Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West
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Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West is a 1985-published Western novel by prize-winning American author Cormac McCarthy.
Set primarily in 1849 and 1850, Blood Meridian describes a scalping expedition by a posse of American cut-throats in Mexico gone wrong. The book is based in part on the account of John Joel Glanton and is historically accurate in general, but some portions are based on Samuel Chamberlin's My Confession, a work that has been criticised as unreliable. The novel's principal antagonist, the demonic Judge Holden, was reportedly an actual person.
Despite the extreme violence, McCarthy's prose is sparse yet expansive, with an often biblical quality. Indeed, there are frequent religious references. McCarthy has not granted interviews regarding the novel, and the work is open to several interpretations.
Plot summary
The novel tells the story of a young runaway, only named as "the Kid", in the company of the Glanton Gang, a group of scalp-hunters who massacred Indians on the Texas-Mexico border in 1849. It is the first novel that McCarthy set in the South-West, making a move from the Appalachian settings of his earlier work. The famous American literary critic, Harold Bloom has acclaimed the novel as perhaps the greatest by a living American writer.The novel is notable for its bleakness (innocents and combatants are massacred alike), its Faulkneresque (and, indeed, Old Testament influenced) use of language and its apparent exploration of Gnostic themes. The last has earned the novel comparisons with Moby-Dick, which has a clear influence on the novel. Critics have noted that the novel's antagonist, Judge Holden, embodies the traits of a gnostic archon, while the protagonist, the Kid, is a Christ-like figure (so long as being Christ-like permits you to be a ruthless killer too) . There is also the setting and background of the novel, which parallels the Gnostic concept of the world as deeply flawed and violent.
Characters in \"Blood Meridian\"
- Judge Holden – main antagonist
- the Kid – main protagonist
Main themes
The notoriously reclusive McCarthy has not granted any interviews regarding the novel, but a major theme seems to be the warlike nature of man. Violence is present from the early pages of the novel, when "the kid" is shot in the chest, through to the end, when the Kid finds himself in a bar years after the days he rode with the scalp hunting party, and the sold its sole surviving member not having been brutally murdered by the Judge, or otherwise dispatched in ways seemingly not uncommon to the West in those days. Moreover, the judge expounds his views on the warlike nature of human beings, more or less stating that there is little more to human existence, and even venturing to proclaim war and god as to be totally identical in nature, if not in name. This violence has led many to criticize the novel, but McCarthy's defenders have made the point that he is attempting to represent the indiscriminate slaughter of the time, and have noted that the brief, curious epilogue seems to offer a glimmer of hope for humanity. The book concludes with "the kid," dutifully paying for and drinking his whiskey, and otherwise striking a tall, stoic figure. Although this presents an iconic image, it is also cryptic. This is in contrast to the Judge, who without his hat, is caught up in a drunken dance out on the floor, and displaying his usual good humor, which ultimately served to mask the almost unfathomable wickedness lying at his heart. In the early parts of the book, the Judge is almost an admirable figure. He makes people laugh, and generally has his act together, whereas "the kid" is seemingly caught up in deviant behavior wherever he goes. Eventually, it becomes clear that "the kid" was merely doing all the wrong things for all the right reasons, and likewise, the Judge always comes out smelling like a rose, quite often to the ultimate expense of others, of which is no consequence to him. "The kid," all the while adhering to a certain personal code of morality to some extent, and at least somewhat emotionally invested in the welfare of others, contrasts sharply with the coldly calculating utilitarian demeanor of the Judge. Of course all the while both characters are party to the slaying of Apache Indians, in the interest of selling their scalps. This is perhaps attributable, at least in the case of "the kid," for a general human tendency not to go against the grain, in the interest of not adding to a list of troubles. What was perhaps curious about the final passages in the book is hard our won hero which is found in "the kid" is never vindicated in killing the villain, which is perhaps uncommon in western novels. Indeed, the book closes with the Judge dancing, having earlier drawn an analogy to an "endless" dance that keeps on keeping on, or perhaps the balance existing in life between the righteous and the wicked, each of which are never able to overcome the other, no matter what the time and place.Literary significance & criticism
Harold Bloom has praised Blood Meridian as one of the 20th century's finest novels. The book was also ranked among the top five American novels of the period from 1980 to 2005 in a survey of writers conducted by the New York Times in May of 2006 .Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
It is rumored that producer Scott Rudin, writer William Monahan and director Ridley Scott are working on a film adaptation; however, Tommy Lee Jones owns the rights to film-making of the book . Regardless of who owns the rights, it has not been formally announced as a film project yet.Footnotes
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