In McCarthy's writing, we hear the echoes of Faulkner's unique language. It is the language of the South, of poetry, of the Bible, filled with images of legends and myths. McCarthy also shares much with Faulkner's philosophy: the earth and simple people endure, and, after disaster, we will still hear the human voice, talking. In style, McCarthy is forming his own special voice. We hear the language of Faulkner, eloquent, but McCarthy's is a new version, bilingual and western, without stream of consciousness.
In theme, the adventure to a foreign country where war has altered the culture is similar to Hemingway's World War I and Spanish Civil War works Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls. Although John Grady and Rawlins do not fight in a war themselves, their lives are forever altered, not only by World War II, but by the Mexican Revolution, which took place 40 years before their adventure. Other echoes of Hemingway appear in the masculine skill with the wilderness and horses that both John Grady and Rawlins possess (John Grady is called one of the best riders alive by his friends, and his process is well confirmed by McCarthy's descriptions).
In addition, from Hemingway, McCarthy gets inspiration for his characters. Men of few words who camp, hunt, and fish, men who have their own codes and try to do right, be brave, and perform with grace — these are the characters who influence McCarthy's cowboys in the Border Trilogy books. In John Grady and Rawlins' sidekick, Blevins, who joins the two boys near the border, we find a quite Faulknerian character, one who brings to the novel humor as well as danger, with his tenacious single-mindedness.
Finally, when noting the influences of other writers on McCarthy's work, we cannot overlook Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. The similarities are striking: A young boy runs away from home to seek adventure and fortune, and, in the process, he must mature, grow, and learn to survive in a world different from the one he imagined.
