The Second Coming, in providing a concrete, physical situation for philosophical and theological concerns, follows Percy's general approach, borrowed from the French existentialists.

Again, much of the philosophical framework is provided by Kierkegaard, although the theme of love as a redemptive power is certainly related to neo-Platonic thought, as seen in Dante's Divine Comedy, and the action of the novel is a reworking of the Christian myth of the Fall. A subplot — Will's attempt to come to terms with the suicide of his father, and his realization that his father had intended to kill him — is handled in a Faulknerian way, even though Percy is one of the few modern southern writers who was not strongly influenced by Faulkner.