In the beginning of the novel, Blood Meridian, the first word McCarthy writes is “see”. He says “See the child. He is pale and thin, he wears a thin and ragged linen shirt” (3). The opening word and few sentences set up the imagery that will be prevalent throughout this book. McCarthy uses imagery to depict certain scenes and make the reader visualize what is going on. In the quote form page five, he says “terrains so wild and barbarous”. He sets up how the whole novel will be presented. All of the fights are wild. All of the characters are wild and barbarous. Everything in the book seems to be untamed. His use of imagery can sometimes be too descriptive or too gory. We are able to see countless acts of what we think to be mindless violence.
