Date of Award
8-8-2023
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Mark Noble
Second Advisor
Dr. Paul Schmidt
Third Advisor
Dr. Robert S. Lightsey
Abstract
Lester Ballard’s character in Child of God is one example of a socially marginalized outcast who figures prominently in Southern Gothic literature. Furthermore, he is ostracized from a homogenous community and propagates terror in its outskirts. Ballard’s disturbingly quotidian life allows for a werewolf motif to emerge, echoing the werewolf mythos of ancient Greek and Medieval tales. Placing Ballard’s violent delights within the context of werewolf studies illuminates a series of questions concerning identity, existentialism, and alterity in a text devoid of the supernatural. This thesis contends that the text’s lycanthropic links manifest not through traditional werewolf conventions but as an effect of revestimiento near the climax of the plot, allowing Ballard to assume (an)other body. Deconstructionist and existentialist approaches towards the text make Lester Ballard’s werewolf subjectivity a unique ground for discussing the broader issues of identity, monstrosity, and alterity in the context of monster studies.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/35867178
Recommended Citation
Acuna, Elias, "Werewolf Identity in Cormac McCarthy’s Child of God." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2023.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/35867178
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