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.
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.
