Isolation In Cormac Mccarthy's Child Of God

When a child is left alone in its most critical stage of development, it forms an insecure attachment towards the mother. This means that when the child gets older, their ability to trust is eroded due to the isolation they experienced as an infant. In most cases, this leads to the inability to form relationships and the underdevelopment of social skills. In Child of God, Cormac McCarthy uses perspective, symbolism, and theme to explore self imposed and societally inflicted isolation and to show the effect it has on one’s psyche.
Many individuals feel the need to turn to someone or something that brings them comfort when life gets intense. Most of the time, it turns out to be religion. The theme of religion (or lack thereof) is very covert

in this piece. The title portrays the main character Lester Ballard as a child of God and a Christian man. However, many find it to be the complete opposite. In the beginning of the story, the reader finds out that Ballard’s father’s farm no longer belongs to him when the first chapter explains that the house is being auctioned off. This event is supposedly the cause of his madness for the rest of the book. Ballard’s episodes of madness are what constitute him as a man of no religion. McCarthy writes, “A crazed gymnast laboring over a cold corpse.

He poured into that ear everything he'd ever thought of saying to a woman” (141). In this moment, Ballard had just found a couple naked and dead in their car after being shot in the head while having sex. After investigating the scene, he decides to get into the car and have a closer look. As soon as he is sure they are dead, Ballard pushes the guy off of the girl and begins to have sex with her corpse. He knew that what he was doing was wrong, yet lacked the morality to care. Many argue that Ballard is a mentally ill individual that commits putrid acts and therefore cannot be a child of God, while others say that no matter how strayed he is from morality, it only makes him all the more human. With the way that Ballard acts, it is apparent that the fact that he is ostracized by society only feeds his need to be alone and away from those that hurt him. McCarthy makes plenty of references to Ballard being inhuman throughout the entire book. According to Dianne C. Luce, the reason Ballard is considered a “child of God” is simply because he is human. But what constitutes a person as being human? “McCarthy emphasizes Ballard’s likeness to an animal in a range of behaviors...In short, Ballard’s behaviors cast him as merely one among many

nonhuman creatures of the fields, forests, and underworld” (Wood Nash). “climbed a ledge and went along it with his face to the wall...his bare toes gripping the rocks like an ape” (184). While trying to escape the men that were trying to kill him, Ballard begins to climb into a cave. Comparing him to animals and calling him an “it,” McCarthy lets his opinions of Ballard seep through. It is unclear whether Ballard’s isolation was caused because of the way he acts or whether his animalistic behavior was a result of the solitude itself. Whichever life changing event happened first is unknown. McCarthy also does not mention if Ballard has been this way his entire life. However, one can infer that in order for Ballard to act the way he does, there must have been a history of abuse or reclusion. In Ballard’s case, his mother nor father are around (the reason unknown) and he does not have anyone he can call a friend.
Not knowing what is actually going on in Ballard’s mind is the ultimate way to create the segregation that he is experiencing. Using third person allows the reader to put judgement upon him and isolate him whenever he does something that they find to be odious. Still, the justification for his actions are never voiced.