The Second Coming Study Guide

Section 1 - Will Barrett, roughly 48 years old, is depressed. While playing golf, a game at which he normally excels, he falls down for no apparent reason. He begins to have episodes of flashbacks where he appears to enter a trance for several seconds at a time. He finds his own life and the lives of others to be farcical and he concludes that he will shoot himself. His regular golf partner, Dr. Vance Battle, is concerned that, perhaps, Will has a serious medical condition - perhaps a brain lesion. Will and Vance discuss Will's possible medical condition during their golf game; Vance postulates that Will may have some sort of brain lesion. Will tends to focus on concepts or events that he deems as factual, while in fact the concepts or events are fictive. Nevertheless, Will plays a solid game of golf that seems to vindicate his claim of excellent health and mental aptitude. (read more)