Breaking Shackles:Violence In Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian,No Country For Old Men And The Road

As a contemporary American writer,Cormac McCarthy is renowned for employing pervasive violence and exposing bloods-shed scenes in his works.A great deal of violence is frequently applied in most of Cormac McCarthy’s novels,which draws many critics’ attention and becomes a controversial subject discussed among them.Most people think no plots can be found in the novel except those pervasive violent scenes.The function of violence here means to show the darkness of human nature.Violence in his novel has a deeper meaning than the simple event of violence.The occurrence of violence lies in giving people a warning that it is time to recall the goodness of human nature and to get rid of the dark side.McCarthy reveals different forms of violence to readers in these three works.This thesis consists of five parts.The first part introduces Cormac McCarthy’s life experience,his writing style and the main contents of three novels.The violence in his works perfectly interprets the violence aesthetics in literary works.Then studies about McCarthy at home and abroad will be summarized and the significance of the research will also be put forward.The second part analyzes the source of violence:relentless desire of man.The greed and desire of human beings often bring about the conflicts between human and others,the contradiction between human and society and also the contradiction between man and himself.These contradictions lead to the occurrence of violence.The third part elaborates how violence is embodied in these three works by content analysis.The theme of violence is highlighted through contrasting male characters with female characters.Moreover,violence can be classified into physical violence and spiritual violence which cause great damage to characters.The setting of tragic ending reflects great destructive power of violence.The fourth part comes to show the underlying meaning of violence in three works.These three novels are representative works in McCarthy’s writing period,which fully reflects his concern about mankind and his expectation for future.McCarthy attempts to send out a warning to people that violence can only lead to destruction by presenting his readers a miserable world in which violence rules everything.Readers’ responses to these three works fully demonstrate McCarthy’s intention.He attempts to tell that people should return to their goodness and redeem themselves for their misbehaviors.In order to escape from men’s tragic fate in future,McCarthy tries to find a way to survive for human beings calling for protecting the nature.The last part draws a conclusion on the basis of summarizing the paper.The conclusion part puts forward a significance and realistic meaning of violence.From McCarthy to the whole literature studying the theme of violence,authors explore the complexity of human nature and stress the importance of keeping humanity.Violence novels are good reminders to advocate people’s goodness in heart.When facing violence,people should remember to remain goodness in heart as it is the only hope for human beings to achieve sustainable survival and development.