Study On The Absurdist Thought In Cormac Mc Carthy’s Blood Meridian

Cormac Mc Carthy, as an outstanding figure in contemporary American literary circles, becomes a world-renowned author for his westerns, which include Blood Meridian, The Border Trilogy and No Country for Old Men. Mc Carthy’s works have already enjoyed great popularity in Northern America and his reputation is steadily on the increase in recent years, among which Blood Meridian is universally acknowledged as his masterpiece. With U.S.-Mexico border in the mid-19 th century as the background, this fiction depicts recklessly cruel massacre process of the scalp-hunting gang led by Judge Holden and Glanton on the southwestern wilderness as well as an unnamed kid’s arduous journey of survival. Through genuine replay of that period of barbaric and painful history, Mc Carthy attempts to take on the kid’s humane radiance of courageous challenge against the vicious power, and displays his profound reflection upon war and human living circumstances. Time magazine considers this fiction as one of the 100 best English-language novels.In terms of abundant implication and distinctive artistry, scholars at home and abroad have approached Blood Meridian from diversified perspectives, which are mainly led by the research on the nature of violence, eco-criticism, nihilism, historical consciousness and frontier ideology in the novel. As for Mc Carthy’s absurdist thought which is reflected in the fiction, few people touch upon it. This thesis attempts to regard the “absurd” as an entry point and provides the possibility of interpreting the fiction from the perspective of the absurd in combination of the theory of absurdist literature and Camus’ s absurd philosophy. Mc Carthy is hailed as master of black humor, whereas, this literary school itself belongs to the absurdist literature. In fact, there contains a certain degree of absurd features between the lines and this paper’s significance lies in manifesting his absurdist thought.This thesis is composed of three parts, an introduction, the main body and a conclusion.The first part is the introduction, which briefly generalizes Mc Carthy’s professional career and literary achievements. Besides, this section summarizes content of Blood Meridian as well as academic research at home and abroad concerning this work. Meanwhile, this part indicates that the research significance of this thesis lies in interpreting Mc Carthy’s absurdist thought through analyzing absurd narration and value orientation of the novel.The second part is the main body, which is divided into three chapters.Chapter One interprets briefly Mc Carthy’s absurdist inclination through analyzing the origins that shape his absurdist thought, which stems from philosophical origin, social and historical origin, and religious origin. First, literary work itself is the carrier of philosophical thought. The formation of his absurdist thought is greatly influenced by irrationalism, especially represented by Camus’ s existentialist philosophy and Nietzsche’s “superman” philosophy. Deeply influenced by Camus, Mc Carthy adopts a disobedient and optimistic attitude towards the absurd world and life, which is in consistent with literature of the absurd. In addition, similar to Nietzsche’s relatively radical thinking, Mc Carthy in Blood Meridian reflects on realistic absurdity and restores the meaning of life. Second, social, economic and political background as well as the absurd era the author lives in makes him keenly experience and bitterly unveil the absurdity of the war. The thesis then points out that his acceptance of the Bible and Gnosticism is one of the factors that produce his absurdist thought.Chapter Two analyses meticulously the text and mainly expounds on the specific reflection of Mc Carthy’s absurdist thought in Blood Meridian from the aspects of character, image, plot and narrative strategy. The first part interprets absurd characters in the fiction and indicates the kid’s and the idiot’s distinct responses to absurd living conditions as well as the inevitable tragic destiny of underclass people under the judge’s majesty and dominion. The second part appreciates absurd images in the fiction with the illustration of “blood meridian”, “Judge’s Holden’s smile” and “fire”. The third part discusses Mc Carthy’s preference for the description of extreme violence and ugliness in terms of the plot. In the end, this chapter explains the narrative strategy from the aspects of narrative viewpoint and absurd stylistic features.Chapter Three expounds deeply on the profound connotation and practical significance of Mc Carthy’s absurdist thought in Blood Meridian. First, this section respectively elaborates on his reflection upon the realistic absurdity in the fiction from nature and war, alienated humanity and intense interpersonal relationship, and convergence between history and reality. Subsequently, the second part attempts to disclose humanistic care behind his absurdist thought and further suggests severe shortage of feminine concern. The final part elucidates the meditation on the value orientation under Mc Carthy’s absurdist thought in the novel.The last part is the conclusion, which summarizes the above main body as well as illustrates the practical significance that contained in Blood Meridian. First and foremost, this thesis discusses the various sources of Mc Carthy’s absurdist thought. Then, it expounds on the specific reflection of his absurdist thought in the novel. Ultimately, this paper elaborates on deep connotation and value orientation behind the author’s absurdist thought. He reconstructs the value on the absurd ruins and conveys humane concern behind the astonishing despair. Furthermore, the author leaves the readers with a glimmer of hope through the depiction of the kid’s resistance against Judge Holden and the image of “fire” in the epilogue, which revives human being’s concern over the spiritual home.