Honors Program
Honors in English
Date of Award
5-2013
Thesis Professor(s)
Michael Cody
Thesis Professor Department
Literature and Language
Thesis Reader(s)
Jesse Graves, Tom Lee
Abstract
In both Outer Dark and Child of God, McCarthy does a masterful job of blending the elements of Appalachian Gothic to present a novel that is darkly suspenseful and grimly thought-provoking. Outer Dark focuses on the complex incestuous relationship between a brother and sister and their interaction with others. The novel follows the two on a journey through the wilderness where they must cope with the unknown qualities of that wilderness, as well as the guilt stemming from their own behaviors. In Child of God, McCarthy explores the grotesque nature of a life lived in isolation and poverty in the mountains. This novel focuses more on an individual descent into the gruesome depths that illustrate the main character’s depravity. In these two novels McCarthy examines the darker side of life in Appalachia, and forces readers to question the purpose and meaning for the characters’ lives and actions.
Document Type
Honors Thesis - Open Access
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Gooding, Ava E., "McCarthy's Outer Dark and Child of God as Works of Appalachian Gothic Fiction." (2013). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 79. https://dc.etsu.edu/honors/79
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.