walker Percy, acknowledged by Ford as a tremendous influence on his style and worldview. In works like The Moviegoer (1961; see separate entry), Percy writes about men who are decent but who have difficulty relating to others, and who as a result are lost in themselves.

Binx Boiling, the narrator of The Moviegoer, suffers—like Frank—from a fear of making commitments. Binx works as a stock broker, and again like Frank, deludes himself into thinking that by communicating with people through commodities, by improving their financial...
(read more)