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Randal Rauser

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Doubters and Questioners

August 15, 2016 by Randal

Today I was reading through Cormac McCarthy’s Sunset Limited: A Novel in Dramatic Form, (New York: Dramatists Play Service, 2006). It’s a simple play that features a conversation between two individuals, “White” and “Black” pondering the great questions of existence. It’s a short play that can be read in a couple hours and it’s well worth your time. (Thanks to my friend Lars for recommending it.)

While there are many quotable lines in the play, I was struck by the following exchange in which Black identifies himself as a questioner in contrast to the doubter:

WHITE: Are you a heretic?

BLACK: You tryin to put me in the trick bag, Professor.

WHITE: No I’m not. Are you?

BLACK: No more than what a man should be. Even a man with a powerful belief. I aint a doubter. But I am a questioner.

WHITE: What’s the difference?

BLACK: Well, I think the questioner wants the truth. The doubter wants to be told there aint no such thing. (Sunset Limited: A Novel in 30-1)

Filed Under: The Tentative Apologist Tagged With: Cormac McCarthy, doubt, existentialism, Sunset Limited

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