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Topic: McCarthy's Southern Works
Thread: Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works

Total messages for all days: 10

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	John F	7/7/2007
Read the Douglas Canfield piece about Oedipal complexities. Edwin Arnold is quoted as saying The Stonemason is the clearest and most delineated example of conflict between a father and a son. What about Holden and the kid??? We don't know exactly what happens in the jakes, but we do know, at minimum, a massive bear hug was applied. Before that, we know that gunfire was exchanged between the two characters. They try to kill each other. Talk about clear conflict. Crystal clear conflict of the life-or-death variety. What could represent clear conflict more than the father figure actually killing the son??? Please reconsider your position. Give it a rethink.

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	arnoldet	7/7/2007
Thanks for the advice, John F., but if I'm going to shift my position, it would be toward "The Road," not "Blood Meridian." Actually, the kid does not try to kill the judge, as you suggest.

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	mray	7/8/2007
And on a literal level the Judge and the kid are not father and son.

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	pahasapaian	7/8/2007
Yes--"would've loved you like a son" is about as close as that gets. And Chip, you're being gracious there: the kid refuses to try to kill the judge when he has his best chance (while he and Tobin are hiding).

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	Stephen Davis	7/8/2007
I think there is a conflict between John Grady and his father in ATPH, as well as (not really Oedipal but almost) Alejandra and Rocha.

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	mff8785	7/8/2007
Chip, A bit off topic, but I figure you'd be one in-the-know as much as anyone. Did you hear about a recently recovered Faulkner Vampire script that is in production?

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	Glass	11/15/2009
"He pulled the boy closer. Just remember the things you put into your head are there forever. You might want to think about that." (The Road p. 12 pb) Haggard sees a lot of similarities between his son and his father. "One time I took Ben fishing when he was about six," he says. "The sun was so that you could see the fish in the water. Boy, the fish were bigger than him. He said, 'I don't want to fish here.' And I said, 'Why?' And he said, 'If I hook one of them, they'd pull me in.' I said, 'No, Ben, I'll hold on to you, go ahead.' 'No.' I said, 'Now look, goddamn it, we come down here to fish, man.' He said, 'Dad, let's not make a bad memory.' A six-year-old kid...I realized I was dealing with somebody that was an old soul." (Merle Haggard the Fighter, Rolling Stone, Oct. 1, 2009)

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	Glass	12/19/2009
Would the man have gone to such lengths to survive if his son weren't so good?

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	Ken	12/19/2009
No... However, the father believes anything the son does is good (the son is the father's standard for what is "good"), and that everyone else is a potential bad guy and is treated as such.

Fathers Vs. Sons In McCarthy's Works	Clement	12/19/2009
I think we can assume it was impossible for the son to be anything but good because he had no models for bad behavior until we join them in the narrative at a point where the father will occaisonally lapse.

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