Outer Dark (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Cormac McCarthy
- First Published: 1968
- Type of Plot: Surrealistic parable
- Time of Work: Indefinite, but probably the beginning of the twentieth century
- Setting: Indefinite, but probably Southern Appalachia
- Principal Characters: Rinthy Holme, Culla Holme, An unnamed Tinker, Three Men of darkness
- Genres: Long fiction, Surrealist literature, Parable
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Mothers, Parents and children, Murder or homicide, Twentieth century, Sin or Original sin, Rural or country life, Incest, Fathers, Folklore, Fratricide, parricide, or filicide, Childbirth, Bible, biblical imagery, or biblical symbolism, Sacrifice, Appalachia, Cannibalism
- Locales: United States
The Novel
Outer Dark is a story of sin and retribution, played out in folktale fashion against an indefinite time and place. It begins with the birth of a child, the incestuous offspring of Culla Holme and his sister Rinthy, who live in the mountainous recesses of Johnson County (no state is indicated). Culla, ashamed and frightened by his misdeed, refuses to summon aid for his sister, forcing her to give birth in the secrecy of their isolated cabin. When the child, a boy, is finally born after a long laboring, Culla takes the baby deep into the surrounding woods and...
[The entire page is 2168 words long]
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