The existentialist motif of despair in McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men”: new darkness and old hopes

Abstract

The article considers McCarthy’s novel No Country for Old Men from the perspective of the existentialist motif of despair in the characters’ network. Being philosophical in nature, the book raises existential questions of the value of human life and the purpose of human existence. The subject of the study is the existentialist motif of despair. The problem is the peculiarities of representation of this existentialist motif in modern literature. The aim of the study is to explore the literary representation of the existentialist motif of despair in No Country for Old Men. The applied methods include close reading, which serves for the identification of the motif of despair in the novel, and character analysis, which helps examine the main characters’ experiences of despair and reveal their psychological and emotional responses to the existential challenges they face. The novelty of the study lies in offering a fresh perspective on the analysis of the novel in the context of existentialist motifs, especially the motif of despair. The results of the study show that in No Country for Old Men the existentialist motif of despair arises from the awareness of the inherent meaninglessness and absurdity of existence. The main characters constantly experience despair because the society they live in is devoid of meaning and is ruled by cruelty, which reveals profound changes of modern civilization. The protagonists belong to diverse generations and differ in their positions and ways of thinking, but they share a common experience of descending into the depths of despair at some point of their lives. The despair that they feel is caused by the changes that society undergoes. These transformations, also on the global scale, provoke alteration in the ethical norms engendering a pervasive sense of dissonance and moral ambiguity. The characters seem to assume that violence becomes necessary for survival, since justice proves its insufficiency, money and drugs take a leading place and substitute religion, and the value of human life deteriorates. The world seems absurd and devoid of meaning; however, the protagonists desperately try to find their path through the darkness and struggle to uncover meaning and authenticity in a seemingly indifferent and chaotic world.