Cultural myths on Cormac McCarthy's southwestern novels

This study discusses cultural myths of the western frontier in the last three novels of Cormac McCarthy. Blood Meridian's violence is considered in the context of cultural shifts occurring during the Vietnam era. These changes are traced as part of the emergence of New Western History, escalating violence in popular films, and postmodern literary techniques. Another major source for Blood Meridian is examined in turn-of-the-century literary naturalism. The novel relies on many of naturalism's conventions, including the grotesque, determinism, and Darwinism.;Three mythic narratives from the classical western genre are studied: the progress myth, the primitive-pastoral myth, and the rites of initiation myth. All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing are conventionally-structured westerns employing protagonists which demonstrate the attributes of primitive heroes.