Blood Meridian: Or, The Evening Redness in the West: Analysis of Major Characters
"Blood Meridian: Or, The Evening Redness in the West" is a novel by Cormac McCarthy that explores themes of violence and morality through its complex characters. Central to the narrative is Blasarius, known as the Kid, a young man seeking purpose amidst a chaotic, violent world. His journey begins when he joins an outlaw army with the intent to "liberate" Mexico, but he soon encounters a brutal reality that challenges his beliefs and humanity.
Another pivotal character is Judge Holden, a mysterious figure who embodies both power and moral ambiguity. His philosophical musings on war and violence position him as a symbol of the harsh neutrality of existence, influencing the lives of those around him, including the Kid. The expedition’s leader, Captain John Joel Glanton, represents unrestrained brutality, pursuing his bloodlust without principles.
Supporting characters like Louis Toadvine, a hardened fighter, and Tobin, a former priest grappling with faith, further enrich the narrative's exploration of human nature. Each character, from the earless Toadvine to the simple yet violent David Brown, highlights different facets of the human experience in a lawless landscape. Through these characters, McCarthy delves deep into the themes of fate, morality, and the essence of violence, inviting readers to reflect on the darker aspects of humanity.
Blood Meridian: Or, The Evening Redness in the West: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Cormac McCarthy
First published: 1985
Genre: Novel
Locale: Southwestern United States and Mexico
Plot: Western
Time: 1833–1878
Blasarius, known as the kid, a scrappy runaway with a taste for violence. At the age of sixteen, he joins an outlaw army with the ostensible goal of “liberating” Mexico but an actual mission of seizing land. After his party is slaughtered by Comanches, he is arrested in Mexico. He and his fellow prisoner Toadvine are freed to join a rabble gang of scalp hunters, led by Captain Glanton and Judge Holden. The kid is initiated into a naturalistic universe in which, according to the judge, war is god. When a gypsy reads the men's tarot cards, the kid draws the Four of Cups, indicating discontent and doubt—the kid has not completely internalized the brutal-ity—but help from a divine source. The mysterious judge then shows special interest in the kid. When the kid and Tobin become separated from the group, the kid, despite Tobin's warnings, cannot shoot the judge, who calls to him that his soul is not like that of the others. Wounded, the kid wanders to San Diego, where the arrow lodged in his thigh is removed. During the ensuing delirium, the judge appears and declares that, although he had loved him like a son, the kid is culpable for all the bloodshed, because he remained uncommitted to the mission: He still retained some modicum of mercy in his heart. Years pass, during which the kid, now isolated, wears David Brown's necklace of human ears and avoids killing when possible. In Texas, he again meets the judge, who warns that the kid's soul will be required that night. Going to the toilet, the kid meets the naked judge, who embraces him in his death.
Judge Holden, an enigmatic figure who seems omnipotent, ubiquitous, and omniscient. He converses expertly on all subjects, speaks all languages fluently, and plays the fiddle and dances. A man of ambiguous morality, pleased with the terrible beauty and violence of creation, he represents the awful neutrality of the universe. Knowing people's destinies without interfering, he shows both kindness and cruelty: He rescues an Apache child from a massacre, indulges it, and then scalps it. An enormous, hairless, eerily pale man with a childlike face, he has tremendous oratorical power. He seems pleased by the idiot, whom he leads around on a halter. After the kid's death, he leads revelers in fiddling and dancing as the dance of life continues.
Louis Toadvine, an earless, branded roisterer who joins forces with the kid after a bloody fighting ritual. When they meet again in prison, he claims that he and the kid are seasoned Indian fighters so that they can join Glanton's army. A man of no thought, he is hanged.
Tobin, a former priest who still believes in a power behind the universe but now believes that power to be malignant. He recognizes the judge as an embodiment of that power and fears his influence on the kid, in whom he senses a special fate. After he and the kid reach San Diego, he disappears.
Captain John Joel Glanton, the leader of the expedition, a hard man without feeling or principles. He kills gratuitously and scalps anyone who can pass for Indian. Incited by weakness and vulnerability, he is completely amoral. In charge of his own destiny, he will pursue his blood lust to the end. He is killed by Indians.
John Jackson, a black horseman and brawler who despises his white Doppelgänger of the same name. The white Jackson rides beside the black Jackson and whispers to him until the black Jackson shoots the white one. When the gypsy asks Jackson to draw a card, the judge indicates that in Jackson's fortunes lie all their fortunes. His drawing of the Fool indicates the impulsiveness and folly of their undertaking, embodied particularly by Jackson. He is killed by Indians.
James Robert Bell, an idiot whose brother keeps him naked and filthy, feeds him feces, and pulls him in a cart behind Glanton's army. He is rescued by kindly women who bathe him, show him tenderness, and put him to sleep in comfort. During the night, he wanders into the river, where he would have drowned had not the judge saved him and restored him to his fellows. The judge leads him by a neck halter. He croaks, drools, and dances and seems to possess some secret woe. The kid, seeking him, never finds him again.
David Brown, a skilled, violence-loving killer. A simple man, he considers the judge's ideas “crazy.” He wears a necklace of human ears that is appropriated, after Brown's hanging, by the kid.