“Men Are Born for Games”: Games of Chance and Competitionin Cormac McCarthy’s Western Novels

• Main Authors: Su, Jr-Shiuan, 蘇芷萱
• Other Authors: Mary A. Goodwin
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/4uq9nw

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語學系 === 105 === This thesis is an attempt to provide an alternative path to answering the question concerning the possibility of human agency in McCarthy’s Western novels. In my research, I demonstrate that McCarthy’s representations of games in his novels are by no means insignificant episodes of light entertainment but an integral part to the constitution of his systems of values in which the notions of free will, fate and chance are centralized. The thesis consists of four chapters. In the introductory chapter, I provide a basic overview of the philosophical discussions on the topics of games and play against the background of the author and his works. In the second chapter, I investigate the role of corrupted alea and its association with the characters’ fate in Blood Meridian. The third chapter discusses the principle of agon manifested in games of competition in the Border Trilogy. Countering most critics’ fatalistic view, I argue that the protagonist John Grady Cole does show considerable strength and skills in asserting his will power “to evoke the best possible game.” In the fourth and final chapter, I focus on McCarthy’s last Western No Country for Old Men, which is governed by both the principles of agon and alea as the characters embody the roles of the hunter and the gambler at the same time. In conclusion, I contend that there is a discernible line of evolution in thought on the questions of fate and will in McCarthy’s Western novels.