The Writer in Me

By Tom J. Miller

We all try to find our meaning in life, our calling. Some will have a more straightforward journey finding this meaning. I certainly did not. I suppressed my true passion – writing – for a portion of my adolescence. This reluctance to follow my passion was mostly because writing is socially considered "soft" in nature. Much of my generation does not find any appeal in the individuality, creativity, and craftsmanship that compose a finished product. However, many of these people have only a superficial understanding of writing and are oblivious to its deeper significance.

Writing is not merely a means of communication; it is everything that our soul is comprised of in text format. Any piece that you produce, even a fiction novel, is uniquely you. Writing is a byproduct of one's own peculiar brain processes. Given the same subject to write about, regardless of the genre, people will go about it in entirely different ways. Each individual writer develops his or her own style that separates their work from that of others'. Furthermore, a tangible work of writing will allow one to diffuse their thoughts more readily and on a larger scale. As seen with historical figures, one's written ideas, observations, etc. will most likely outlive them. They are leaving behind for successive generations a display of who they were; a portrait whose medium is not paint, but words. This individualistic nature of writing is often underemphasized or completely overlooked. Only when this disconnect is fixed can one understand the true power of the craft in imparting and perpetuating one's identity.

Creativity is an indivisible element of human nature. Most people have had a creative outlet at some point in their life, whether it is drawing, composing music, inventing, or in my case, writing. What separates writing from the others is that it is virtually limitless. Most mediums of creativity require a number of resources in order to materialize anything. Writing on the other hand only requires a pen, paper, and an imagination. The boundaries of writing begin where your imagination ends. Therefore, if you can envision it, you can materialize it. The limitations on an individual's creativity are minimal. For example, structure is crucial in any genre of writing, but that is not enough to inhibit creativity. If anything it stimulates it; one has to ensure that the puzzle pieces, which are the story's components, fit together properly. Experiences throughout a writer's life will spur inspiration, yielding possibilities that are never-ending. Being a writer, you are unrestricted by any external force. You define reality.

The complex simplicity of writing renders it a very engaging art form. It is simple in the sense that the fundamental objective is to get a point across. However, not everyone who can get their point across is a good writer. A good writer is one who utilizes techniques to expound their ideas more efficaciously. The degree to which one employs these techniques and therefore illustrates their theme to their audience is a measure of their aptitude as a writer. A novice writer will tell; an experienced writer will show. The latter will have a more profound impact on an audience. If everybody had this ability, writing as a profession would not exist. In addition, as a writer, an individual will always be learning. Whether it is expanding their vocabulary to spice up their work, modifying it to be more fluent, or even studying the work of another writer, there is always room for improvement. As a writer learns, their writing will flourish accordingly.


As a writer, I am distinct. My work is a reflection of my individuality. As a writer, I am free. A new dimension is added to possibility. As a writer, I am zealous. I intend to master the craft. These aspects factor into my profound love for the art of writing. This love is stronger than all of the other forces in life that have invariably shaped me. I made the decision to pursue my calling. I rediscovered myself - the part of me that never died, only temporarily subsided - the writer in me.

Analysis of Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

By Tom J. Miller

The innate violence of man and the inevitability of human evil are questioned throughout the novel, Blood Meridian. The author, Cormac McCarthy, answers these questions by strategically utilizing the setting and characters in which evil and violence are represented. He uses the lawless setting of the West and its influence on the characters’ actions to emphasize that where evil is permitted to flourish, it will. Likewise, McCarthy uses the characters as a way to answer the questions at hand. The antagonist, Judge Holden, can be compared to the likes of a divine figure; evident through his actions and dialogue over the course of the novel. He represents the powerful force and inevitability of evil while the protagonist of the novel, designated only as “the kid” and later as “the man”, serves the role as the typical human man. His actions and transition from the beginning to the end of the novel not only show the violent and warlike nature of man, but also man’s inability to evade the influential force of human evil as well as his destined fate.

The excessive amount of gruesome murders and other forms of violence in Blood Meridian was not included by Cormac McCarthy simply for the sake of entertainment purposes. It successfully highlights one of the main themes of the novel which is man’s violent nature. The kid, a fourteen year old Tennessean runaway, is one of the main characters of the novel and the epitome of innate violence. The kid eventually falls into a band of murderers and criminals led by a man named Glanton, whose objective is to retrieve scalps for Mexican officials. This in turn, grants the kid and his cellmate and fellow “scalp hunter”, Toadvine, their freedom from a Mexican jail cell. Judge Holden reappears in the novel as a scalp hunter and assists the group with the murdering and scalping of Indians. The members of the group provide one another with mutual safety while generating revenue. Although their initial motive for the scalping is for bounty, the group eventually finds the act amusing. They begin to slaughter entire villages of Indians, regardless of whether they were enemies or not and the act is treated as the standard way of life. These actions of the group show just how ruthless and violent humans can be, which is what Cormac McCarthy wanted to be acknowledged.

The novel is set in the war-torn U.S.-Mexico border in the mid-19th century, at the time being primitive, unlawful, and plagued with murder and violence. The descriptions of the deserts in the novel are nearly synonymous with the characteristics of hell, with its rugged, lightning-struck terrain. Its vast barrenness is repeatedly emphasized to stress the idea that there is no place to hide from the evils in which the West encompasses, further addressing the central questions of the novel. Its landscape is described as being nearly tantamount throughout the U.S.-Mexico border, possibly symbolizing the lack of moral direction and self-control of Glanton’s group as it relates to violence. The violence within these Western borderlands is the result of conflict between the various armies and war-parties engaging in battle. Violence and evil within the West is what ultimately dictates the actions of the characters in their attempt to remain alive in the survival of the fittest-type environment. The way that Glanton’s group treats violence as ordinary shows how the Western borderlands have influenced them after being exposed to so much bloodshed. The setting therefore serves the purpose of revealing the underlying violent nature of man as well stressing that human evil cannot be repelled or evaded by man under any circumstance.

McCarthy utilizes the persona and dialogue of arguably one of the most mysterious and frightening characters of any novel, Judge Holden, to symbolize the power and the inescapable force of evil. What makes the Judge so distinct is not only the way his appearance is described, but that he is portrayed as immortal in nature. He seems to be ubiquitous, as he always returns in the novel despite the circumstance. For example, he reoccurred after the massacre of Glanton’s gang by the Yuma’s, reuniting with the kid. He also unexpectedly reappears at the kid’s jail cell in San Diego, just when the kid thought he had escaped from the Judge. He seems to be superior to man in every aspect due to his wide range of knowledge and skills, as well as intelligence. His rants and perception of life are what polarizes him from the rest of the characters. He recognizes the warlike nature of men by referring to war as a “game”. He states, “Men and born for games… but trial of chance or trial of worth all games aspire to the condition of war for here that which is wagered swallows up game, player, all” (p. 249). He also implies this when he claims that “men of god and men of war have strange affinities” (p. 250). The ending of the novel further addresses its central question regarding the inevitability of death since it is implied that the kid is murdered by the Judge, but not stated. The kid was said to have walked into an outhouse where the Judge “gathered him in his arms against his immense and terrible flesh and shot the wooden bar-latch home behind him. (p. 334). A man was later warned by another not to enter that same outhouse, indicating that the kid was gruesomely murdered. The kid was therefore unable to escape the inevitable force of evil. The final words of the Judge and the novel were that the Judge himself never sleeps and that he’ll never die (p. 335), signifying that evil is ever-lasting.

The central questions of the novel pertaining to violence and the inevitability of evil are not answered directly by the literature, but are rather implied. In Blood Meridian, the importance of violence and bloodshed extend way beyond its literal sense. It stands for man’s innate violence, which is something that relates to every human. The Judge serves as the force of evil’s human equivalent in order to give better understanding of the inevitability of evil by giving it human qualities. Therefore, the power and imminence of the Judge depicted in the novel corresponds with that of the actual force of evil. The skillful use of underlying messages and symbolism by Cormac McCarthy is the reason why the answer to these central questions can only be found by reading in between the lines.