A Study Of The Existential Consciousness In The Western Novels Of Cormac McCarthy

Existentialist movement of the 20th century has aroused people's awareness of the existential problem. As a continuation of the irrational tradition in the history of philosophy in the West, existentialism starts from the individual, holds that the individual is living in a meaningless cosmos, and states that only by his own choice could the individual find freedom and life's meaning in an absurd and hideous world. Made up of diversified theories of many thinkers, existentialism doesn't offer a particularly systematic account of its ideas. But the basic concerns of this philosophical school, which have been unified by the tenets that tend to recur in these thinkers'thoughts, have exerted a great influence on human minds as an important guideline of how to explore the world and the way of life. Cormac McCarthy's Westerns are richly tinged with existentialism. The questions discussed in these novels, which comprise the absence of the divine, nightmarish violence and cruel wars, solitary souls embittered by anxieties, and free, self-creating choice made by people in extreme conditions, have not only displayed the main concerns of Cormac McCarthy's western writing, but also revealed a kind of existential consciousness. Through a systematic and comprehensive interpretation, this thesis proves that themes of McCarthy's Westerns are essentially corresponding to the basic tendencies of the existentialism, and thus sheds light on the existential consciousness in these works.This thesis consists of five chapters.Chapter One introduces the background of this thesis, Cormac McCarthy and his Westerns, as well as the trend of existential thinking. This chapter also explores the availability of the existential approach to Cormac McCarthy's Westerns, gives a review of relevant studies, and brings forward the objective of this study.Chapter Two mainly discusses the nothingness of Cormac McCarthy's West. Existentialists reject the possibility of any pre-given meanings. They stress that nothingness not only coils at the heart of the world, but also serves as the foundation for human freedom. In Cormac McCarthy's Westerns, collapsed churches and the indifference of God imply that the protagonists are drifting away from their spiritual havens. And extreme violence and atrocious wars, in the meantime, further remind them how flimsy is that human world in which they thought themselves so securely grounded.Chapter Three is a survey of the protagonists' existential experiences. Putting emphasis on individual's subjective experiences, existentialists believe that emotions are direct reflections of human existential situations. As orphans or social outcasts, Cormac McCarthy's western protagonists taste their existences in alienations, and they often resort to violence or nostalgic visions to unleash their perplexities and anxieties about living. Chapter Four is an analysis of the protagonists'awareness of authenticity and their pursuit of it. Only after being aware of the finiteness of his existence, according to existentialists, can the individual approach his mineness and hence make choices to take the responsibility of journeying to be authentic. In McCarthy's Westerns, the harsh life has already forced the protagonists to form the notion of their own deaths. Moreover, when facing adversarial dominating powers, they have observed their inner codes by making brave choices and heroic rebellions, and in this way they have preserved their human dignity and achieved authenticity.Chapter Five is conclusion. Based on the foregoing studies, this chapter indicates that Cormac McCarthy's Westerns and the existentialism share with a preoccupation with questions related to life and the world, and therefore the existential consciousness, which is embedded within Cormac McCarthy's Westerns, is virtually the embodiment of man's persistent pursuit of his own values.