Child of God is a novel by Cormac McCarthy. The book is loosely based off of real life events. Child of God follows the story of Lester Ballard, an outsider in Sevier County, which is in Eastern Tennessee. The novel follows Lester's obsession with pedophilia as well as his decline into necrophilia and murder.
The novel begins on Lester's family's property. There is an auction being held to sell his land. Lester breaks into the scene. He is very angry that the auction has started. He threatens to shoot the auctioneer. Before he can carry out his threats, he is tackled to the ground by the sheriff. Lester has always been an outsider. He stays in his shabby home, alone. No one comes to visit him. The only time he interacts with others is to terrorize …show more content…
His friend is not home, but his daughter is. Lester attempts to talk to her. He asks her if he can see her breasts. She refuses him. Lester does not seem angry but he then leaves. He goes outside to retrieve his rifle. Lester then shoots the girl from outside. He goes inside to take her body. While he is dragging the lifeless corpse out, he sets the house on fire.
For the rest of the book, Lester continues to stalk the mountainside looking for victims. He moves into a cave in the mountain. He also begins stealing food from a local farmer named Greer. Lester also tries to kill Greer. It is because of this that Lester ends up in jail. The sheriff and other townspeople finally begin to suspect that Lester has killed the women. When Lester wakes up one morning in his cell, he is accosted by a mob of angry men. They demand that Lester show them where the bodies are. Lester agrees and takes the men to the caves. While he is leading them through small holes and spaces, he manages to loose them. Lester hides in a cave for about three weeks. He survives off of rats and creek water. After that time, he finds his way out of the cave and checks himself into a metal health hospital.
Lester is never charged with the crimes he committed. He lives the rest of his life in a mental hospital. Some time later, the townspeople finally find the bodies of the missing girls in a
The novel begins on Lester's family's property. There is an auction being held to sell his land. Lester breaks into the scene. He is very angry that the auction has started. He threatens to shoot the auctioneer. Before he can carry out his threats, he is tackled to the ground by the sheriff. Lester has always been an outsider. He stays in his shabby home, alone. No one comes to visit him. The only time he interacts with others is to terrorize …show more content…
His friend is not home, but his daughter is. Lester attempts to talk to her. He asks her if he can see her breasts. She refuses him. Lester does not seem angry but he then leaves. He goes outside to retrieve his rifle. Lester then shoots the girl from outside. He goes inside to take her body. While he is dragging the lifeless corpse out, he sets the house on fire.
For the rest of the book, Lester continues to stalk the mountainside looking for victims. He moves into a cave in the mountain. He also begins stealing food from a local farmer named Greer. Lester also tries to kill Greer. It is because of this that Lester ends up in jail. The sheriff and other townspeople finally begin to suspect that Lester has killed the women. When Lester wakes up one morning in his cell, he is accosted by a mob of angry men. They demand that Lester show them where the bodies are. Lester agrees and takes the men to the caves. While he is leading them through small holes and spaces, he manages to loose them. Lester hides in a cave for about three weeks. He survives off of rats and creek water. After that time, he finds his way out of the cave and checks himself into a metal health hospital.
Lester is never charged with the crimes he committed. He lives the rest of his life in a mental hospital. Some time later, the townspeople finally find the bodies of the missing girls in a