I'm not sure I've seen enough evidence to support either way whether McCarthy was or was not a misogynist, and I've read all his books minus some of the plays, plus the recent Vanity Fair piece.
It seems to me McCarthy's oeuvre tackles masculine issues—the consequence of failing as a father/husband in Outer Dark, violent sexual depravity …
I'm not sure I've seen enough evidence to support either way whether McCarthy was or was not a misogynist, and I've read all his books minus some of the plays, plus the recent Vanity Fair piece.
It seems to me McCarthy's oeuvre tackles masculine issues—the consequence of failing as a father/husband in Outer Dark, violent sexual depravity in Child of God, war and violence in Blood Meridian, the call to adventure and the attempt to tame nature in The Border Trilogy, the consequences of willingly straying into a violent world in No Country and the Counselor, fatherhood in the Road—because these are what he wanted to write about, not because he's unequipped; although I grant the quote you cited is a bit damning. But I think it's wrong to fault McCarthy for the cardboard characterization of Alejandra. He fleshes his characters as much as they need to be for the story; in this case, how much she needs to be for John Grady. Thus, perhaps the way he writes her reflects more on John Grady than it does on the author.
I'm not sure I've seen enough evidence to support either way whether McCarthy was or was not a misogynist, and I've read all his books minus some of the plays, plus the recent Vanity Fair piece.
It seems to me McCarthy's oeuvre tackles masculine issues—the consequence of failing as a father/husband in Outer Dark, violent sexual depravity in Child of God, war and violence in Blood Meridian, the call to adventure and the attempt to tame nature in The Border Trilogy, the consequences of willingly straying into a violent world in No Country and the Counselor, fatherhood in the Road—because these are what he wanted to write about, not because he's unequipped; although I grant the quote you cited is a bit damning. But I think it's wrong to fault McCarthy for the cardboard characterization of Alejandra. He fleshes his characters as much as they need to be for the story; in this case, how much she needs to be for John Grady. Thus, perhaps the way he writes her reflects more on John Grady than it does on the author.