“There is no God and we are his prophets”: Deconstructing Redemption in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road

摘要

Despite its overwhelmingly positive reception, the apparently redemptive conclusion to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (200616. McCarthy , C. 2006 . The Road , London : Picador . View all references) attracted criticism from some reviewers. They read in it an inconsistency with the nihilism that otherwise pervades the novel, as well as McCarthy’s other works. But what are they referring to when they interpret “redemption”, the “messianic” and “God” in McCarthy’s novel? Some introductory thoughts from apocalypse theory and deconstruction reveal a more nuanced approach that not only “saves” McCarthy from the charge of such critics. It also opens up more interesting avenues for exploring the theme of redemption and the messianic in contemporary disaster fiction.View full textDownload full textRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2011.525099