Multiple Interpretation Of The Violence Theme In Cormac McCarthy Works

Cormac McCarthy is a clear stylized writer with violence throughout his works. From the south fiction to historical theme, from the western novel to the novels that show the ethics reflections, different themes can be found in the his works. McCarthy use violence to show reflections of humanity and civilization. Through analyzing and researching the violence theme in McCarthy works, we can be find that the violent world shaped by McCarthy is the virtual world of mirror, which reflects the ultimate meaning of history; through shaping the image of Satan-like figure and cold killer characters McCarthy shows reflections on death philosophy and ethics issue; McCarthy’s works inherit and develop from the western novel and the "border trilogy" recreates the destruction of the natural environment of industrial civilization. Under this environment, Cowboys are confused by the state identity and self identity, thus the confusion promote them to choose vagabondage to grow up; in the end of the world, McCarthy writes events and actions in the father and son’s journey to discuss salvation of humanity and ethics. In addition to rendering the multiplicity of themes, features in McCarthy novel are also very unique. McCarthy’s novel uses a large number of non-punctuation long sentences to show the chaos of violence occurred. The description of the scenes of violence is accurate and objective which highlights the hidden meaning behind the violence. Dream narrative, journey narrative, diary narrative, theme of growth are used to enrich the artistic features of novels. Thus, we can say that McCarthy’s understanding of violence is profound. McCarthy’s description of violence is under scrutiny. Violence in McCarthy’s novels is not only for violence, but also to enhance the expression of multiple themes through violence.