Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian has attracted the analysis of many scholars over the past fifty or so years for its an apologetic narration on how the American west was truly won. McCarthy’s narrative is inundated with senseless violence, metaphor, historical reflection, stories, and symbols; all of which, when combined, effectively create a modern interpretation of America and its national identity. This narrative is poised for “analysis and interpretation on the idea of the post-modern America and how its history has become a reflexive concept – far from an understood truth or reality- that is constantly being questioned and challenged” (Johnson 2014, p. 3).
The story is that of a group of bounty hunters that style themselves the John Joel Glanton gang, a man who existed in history from 1818 …show more content…
28), who are hired by Mexican officials to exterminate indigenous peoples from Northwest Mexico and Southwest America. With payment exchanged only when scalps of slain natives are presented to the employer. What follows is the razing of many small native camps and cities and the mindless slaughter of hundreds. However, the plot, whilst engaging and horrifying in equal measure, is not what appeals to scholars. Rather it is the “commentary it [Blood Meridian] creates on the American Manifest Destiny of the nineteenth century that expanded the country’s geographical, political, and economic reach to the Pacific Ocean” (Johnson 2014, p. 3). Much of what Johnson states is generated by the narratives primary characters: The Judge and The Kid. ‘The Kid’ is the narratives protagonist, he is a central character but one whom we know little about. We are given a small glimpse into his history at the beginning of the text, “see the child. He is pale and thin, he wears
The story is that of a group of bounty hunters that style themselves the John Joel Glanton gang, a man who existed in history from 1818 …show more content…
28), who are hired by Mexican officials to exterminate indigenous peoples from Northwest Mexico and Southwest America. With payment exchanged only when scalps of slain natives are presented to the employer. What follows is the razing of many small native camps and cities and the mindless slaughter of hundreds. However, the plot, whilst engaging and horrifying in equal measure, is not what appeals to scholars. Rather it is the “commentary it [Blood Meridian] creates on the American Manifest Destiny of the nineteenth century that expanded the country’s geographical, political, and economic reach to the Pacific Ocean” (Johnson 2014, p. 3). Much of what Johnson states is generated by the narratives primary characters: The Judge and The Kid. ‘The Kid’ is the narratives protagonist, he is a central character but one whom we know little about. We are given a small glimpse into his history at the beginning of the text, “see the child. He is pale and thin, he wears