Interview w/ Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy uses his own experience and emotion to bring his stories to life, as noted in an interview by Wall Street Journal. It is one of his very few public media appearances, as he usually doesn’t talk openly to anyone about his literature. It seems to me that he prefers to keep his readers guessing and thinking their own thoughts, which I agree with. The interpretation of a book only goes as far as you want it to go. You, as the reader, choose which direction you follow the story with.

Though this interview was conducted for the film adaptation of The Road, McCarthy talks about the novel as well. He speaks of the influence his relationship with his sons had on him, and how he depicted that in the story. The main themes seem to be: love, God, morals, apocalyptic views, and emotion. What interested me the most was a statement made by WJS; ‘WSJ: "The Road" is this love story between father and son, but they never say, "I love you."’ It took me until now to notice I’ve been wondering the exact same thing. McCarthy responds by saying he does not think that would add anything that the story didn’t already have. He heavily pointed to ‘love’ in conversations held by the father and son. It wasn’t necessary to bluntly state it, because it should have been obvious. I think this is a great example of his writing skill. Most people love reading about “I love you’s” because it’s a re-assurance. For McCarthy, and for me, it is just a distraction to the meaning behind the phrase. “Actions speak louder than words” could be applied here perfectly.

Excerpt:

WSJ: "The Road" is this love story between father and son, but they never say, "I love you."

CM: No. I didn't think that would add anything to the story at all. But a lot of the lines that are in there are verbatim conversations my son John and I had. I mean just that when I say that he's the co-author of the book. A lot of the things that the kid [in the book] says are things that John said. John said, "Papa, what would you do if I died?" I said, "I'd want to die, too," and he said, "So you could be with me?" I said, "Yes, so I could be with you." Just a conversation that two guys would have.

Though death and God have a re-occurring theme, I believe 'love' and the relationship between the father and son is the key idea. WJS had asked about Cormac McCarthy's relationship with his sons and how it affected his writing.

WSJ: What do you and your son do together? Where do you find common ground?

CM: My feeling is that consanguinity doesn't really mean much. I have a large family and there is only one of them I feel close too, and that is my younger brother, Dennis. He's my kind of guy. I'm his kind of guy. And John's my kind of guy.

WSJ: What kind of reactions have you gotten to "The Road" from fathers?

CM: I have the same letter from about six different people. One from Australia, one from Germany, one from England, but they all said the same thing. They said, "I started reading your book after dinner and I finished it 3:45 the next morning, and I got up and went upstairs and I got my kids up and I just sat there in the bed and held them."

Though he actually doesn't go into detail and is very brief in his response, it is noted that the relationship he has with his son is the idea behind The Road. It is one of his highest principles, which is something we've discussed in class. Since the characters of the father and son represent Cormac and his own, it's easy to see what he feels and how he would react in that post-apocalyptic scenario. McCarthy also says how his book impacted other fathers and their relationships as well. It really is a story that every father can relate to, which makes for an amazing piece of literature that ties in realism and fiction perfectly.