Child of God by Cormac McCarthy
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Child of God was the second book by Cormac McCarthy that I read. I was really
surprised to learn about this book, since it seems like such an oddity to be
published in the early 1970s. The book tells the story of a loner, Lester
Ballard, who gradually experiences dispossession—from his house, from his
friends, and eventually from all people, retreating into a kind of primitive
existence in an abandoned house and eventually a cave where he creates his own
entertainment, to put it euphemistically. I found this book compelling, yet
disturbing. Lester was not a relatable character, yet I wanted to know more
about him and why he acted the way he did. He seemed to act without thinking
much, and he seemed to be prone to brutality and violence, seeing it as a much
more effective method of communication than talking or kindness. Maybe that
this the nature of this world or maybe McCarthy wanted to say something about
the harshness of society, especially by those who are deemed outcasts for
whatever reason. However, I also think that these kinds of themes of violence
and life were also apparent in his book Blood Meridian, sharing how the
violence in the frontier and expansion of the US potentially shaped our own
kind of ethos and beliefs about America. Maybe the later Blood Meridian
was related to Lester, exploring some of his forefathers and how violence is
inherited across generations. Regardless, this was an incredibly disturbing
story, but truly compelling. The kind of simple prose and style as well as the
spartan setting of the Tennessee mountains added to the interesting nature of
the story and Lester’s actions and their consequences.
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