The Crossing Annotated Bibliography

Brewton, Vince. “The Changing Landscape of Violence in Cormac McCarthy’s Early Novels and the Border Trilogy.” The Southern Literary Journal. 37.1 (2004). 121-143. JSTOR. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010. < http://jstor.org >.

Brewton examines the entire scope of McCarthy’s fiction and how the novels relate to each other in theme and tone, but most notably in how the Trilogy’s protagonists are a significant departure from Lester Ballard, Suttree, and Blood Meridian’s kid. In the trilogy, John Grady Cole and Billy Parham are reconstitutions of the hero. Brewton goes on to analyze how the Border Trilogy defies the conventions of the Western novel genre by taking on its tropes—for instance, the “rescue mission” plot that centers around Boyd and his Mexican girl—and how McCarthy ultimately creates a self-conscious, post-modern metafiction.

Busby, Mark; Bloom, Harold. “Into the Darkening Land, the World to Come: Cormac McCarthy’s Border Crossings.” Bloom’s Modern Critical Views: Cormac McCarthy. 2002. 141-167. NC Live. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010 < http://www.ebscohost.com.wncln.org >.

Busby and Bloom outline the symbolism and juxtapositions found in the Border Trilogy’s crossings and the dichotomy of the frontier. The border is transformed into a complex symbol that melds concepts of civilization and wilderness, community and individual, fate and free will, light and dark, hope and despair. They focus on the ideological foundations of McCarthy’s language, such as the Aztec symbolism inherent in much of his imagery of the wilderness and its brutal religion of blood. In the section on The Crossing, Busby and Bloom outline the mentors and prophet-like figures that Billy meets and their conflicting messages to him on the nature of human experience.

Bourne, Ashley. “’Plenty of Signs and Wonders to Make a Landscape’: Space, Place, and Identity in Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy.” Western American Literature. 2009: 44.2. 108-125. NC Live. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010 < http://www.ebscohost.com.wncln.org >.

Bourne examines the use and movement of place in the Trilogy; most notably, its shift from concrete to abstract space by each novel’s end. Bourne juxtaposes the literal geography with dreamlike perceptions a la the characters. Though Billy may be close to the land, even in intimate proximity with it, given his wanderings and interaction with the wilderness, he is emotionally adrift and displaced. The land itself is responsible for an abstraction of the self in the novel.

Hada, Kenneth. “McCarthy’s The Crossing.” Explicator. 1999. 58.1: 57. NC Live. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010. < http://www.ebscohost.com.wncln.org>

In this analysis, Hada studies Billy Parham’s morality in the face of a culture that, while not immoral, does not readily create a recognizable moral code. As a character, Billy reaffirms the heroic ideal; he experiences an awakening via the events of the novel (meeting the Indian in the beginning, having to shoot the wolf, Boyd getting shot, etc) but his essential ideology does not change as a product of his encounters. He provides a moral compass about which the other characters move and despite the consequences of assuming his role, he maintains his integrity.

Hickman, Trenton. “McCarthy’s blood matrix in the Border Trilogy.” Southwestern American Literature. 28.1. (2002). 19. GALE. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010 < http://0-go.galegroup.com.wncln.org >.

Hickman’s examines the symbolism behind bloodshed and questions of God. He systematically parses the language behind the use of the term matríz and how it may apply to the ex-Mormon’s concept of God and the very structure of the land. Blood as a sacred mythos appears throughout the novel, harkening back to ideas of transubstantiation and Christ-symbols. Hickman references Busby and Bloom’s analysis of Aztec mythology and blood sacrifice as it applies to the Border Trilogy.

Hunt, Alex. “McCarthy’s The Crossing.” Explicator. 1998. 56.3: 158. NC Live. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010 

< http://www.ebscohost.com.wncln.org >.

Hunt provides a historical context for the end of The Crossing through examination of the mysterious “false sun” that rises within the last few pages of the novel. Hunt hypothesizes that Billy witnessed the Trinity Test and he supports his claims with the spare dates given throughout the novel, as well as historical accounts. The correspondence of the novel’s end and the atomic age underscores the novel’s themes of alienation and loss.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Crossing. Vintage International: New York. 1994.

Wallach, Rick. “Theater, ritual, and dream in the border trilogy.” Southwestern American Literature. 27.1 (2001) 19. GALE. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010 < http://0-go.galegroup.com.wncln.org >.

Wallach’s analysis centers upon the use of theater and use of puppetry within the Trilogy as a manifestation of the narrative of human experience. Over the three books, theater appears again and again in its literal form almost as a frame tale that enacts some form of real events and in turn impacts the audience (and reader) in a separate context. According to Wallach, The Crossing’s most notable use of theater as a narrative symbol is the ex-Mormon, whose tale evokes the “puppet show” image and ultimately speaks to how men must become aware of their own blindness before they can be aware of their destiny.

Wiebe, Bruce. “The Crossing: Volume Two: The Border Trilogy.” Magill’s Literary Annual 1995. 1995. NC Live. D.H. Ramsey Library, Asheville. 7 April 2010 < http://www.ebscohost.com.wncln.org >.

Wiebe examines McCarthy’s syntactical craft, rather than the themes and ideas behind the work itself. He studies McCarthy’s use of description and attention to essential detail that make The Crossing into great literature. Wiebe also addresses McCarthy’s use of the journey as a device for character growth and explication of the land.