Paul Austerʼs Moon Palace and Mr. Vertigo have often been defined as “frontier novels” because they are both set in the American West. However, due to the overt attention paid to the milieu, critics of these works have not completely analyzed the shared theme of father-son relationships. A careful analysis of the two works reveals that Moon Palace depicts main characters who aspire to become father figures butultimately fail to do so. In contrast, the protagonistʼs act of levitation in Mr. Vertigo, one of its biggest motifs, is depicted as an indicator of his moral development and degradation, which is heavily influenced by the father-son relationship that he establishes as “master and apprentice.” Based on this inference, this study demonstrates that the protagonistʼs eventual signs of re-levitation in Mr. Vertigo lead to the realization of an unsatisfied desire to become a father figure in Moon Palace
