The body of the novel is a monologue in which Binx narrates the events of the week of Ash Wednesday in New Orleans. Reviewers generally praised the novel's evocation of New Orleans, and in particular, Percy's descriptions of the white heron and the swimming snake that Binx sees while fishing with his mother. Although critics generally have been favorably impressed with Percy's ability to capture the physical sensations of a particular time and place, some have maintained that much of Binx's narration is intentionally flat, detached, and self-conscious. It is only in the epilogue, they point out, that Binx can speak directly and naturally.

There he addresses Kate, to whom he is now married, and comforts his brothers and sisters before Lonnie's impending death.

By the epilogue, according to Percy, Binx has made his Kierkegaardian "leap of faith" and returned to the religion of his mother's family. The...