Ballard Rising in Outer Dark: The Genesis and Early Composition of Child of God

Abstract

abstract:In the absence of the first draft(s) of Child of God, this article reconstructs McCarthy's earliest conception for the novel via study of the Ur-Child of God scenes in Outer Dark's "Early Draft [B]" and unused early draft material that remains in the "Middle Draft" of Child of God. It shows that narrative strands central to McCarthy's initial conception for Ballard's novel—the auction and eviction, the sheriff, and the oral tale motif—grew out of material deleted from Outer Dark. It explores the function of the deleted scenes in Outer Dark and examines how McCarthy reshaped these and other deleted materials for Child of God.