There is no doubt about it, Lester Ballard is one of the worst characters that McCarthy’s come up with so far in my readings. Worst as far as evil, that is, and maybe, just maybe the Judge is more evil, but we see some intellect there that in my mind anyway, gives him reason for what he does.
This novel was first published in 1973, so even the spoiler here won’t hurt too many people: Lester is a serial killer (odd how I mentioned in a prior posting about serial killers regarding the two narrative voices of this story–although that has long since disappeared from the narrative structure). Lester hasn’t been particularly likeable even before this developed, but the question is how to keep a reader’s interest in him with some of the things he’s doing, and no real sympathy due him from the hard licks of life.
McCarthy does this brilliantly. After his shack burns down (no, no sympathy called for here, if you knew the details) Lester is living in a cave. He walks down the mountain into town to a general store and tries to sell three watches for five dollars apiece, after the shopkeeper has already turned him down and pointed to watches he can’t sell for eight. With some haggling from the locals, one makes an offer:
I’ll give eight dollars fo rthe three of em.
Ballard looked about at the men. They were watching him to see what price used watches would bring this Sunday morning. He weighed the watches in his hand a moment and handed them across. You bought em, he said.
The watchbuyer rose and handed across the money and took the watches . You want thisn for three? he said to the man next to him.
Yeah, let me have it.
Anybody else want one for three? He held up the spare watch.
The other man who had been looking at the watches straightened out his leg across the floor and reached into his pocket. I’ll take it of of ye, he said.
What’ll ye take for thatn you got, Orvis?
Might take five.
Shit. You ain’t got but two in it.
This here’s a good watch. (p. 132)
So Lester wanted fifteen, settled for eight, and the guy just sold two of them for six and wants five for the last and best one. Maybe some readers will think, Good, it’s just what he deserved, because this little scenario is one of the hints that Lester’s killed more than one person. But for me, I felt sorry for him. They didn’t even wait till he left to make a fool of him. So just what you’re hit with how bad Lester truly may be, you see people who–even though the crime’s nowhere as serious as murder–will in turn hurt him. Remember, they don’t know he’s killed anyone.
And that, I guess, is one of the ways you arouse some sympathy for a rather nasty protagonist.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology