Child of God

Southern Gothic literature often contains cultural commentary, especially on issues of race. How does Child of God use horror to comment on social issues?

How does Cormac McCarthy’s use of the motif of the Gothic double in Child of God differ from its use in works of classic Gothic fiction? Consider comparisons to The Castle of Otranto, Jane Eyre, or The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Scholar of Gothic literature Alison Milbank writes that the darkness of the Gothic double self, the coexistence of good and evil within us “is our hope and not our despair” (Milbank, Alison. “Gothic Fiction Tells Us the Truth About Our Divided Nature.” The Guardian, 27 Nov. 2011). Is there a hint of salvation in what Lester Ballard’s story tells us about humanity?