Blood Meridian

“He saddled up the mule, the mule’s back galled and balding, the hooves cracks. The ribs like fishbones. They hobbled on across the endless plain.”

The mule’s arduous journey is a metaphor for existence. Just as the mule is burdened by packages and afflicted by old wounds, the rider on its back deals with emotional baggage and symbolic, traumatic scars that function as heavy burdens. The plain, like life, seems endless and the mule and its rider have no choice but to continue forwards. They bear the heavy weight because they cannot imagine existence as anything other than a seemingly endless burden that must be endured.

“All but naked savages who with their painted skins and their whispered taste for human flesh seemed outrageous presences even in that fabled company.”

The use of dehumanizing language against Native Americans prompts the reader to investigate the question of savagery. White is a racist who believes that Mexicans and Native Americans are subhuman. He uses this belief to justify his violent actions against them. The Americans convince themselves of the savagery of their enemies to avoid the stark reality of their own savagery. By telling themselves that their enemies are brutal “monsters,” the Americans do not have to worry that their violence against others creates a cycle of brutal violence from which everyone emerges as monstrous. The Americans who lie, cheat, rape, loot, torture, and murder convince themselves that they are not “savages” because they cannot stand to confront the reality of their violence and the resulting implications for their morality.

“The captain smiled grimly. We may see a little sport here before the day is out.”

White’s grim smile and sardonic comment are, in the context of the following events, darkly ironic. The “little sport” he discusses is the murder and desecration of a group of people he considers to be subhuman. To him, hunting Native Americans or Mexicans is sport rather than murder. They are nothing more than game, like birds or rabbits. Consequently, White loses the battle against the people he is hunting. The little sport leads to his death, and his grimly satisfied smile is a herald of his demise. His racism leads to his death as he does not believe that his subhuman enemies could outsmart him. His pleasure at pursuing a little sport becomes the reason for his death, revealing the extent to which he underestimates his opponent.

“What’s wrong with you is wrong all the way through you.”

Sproule diagnoses the kid with a fundamental flaw that cannot be salvaged. Sproule is fundamentally correct in that whatever flaw in the kid’s character drives him to violence and nihilism is an essential part of his character. However, Sproule only notices this fact when it affects him personally. Like so many characters, Sproule lacks empathy and the ability to recognize problems with the world unless they are an immediate threat to him. This selfishness and acceptance of violence is a flaw in the society and, as Sproule says to the kid, it is a flaw “all the way through.”

“When the judge’s eyes fell upon him he took the cigar from between his teeth and smiled.”

Holden’s reaction to spotting the kid is an echo of White’s grim smile. In both instances, predators are viewing their prey and plotting their hunt. Unlike White, however, Holden is a more formidable opponent. Eventually, he will chase and harry the kid until the last days of the kid’s life but, unlike White, he is willing to take his time and not rush into his attack.

“The judge like a great ponderous djinn stepped through the fire and the flames delivered him up as if he were in some way native to their element.”

The more time the kid spends with Holden, the more he comes to see him as some elemental force of nature. To him, Holden seems like a “great ponderous djinn,” a strange and exotic demon that appears through the fires of hell. However, Holden is “native” to the element, suggesting that he is a product of their environment. He is an almost supernatural example of evil imposing itself on the world and, even around the campfire, flashes of his hellish character are clearly visible.

“This country is give much blood. This Mexico. This is a thirsty country.”

The men who travel in the country between Mexico and the United States are violent men in a violent place. The violence is not limited to humanity, however; violence is a part of the “thirsty country,” and blood is offered up to the environment almost like an essential sacrifice. Like Glanton and Holden, the country itself is hostile to everyone and feels predisposed to violence, whether it is dehydrating people in deserts or casting them against mountain rocks. The country is violent, and it produces violent men. The violent men then shed blood on the country, creating a cycle of violence that is seemingly impossible to end.

“The black stood at the door neither in nor out.”

Black Jackson is one of the few Black characters with a sizeable role in the novel. Even though he is a part of Glanton’s gang, he still exists on the periphery of two worlds. Though he has ridden with the men and killed alongside them, he can never become one of them because they still define him by his race. Like his entry into the building, he is “neither in nor out” (86). 

“You wouldnt think to look at him that he could outdance the devil himself now would ye?”

The true nature of Holden is never made explicit, but many characters have their suspicions. When discussing Holden with the kid, Tobin hints that he is a supernatural force. The phrase “he could outdance the devil himself” is phrased like an idiom but hints at a deeper truth. To Tobin, Holden may as well be the devil (or even something eviler). The dancing judge is a malicious force of nature who cannot be stopped, and this suspicion seeps into all of Tobin’s descriptions.

“Glanton would not turn back.”

Glanton will not turn back because he cannot turn back. He has given himself entirely over to violence, and he cannot change his course now. Glanton’s story can only end in violence because, by this stage of his life, he is entirely consumed by violence. He pushes his men on because there is no way to turn back; turning back means reckoning with his past and his actions, which is impossible for a man who is now nothing more than the brutal embodiment of violence.

“Dont waste powder and ball on anything that caint shoot back.”

Glanton is a murderer, but he is not a fool. His murder has an exacting, calculated aspect which allows him to be even more successful. The only times he demonstrates his intelligence are when doing so allows him to kill, maim, and murder to a greater degree. Unlike Holden, who uses his intelligence to assert dominance over the world and charm others, Glanton uses his intelligence to further his lust for violence. 

“Many villages wholly depopulated of male inhabitants where the women and children crouched in terror in their hovels listening until the last hoofclop died in the distance.”

Glanton and his gang pass through the country like a plague. On those occasions when they pass back through the same country, the effect of their violence is shown. They eviscerate entire communities and kill all the men. In doing so, they decimate entire communities out of nothing more than a lust for racist violence and money. For the people in these villages, there is no other option but to hide. Glanton’s gang is like a dreadful force of nature that they cannot fight.

“They entered the city haggard and filthy and reeking with the blood of the citizenry for whose protection they had contracted.”

Glanton and his men return to the city to cash in the scalps they were sent to collect. The brutal irony of the reward for these scalps, however, is that the city is paying Glanton to slaughter its citizens. This irony illustrates how the violence in the novel becomes institutionally perpetuated. The city pays for the murder of Native Americans but cannot tell the difference between a Native American and a Mexican scalp. An opportunistic bandit like Glanton can kill anyone he pleases and still gain the reward. The city, which uses violence as a means of protection, becomes a victim of that violence.

“It is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate.”

In one of his speeches, Holden describes the only way in which the kid will be able to escape him. After leaving Glanton’s gang, the kid travels for years to outrun his past. Only by finally confronting Holden and giving himself up for judgment is he able to escape. The kid knows he will be killed, but he is at least able to dictate the “terms of his own fate.” Holden’s comment is a foreshadowing of what will happen to the kid in the future.

“The coming of the riders had been cried before them and the way stood lined with inhabitants watching dumbly as they passed, the old women in black rebozos and the men armed with old muskets.”

The crowd’s reaction to Glanton’s gang reveals the numbing effect of violence. Previously, the crowds cheered for the gang wherever it went. After a brutal campaign of murder and torture, however, the crowd is silent. Notably, the crowd is not hostile. They recognize the violence, and they have become silent rather than angry. Their silence suggests their guilt; they employed the gang, and they feel responsible for the violence the gang has enacted. The contrast between the delirious crowd and the silent crowd symbolizes the complicated feelings of guilt and fear that the people experience because of their actions.

“I could have been someone in this world if it wasnt for him.”

Cloyce blames his caged brother for his failures in life. This opportunity to blame someone else is one of the reasons why Cloyce parades his brother around in a cage: he worries that he is a failure on his terms, so he appreciates having his brother as a visible and convenient excuse for his failure. Rather than confront his problems or admit responsibility, Cloyce would rather show off his brother as an easy way to blame the world for his disappointment.

“The arc of circling bodies is determined by the length of their tether.”

Holden lectures the gang about the nature of the universe and uses magic tricks to make his point. His performance with the coin hints at the future relationship between the kid and Holden; the kid will find himself tethered to the memory of Holden and unable to escape his guilt for his violent past. Like the coin, the kid will be tethered to Holden for the rest of his life and he will be unable to escape. Their “circling bodies” are not tied together.

“A birth scene or a baptism not yet inaugurated into any canon.”

Holden wins the loyalty of Cloyce’s brother by giving him a second lease on life. He saves Cloyce’s brother from drowning and part of the salvation is a spiritual gesture, akin to the way that baptism washes away the sins of the past. Holden, however, does not operate within the established canon of any known religion. He is a powerful, elemental force who is capable of inventing new rituals to reshape the world in his image.

“They’d none of them seen an ocean before.”

Members of Glanton’s gang travel to San Diego and see the ocean for the first time. The scene is a brief, fleeting moment of innocent wonder for men whose lives have become defined by violent slaughter. They have seen rivers of blood and killed more people than they can remember, but these men are still awestruck by something as natural and peaceful as the sea. However, their quick return to violence suggests that such moments of innocence are few in the world they inhabit.

“Everything’s for sale, said the judge.”

Holden wants to buy Toadvine’s hat. However, the offer is not about the hat itself. Holden is interested in forcing people to break their own rules. He challenges Toadvine to sell an essential survival item for an exorbitant sum of money to test Toadvine’s greed. Everything is for sale, Holden insists, because every person is prone to temptation. To Holden, the constant probing of each man’s inner psyche is more interesting than money or survival.

“There’s a flawed place in the fabric of your heart. Do you think I could not know? You alone were mutinous. You alone reserved in your soul some corner of clemency for the heathen.”

Holden blames the kid for the failures of the gang. More than anything, Holden criticizes the kid for failing to commit completely to the gang. The idea of clemency, sympathy, or compassion for anyone else is itself an act of betrayal to Holden. He does not care that Glanton is dead or that the gang has disbanded. All he cares about is that the kid failed to absorb his morality and view of the world. 

“Of the judge he heard rumor everywhere.”

The kid travels across the country but he can never escape Holden. To the kid, Holden is a representation of his violent past from which he wants to run but cannot. Holden follows him as a whispered rumor in the same way that the kid is plagued by his conscience.

“Only that man who has offered up himself entire to the blood of war, who has been to the floor of the pit and seen horror in the round and learned at last that it speaks to his inmost heart, only that man can dance.”

Holden describes his view of the universe to the kid in a final, desperate attempt to convince the kid to join him. He wants the kid to dance with him, to abandon any pretext of morality and embrace the true nihilistic horror of the world as the only valid intellectual enterprise. But the kid refuses to play by Holden’s rules. He accepts his fate, knowing that his refusal will lead to his death. The kid’s reaction to Holden’s morality is an act of agency, atoning for his past by accepting responsibility and punishment for his sins.