Abstract: In “The Jolly Corner,” an expatriate makes “his return” to New York after thirty-three years in Europe. He soon becomes obsessed with how he might have turned out had he stayed in America and taken over the family business. So he spends twenty-four days in November exploring his ancestral brownstone in search of his “pure American” doppelganger. James, whose fiction often touches upon religious themes, utilizes the approaching Advent (“Arrival”) season as discreet background for this tale about a “wanderer” who, in the autumn of life, seeks a second chance at being an American. Hence, the tale is about “his arrival,” his Second Coming.
Terry W. Thompson (Thu,) studied this question.