An Interpretation Of The Crossing From The Perspecitve Of Sartre’s Existentialism

The Crossing is the masterpiece written by Cormac McCarthy in his three BorderTrilogies, and it is his famous border literature work. Meanwhile, it is also considered as aclassical work which founded the basis for McCarthy in his literature field.This novel tells the story of Billy’s three crossings from America to Mexico, and heendures frustration and grows continuously. In this growing procedure, he suffers a lot as anisolated being, but he never gives up the hope of life, faces the reality, though he has to killthe she-wolf, loses his parents and his only brother. He struggles to learn how to pursue thevalue of single being in the hardship. Existential philosophy’s aim is to research the humanexistence, the being of self and the existence of the single being with self-consciousness. Theself-consciousness is being-for-itself that denies the being-in-itself and creates it. So it directspeople to choose freely and takes his responsibilities and surpasses himself in reality. So mancan find the real man in himself through his own behaviorThis thesis contains mainly five parts. The first part is the introduction of McCarthy’slife and the plot of The Crossing; meanwhile, it includes the comments and research homeand abroad about this novel. The thesis is trying to use Sartre’s existentialism theory:“Existence Precedes Essence”,“being-for-itself”“free choice and responsibility” and“suffering and solitary in man’s life” are explicated in detail, and the theory of Sartre’sexistentialism is also explicated in the Introduction. The second Chapter is about Billy, as aprotagonist, who lives in the nihilistic life and never gives up himself, on this basis, thisthesis walks out of the stereotype of the research of the predecessors, and aims at a new angle,existentialism, to interpret the novel.This thesis’s body consists mainly of three parts. The first chapter uses Sartre’s theory asthe objective view. It introduces the history of Existentialism, and the thoughts of Sartre areemphasized, and those thoughts such as “the isolated and miserable life”,“ExistencePrecedes Essence”,“being-for-itself”“suffering and solitary in man’s life” and “free choiceand responsibility” are explicated in detail. As the protagonist, Billy not only endure the lossof his parents and his only brother, but also the loss the she-wolf he want to send to theMexico Mountains. What’s more, he can’t take his brother’s bones to their own countrysmoothly. At last, he is like the yellow dog lonely and homeless. The second chapter ismainly about the growth course of Billy in the three crossings to feel the sufferings and thesolitary. Sartre points out men are surrounded in the nihilistic world, and men are thrown intothe world as a miserable and alienated being. Thus, this part of the thesis mainly tells us the suffering and miserable life of Billy. Chapter three mainly explores Billy, as an independentindividual, after facing the nihility of life, though he suffers the threatening of solitary andhelplessness. He does not give up his hope, but faces his own life. In this kind ofexistentialism, he takes actions to have self-reflection and negation so that he can surpasshimself and create himself. He is trying to reflect himself and continuing to searching hisdream. And then he transcends himself and creates a new being. The third chapter tells us thatBilly, taking his responsibility and having his free choice, becomes the one different from theone before.The last part mainly talks about the behavior of Billy who persist his free choices andoptimistic action through three crossings, resisting the pressure and the obstacles from theoutside world. However, he takes all his responsibilities and creates a different self, who ismore mature than before. God can not determine all the things by himself, but man himselfcan do it through actions to create a new beings. All the things correspond with the theory ofSartre’s “Existence Precedes Essence”.