The Crossing Literary Elements

Adventure/Western/Anti-Western

Southwestern United States and Mexico, 1930s/1940s

Omniscient narration, but the book follows the story of Billy Parham with a wolf, then his brother Boyd, then, finally, alone.

A cynical, if not fatalistic, look at the lands once regarded as the free, open wild West. Now the closed border regions between Mexico and the United States. McCarthy depicts Billy's struggle to save the wolf, his family, his brother, and himself as ultimately hopeless. The tone suggests all humanity if predestined to their "fate" if not outright failure.

Billy is the clearest equivalent to a protagonist in the book. While there is no single antagonist in the book, the multitude of cheats, killers, and bandits Billy encounters fill the role. Ultimately, Billy desires to take revenge on anyone who harms those close to him.

Billy's struggles in his three major "crossings" into Mexico. The first is to bring the wolf back to her home in the mountains. The second is to recover his family's horses with his brother Boyd. The third, and final, is to find Boyd and bring him home. Through all three, Billy struggles against the predestined fate of himself and humanity.

The climax occurs when Billy is attacked by bandits on his final return from Mexico. When the bandits rob him, they scatter Boyd's bones, nearly kill his horse, and take the last of Billy's supplies. All three of these things are Billy's last connections to his old identity. He has risked his life to recover his brother's bones, but nearly dies before he can bury them in their home country. Billy is only saved when the gypsies and another rider (implied to be Lacy Rawlins) save the bleeding out Billy.

Early on in the book, Boyd states to Billy, "Everything you can do it dont mean it's a good idea." The phrase will come to define Billy's three crossings and Boyd's own future. Just because Billy can take the wolf back to Mexico does not mean the wolf will survive. Just because Billy and Boyd can take back their father's horses does not mean they will be able to. Just because Billy searches for Boyd does not mean he will be alive. All of this comes back when, by the end of the book, Billy's only companion is a crippled dog. He knows he can run off the dog and does, but it does not mean he should have.

When Billy asks after the fate of Boyd to Quijada the Yaqui responds with "They didnt take very good care of him, did they?" A darkly humorous reference to how, after being left in the care of the Casares, Boyd became a bandit then supposedly died. The grave and bones Billy finds are supposed proof of his fate. Billy responds to Quijada's irony with, "He didnt want to be taken care of. He wanted to shoot people. What makes one a good enemy also makes one a good friend." Billy's reply reveals how he also failed Boyd. It was as much Billy's neglect that lead to Boyd's assumed death.

As with many McCarthy works, this book derives heavily from the Bible. While not antagonistic, Billy and Boyd's relationship is akin to Abel's and Cains. While not loyal, Billy, due to his kindness, is arguably the good son. Boyd turns to crime which results in his own death. Predestination too, highly derived from Calvinism, is another common theme in the book. McCarthy questions if all men are domed to their fates. It is what the custodian of the believes when he speaks about it to Billy. His own parable of the priest and the old man being based off a Biblical mold.

The image of the "false map" drawn by the old man in the bar in Mexico. In a tense moment, Billy and the bar patrons argue over its meaning. They discuss if such a map, or any map, is trustworthy. If the old man's map is not true, what map is true? The image of the map becomes a symbol for fate. It is a similar topic argued by men just as the men in the bar argue over the map. In both situations, the map and fate are totally unknowable.

The major paradox is Billy's own relationship to the wolf which becomes more complex in hindsight. Despite being a savage creature, the wolf ties Billy to civilization and moral righteousness. He suffers to return the wolf home because of his moral fabric. Being a wild creature, the wolf does not care for Billy's sacrifice or the borders it crosses. How then does such a savage creature make Billy acknowledge his own human nature? Due to his failure to save the wolf, Billy must develop through the rest of his journey. It is only through loss of the wolf, his horses, and his brother does Billy understand his own identity. Only through loss is something found.

Billy and Boyd's own stories. While Billy seeks to reclaim his past in civilized society, Boyd becomes a bandit on the fringe of civilization. Their fates are paralleled too. Billy survives and the reader receives a definite end to his story. Boyd's fate is never told, being left ambiguous, but the bones Billy finds suggest his brother is dead. When Boyd's bones are scattered to be forgotten, Billy feels his own identity being scattered. Both suffer an eternal loss in their own way.

The Parham family's horses become a symbol for Billy and Boyd's entire lost past. The two believe only through retrieving them can they recover their destroyed home. The quest for their father's horses becomes a microcosm for Billy's many losses.

Billy's own relationship with the wolf personifies it as a character. The wolf, while acknowledged as a wild creature, is described in human terms. As Billy travels with the wolf, he begins to understand its savage nature. Billy's burial of the murdered wolf shows he now sees it as an intelligent creature.