On The Inheritance And Breakthrough Of The "Border Trilogy" Of Cockmark McCarthy To The Tradition Of American Western Novels

Cormac McCarthy made a exploration on the tradition of American western novels in The Border Tradition. No matter on the portray of the characters or on the writing of pastoral theme as well as the re-examination of the frontier spirit and its tradition, The Border Trilogy realized the inheritances and breakthroughs of traditional western novels.Cowboys were the soul of western novels. In a way of bildungsroman, The Border Trilogy depicted two main characters----John Grady and Billy Parham, who took a risk in the border area between Texas in USA and Northern Mexico. Developing from traditional cowboys, John and Billy were modern cowboys. Meanwhile, they had their own idiosyncrasy. The perception to the essence of the world and his distinct moral sense made John Grady create a modern myth in a disordered western world. Depending on the practical spirit, Billy Parham witnessed the decline of western culture on their journeys. Besides, McCarthy depicted many characters and in the meantime, a new love relationship between American cowboys and maidens, providing a new angle for forecasting the development of modern border society, but the females in The Border Trilogy still belonged to the traditional western femalesOn the subject delineation, The Border Trilogy returned to pastoral theme of traditional western novels. In recounting the story of "American Adam" seeking the garden of Eden in western wild, The Border Trilogy described a modern pastoral where the conflict between civilization and nature had deepened. Further more, confrontation between civilization, represented as machinery, and nature, represented as wild field and cultivated land, was emphasized everywhere in the books. In the unsolvable confrontation, McCarthy established the "eco-pastoral" ideal through painting the beautiful scenery on the border and laying stress on the animals’life virtues, which represented as horses and wolves.In the exploration for new land and frontier tradition, McCarthy reminds his readers of the past western history through narrating the romance of his cowboy heroes on the Southwest border, extolling their bravery and aggressiveness. Unlike traditional frontier, the border in The Border Trilogy, where McCarthy’s cowboy heroes created a new myth, is closely associated with Mexican land and its history. Meanwhile, McCarthy pondered the essence of violence that haunting the western history. He explored the violent impulse existing inside of human’s heart by showing millions of external violence acts, aiming at reflecting on the destructive catastrophes that wars pressed on human beings.On the whole, The Border Trilogy achieved inheritance and breakthroughs for traditional western novels in characters’ shaping, thematic expression and terms of ideology. In addition, the achievements were derived from the facts that McCarthy not only followed the traditions of western novels, one of American native literary forms, but also closely connected his works with the era that he lived in. Therefore, The Border Trilogy energized the traditional western novels, bringing the legendary about cowboys back to the attention of readers at the same time.