While McCarthy’s characters are a major force in the direction of his stories, reacting to a strongly built environment that produces more common but no less traumatic conflicts, they seem to me to be vague as individuals. What I mean by this is that they are not clearly drawn out by McCarthy but he allows us to get to know them little by little through the events of the narrative. They also then appear to represent more than themselves, a human trait, a flaw within human nature that we may all harbor. His characters are allowed to develop either to control and overcome these tendencies or fall prey to them.
Lester Ballard is the drifter Suttree without the intellect or morals. He is the Judge of Blood Meridian without the honesty. He is conscience-less. What we need to find out is what has driven him to this quiet solitary life while seeking out pleasure in remorseless necrophilia.
His mother deserted him, he discovered the body of his father hung from a rafter in the barn when he was nine. What life did he live with his father? What does he remember of his mother? What was the rest of his childhood like? We need to know what makes him readily act on his most base instincts. It’s important for us to know where the line is crossed.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology