Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy’s dark and violent Western novel, is one that manages to captivate and disturb those who picked up that book —me included— readers since its publication back in 1985. Firstly, the novel is one of the great written works of the Western genre out there, as it goes on to explore many topics like morality, brutality, and humanity itself.
Today I am going to shed light on the enigmatic ending of this masterpiece, delving into the primary themes, character development, and ultimately, the underlying message that McCarthy aimed to convey. Reader beware, though, as there are many spoilers in this piece, and I’m not one to be held responsible for ruining the fun of reading that book for you! After we got that out of the way, let’s go into the Wild West!
Blood Meridian’s Plot Overview With Spoilers
Set in the 1840s and 1850s, Blood Meridian takes place in the wild frontier of the Southwest, featuring a brutal and lawless era of American history. Somewhere in Tennessee, a woman gives birth to a child while her husband never makes a strong connection with the woman or his son. One day, the boy runs away from home, he’s “the Kid”, who after running away, ends up in Texas, joining a militia that invades Mexico, but the militia is wiped out by Apache Native Americans, and the kid is discovered by Mexican soldiers who put him in jail.
Meanwhile, a band of scalp hunters enters the town where the Kid is imprisoned, cash in their bounty, and purchase the kid’s freedom. So the kid and the scalp hunters attack Native American settlements left and right for money. And while the kid doesn’t like attacking innocent tribes, he does it anyway. When the tribes ambush the gang, they make a run for California and end up on a boat in the Colorado River where they cheat, lie, and steal local tribesmen, only to end up worse than they began, because two died, one disappeared, and one gang member we’ll call The Judge took the money and eventually tracks down the Kid.
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What Happened To The Kid?
Blood Meridian is a gruesome journey that takes us through historical events such as the Texas Revolution and the Mexican-American War. Firstly, we have one of the main characters, simply known as “The Kid”, who in his journey meets the nefarious Glanton gang that kills Indians for scalps — a savage, morally bankrupt enterprise. Then, we have this man, Judge Holden, one I also consider the main guy in this tale. Also, if you check online, you’ll see why he’s one of the most discussed characters in the novel.
With his pale and hairless looks, wits, and size, the Judge represents the most basic impulses of human nature: He’s cruel and has a massive thirst for knowledge. Moreover, the Judge’s philosophical ramblings and calmness, as well as his ambiguous relations with the Glanton gang, give him an air of menace that you can feel throughout the story.
We learn as the book goes along that the gang’s members are killed one by one, with the Judge being the one who plotted each of the gang members’ deaths. Later on, The Kid grew up to be a man, and one of the few survivors, finally calls it off and goes his own way from the Judge, never really finding redemption, and becomes a wanderer.
Blood Meridian’s Ending Explained
The finale unfolds years later when the Kid, now referred to as the Man, encounters a mysterious dancer in a small town in Texas. As the dance goes on, the Judge appears seemingly out of nowhere, still unchanged by time. The Judge and the Man talk as though they’ve known each other for a while about the nature of war, arguing that it is a necessary and eternal part of human existence. Thereafter, the Man takes a prostitute into an outhouse for intercourse, but he finds that the Judge ambushes the Man – and the reader – kills the Man without describing how.
McCarthy intentionally leaves the details of the horrifying event ambiguous, adding to the chilling effect of the final pages. In the end, Blood Meridian offers no resolution or redemption, only an unsettling portrayal of the cruel reality of human nature.
Blood Meridian’s Takeaways
Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian challenges its readers by presenting a grim world where humanity’s darkest side runs rampant. The book is written in a very unusual way because the writing style isn’t concise and the story drifts constantly because things happen in this book without context. The novel critiques traditional Western archetypes, offering a relentless depiction of brutality, depravity, and the futile pursuit of justice.
The enigmatic ending and the figure of the Judge leaves readers with disconcerting questions about the nature of war, morality, and humanity itself. In this sense, Blood Meridian doesn’t just explore the Western genre but rather delves deep into the core of the human experience. It is a warning against the evils of unchecked power, but also a reminder that justice can never be fully realized in a world as cruel and chaotic as ours. By shining a spotlight on our capacity for violence, Blood Meridian serves to provoke thought and challenge readers to take action against injustice wherever it may be found. Ultimately, it is a story that will stick with readers long after they finished the final page.
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