The Devil Made Me Enjoy It: Slaughteras SweetRevengein CormacMcCarthy's Blood

Meridian

Patrick McEvoy-Halston

English 429C

Dr. Douglas

l9 November2004

(tSIf
 Though I am awarethat manyreadersof CormacMcCarthy's Blood Meridian are

dismayedby the extentof the violence in the novel, I am not surprisedto learn that manyreaders

actually find the novel to be an exhilaratingread. That is, I cannotpretendthat the pleasure

somereaderstake in the novel is a problem I would like to solve, for I too enjoyedthe novel, and
7
hold McCarthy accountable.Sincebeing victimized can draw us to enjoy being perpetrators,I

merciless
us to enjoyGlanton'smercenaries'
believethatMcCarthyactuallyencourages but
t*
efficaciousslaughterby frst havingus ride along sidethe haplessCaptainWhite. WhenGlanton
*"
andhis ridersmassacrethe Delawarevillage, we may in fact not only understandit asan answer k:
(Ce-otrz'^ '
i ,^^Jt*-
to the Apache'sslaughter,but experienceit asimmenselysatisffing responseto previousabuse.k(*r*' ^
ir t*r
McCarthy therebymaneuversus into agreeingwith the judge that one lives best when one lives , I'
b"; I
.71")^- fffOl'',tt l
like Glanton and his riders do, that is, by embracingone's inner savagery.

McCarthy beginshis novel in such a way that, regardlessof the natureof our past

experiences,we will becomewell acquaintedwith what it is to be weak and vulnerable. He

involves us in his story world by speakingdirectly to us, and by encouragingus to identify with
tJY
In the first line his narratorexplicitly speaksto us. He acknowledgesour
the protagonist-"l<id.'
rs0

presence;we thereaftercannotpretendto be detachedobservers,distinct from what we 't

Y'u
"observe." He beckonsus forward so that we "[s]ee the kid," and when he then refersto the
6w
.--
"[n]ight of your birth" (3), we might still think he is talking to us. He setsthe kid off on a

journey similar to our own: both of us ventureinto unfamiliar territories. And as the unfamiliar

land we arejourneying into quickly provesto be a very dangerousone, mightn't we too hope to

find a group to mergewith, to symbiotically unite to, as we accustomourselvesto this

threateninglocal? I am suggestingthat when the kid signsup with CaptainWhite, he essentially

brings with him anotherrider: namely, us, the readersof McCarthy's novel. McCarthy induces

us to associateourselveswith White's gang,if only for comfort, for communalwarmth, to help

us copewith an unfriendly environment. And more the pity for all of us, for CaptainWhite's

expeditionservesas a kind of exemplum,the sort of story that the judge would useto
,rff,
demonstratethe rightnessof his understandingof men.

At the end of the novel the judge proclaimsthat there are three sortsof men. There are

thosewho aren't warriors. who can't move other men-the leastof men. Then there are two

sortsof warriors: thosewho can dance,and thosewho can't. True dancersare those"who have

offeredup [themselves]t. . .l entireto the blood of war" (331). True dancerskill becausekilling

"speaksto ftheir] t. . .] inmostheart" (331). Falsedancers,on the otherhand,try and establish

the moral righteousnessof their killing ways. Since CaptainWhite seeshimself as an

"instrument of liberation in a dark and troubled land" (34), White is one such false dancer. He
v{ i -'-
lu
aims, that is, to civlhze a land, to protectcitizens "from the notoriouspacks of cut-throats trl''P..^.'$
presentlyinfesting the routeswhich they are obliged to travel" (i+1. \o doutt he enj-ioys
t' i'sgoct"
Nhc,:.rt-^ fu rl iqr,in *.1--1-{".-
prusg.-c\t
but [s he is apparehtlyintent on beir\g a wealthy land owner, he seemsto hope for
slaught-er,

pastoralpeaceratherthan for perpetualwar. Thosewhom thejudge would deemtrue dancers

saddenanddisgusthim. Whenthe kid first meetsWhite, the kid notesthat he was apparently ."/- a.<_

"sad[dened]"(33) by the efforts of "a heathenhorde[which] ridesover the land looting and

killing with total impunif' (33). Unableto give himself entireto the blood of war, White can

only imaginethan aspeople'lvho cannotgovemthemselves"(34).

Sincethejudge believesthat "[m]oral law is an inventionof mankindofthe

of the powerful in favor of the weak" (250),he would despiseWhite's

disenfranchisement ov-
justification for war. He would deemWhite doomedto fail in his efforts to enlightena dark

land,for thejudge believesthat moral law is essentiallyvery weak. Accordingto thejudge,

sincemen arenaturalkillers; moral law cannothelp but be "subvert[ed]""at everytum" "by

[h]istorical law" (250). And in how he porhaysWhite andhis riders' joumey throughthe desert,
 3

McCarthy legitimatesjudge's assessment

that thosewho aim to civilize a naturally chaoticworld

ccnrirmc':^1 atft'w^I
areboth weak in spirit and doomed for failure. {t*\

White and his party havel through a hostile landscape. Nature can only be thought of as

- *1(*tf,r'"
being kind to thern in that it forewarns them oftheir inevitable, horrid fate: "[t]hose first days .. l?

theysawno game,no birdssavebuzzards"(42).We noticehownearlypolaroppositethe Uk'"|

descriptionsof natureandof White's entourageare. We aretold that "the mountainson the

suddenskyline starkandblack andlivid like a land of someotherorderout therewhosetrue

geologywasnot stonebut fear" (47). The mormtainsarestarkandmenacing;the riders,in

'/'
contrast,aremeekandanonymous:they "rode with their headsdown, facelessundertheir hats"

(45). Nature'sbeastsaremyhical andmagnificant. Its horses"rac[ed] on the plainspounding

.-ld their shadowsdown the night andleavingin the moonlight a vaporousdustlike thepaleststain
\r,,.lto t
| 'oftheir
/-...
,. I -.\ passing."(47).In contrast,theriders'"animalswerefailing [. . .] [:] thewretchedponies /
fi'v . t*

-\ i'.
i,"Pt huddledandwhimperedlike dogs"(47). Natwe is describedasif it eagerlyanticipates
u"l ^l
tV"
' d" devouringWhite andhis men. At dusk,the sunstoodlike a "headof a greatred phallus[that] [. .
c{ .rt
I^rl \ tf'
I" j .l puls[ed] malevolent[ly] behind them" (45). The sun invokes shadows which were like

'lentacles
to i1 [determined]to bind them [i.e., White andhis riders] to the darknessyet to come"
.+'\
" (45). White's men arefearful: "They haltedin the dark to recruit the animalsandsomeof the
":n5 '
t men stowedtheir armsin the wagonsfor fear of drawingthe lightnn€' (47). And theybehave
.*.rfr
-
asthosewho aredesperateandsuspectthey might soonperishwould: they pray to God.

Thejudge gaugesthat it requiresa "lmgenessofheart" (330) in order to survivethe

desert. It requires,that is, ampleinnerresourcesandthe willingnessto draw from thernto best

adversity.White's men areportrayedasifthey lack the innerresourcesto detail with sucha -.,
'
harshterrain. Unpreparedto dealwith a landscapewhich refusesto offer up eithergameor T

water,unableto improvise,to rely on their own cururing,they ask God for assistance.We
 t*
shouldnotethat tuming to God is alwaysa badideain Blood Meridian, for if God answers,he
,ot
1 answersin anger. For instance,the kid stumblesuponcolpsesofffi-rtn--"-u)ur"*icanswho

"barricaded in [a] [. . .] houseofGod againsttheheathen"(60). TheseChristians lok .t

themselves
hrr'r-
owedtheir death,not their salvation,to thoseabove: "savageshadhackedholesin the roof and -i*/
* coutu
shotthemdownfrom above"(60). And with Haywardandhis companions, sincejustbefore

their requestwe aretold that "[t]he thundermovedup from the southwestandlightning lit the

desertall aboutthem,blue andbarren,greatclangingreachesorderedout of the absolutenight

like somedemonkingdom summonedup" (47), we havea sensethat God may alreadybe at

-/
work concoctingan equallyappropriatedeliverancefor thesemen.

WhenWhite's sergeantfinally seesthe "heathenhorde" he says,"Oh my god!" (53).

Sincethis is the first time "God" appearsin the text sinceHayward'sprayer,McCarthy p 2ar.$,^*
us to imaginethe hordeasGod's responseto (wayward?)Hayward'sprayer. It
encourages 43-,*r.a*rrt^

seemsan appropriateresponseto deliver to men who, eventhoughthey understandhis created

environto be "the high road to hell" (45), still insist on understandingHim assomeonewho

responds
favourably fromthemeek
torequests anddowntroaa*5rffi*#t'tr, #fr"t#,,k ?:':
lLl a^ r^
warriors,that is, to the devastating'legion ofhorribles" (52) which rides"down upon [White iit^ GJ's
9r'A)icr-
andhis riders] [. . .] like a hordefiom a hell more horrible yet thanthe brimstoneland of

ofthe fighting strengthofuncivil

christianreckoning"(53), alsorespondsto White's assessment

men. The captainhad informedthe kid that thosethey were fighting were a "race of

(34) who could be bestedby'tnpaid irregulars"(34). McCarthy showsthat those

degenerates"

who kill with total impunity arethe strongest,not the weakest,of men.

McCarthyensuresthat CaptainWhite's last words in the text identify him asa total

incompetent,asa total fool. In responseto the sergeant'squestionconcemingthe identity of the

groupadvancingbeforethern,White answers,"I makeit a parcelofheathenstockthievesis what

 5

I makeit" (51). We, of course,might first appreciatewhy White thoughtdefeatingthese

"thieves"wouldmakesucheasy"sport"(51),for McCarthyrestrictsour visionsothatwe seeno

'1")
morethanwhat White andhis sergeantseethroughtheir telescope.We seethat there'\trere

cattle,mules,horses[. . .] [,] [and]a handfulofraggedindiansmendingtheouterflanksofthe

situatesus on the desertplain,draws

herdwith theirnimbleponies"(51)- McCarthyessentially

us into contanplatingthe natureofthe groupbeforeus, andtherebypositionsus so that whenthe

hordematerializeswe shouldeffectivelycountourselvesamongstthoseadvancedandtrodden
vzt
upon. Perhaps,andpossiblyvery likely, we might at somelevel feel someof the horror, someof

that White andhis riders experiencebeforethey perish. Most

the devastation/humiliation zr^"* 'c.o \
{..t +t^'-
certainly, unless we are masochists,it cannot be pleasurable to be conjoined to Saxons who
b!e*.1-l crf.zL
experiencethis: a-L -y* .s-\ 'fl,,.r af\ y'e.>*rtt-? -* cltznlvtc.a-
(
S'r.-r,r ,,-u. ^J .-' I p1. ro.i^itt ? .'* "l{-'-
facesp'ainted
[S]omewith nightrnare ridingdowntheunhorsed
ontheirbreasts, Saxons
&**"eh-^"r I
and spearingand clubbing them and leaping from their mounts with knives and running

- about on the ground with a peculiar bandleggedtrot like creaturesdriven to alien forms

ttnunn*oiT of locomotion and stripping the clothesfrom the deadand seizingthem up by the hair and

passingtheirblades aboutthe skulls of the living and the deadalike and snatchingaloft

the bloody wigs and hacking and chopping at the nakedbodies,ripping off limbs, heads,

gutting the strangewhite torsosand holding up $eat handfulsof viscera, genrtals,some

of the savagesso slatheredup with gore they might have rolled in it like dogs and some

who fell upon the dying and sodomizedthem with loud cries to their fellows. And now

the horsesof the deadcamepounding out of the smoke and dust and circled with flapping

leatherand wild manesand eyeswhited with fear like the eyesof the blind and some

were featheredwith anows and some lanced through and stumbling and vomiting blood

as they wheeledacrossthe killing ground and clatteredfrom sight again. Dust stanched
 the wet and nakedheadsof the scalpedwho with the fringe of hairbelow theirwounds

and tonsuredto the bone now lay like maimed and nakedmonks in the bloodslakeddust

and everywherethe dying groanedand gibberedand horseslay screaming.(54)

I, at least,was sufficiently revoltedby this scenethat I felt as if I shouldbe countedamongstthe

casualtiesof this massacre,and therefore was disappointedthat McCarttty 99-1!_t1gg$Jo

(''
\'
compoundmy senseof the kid as a perpetualvictim. Yes, the kid "wondrously'' (55) survives
l* -Wrb")
drn'
A. the attack,but following the Apacheraid the kid experiencesagainand againwhat it is to be
\Lt*
vulnerableand weak.
q"i.,
"'/
The kid truly is as vulnerableas a little kid in this part of Blood Meridian. When a

Mexican captainoffers him water, the captainlets the kid know that could easily have slain him.

The captainlikens him to a little lamb who calls for his mother,that is, to someonewho is ripe
tr-'o
for slaughterby wolves (65). Wolves don't catchhim, but Mexican soldiersdo; and McCarthy

describesthe kid's captureso that the kid seemsto us unprepared,easygame: "the kid was

standingby the cart pissingwhen the soldiersrode into the yard. They seizedhim and tied his

handsbehind him and they looked in the cart" (69). While imprisonedwe learn that "[a]ll day

small boys perchedon the walls and watchedby shifts and pointed andjabbered. They'd walk

aroundthe parapetand try to piss down on sleepersin the shade"(71). The kid throws a stoneat
rr^^{ p<'t{.r *i".<- t& - h, t-" .t ,' L; g Ji*
oneof themandmanagesto scarethem away,but by how we might wish he wascapableof
a ,""_.!
mountinga more devastatingresponseto his varioustormentors.

Psychologistshavesuggestedthat thosewho arebrutalizedendupjoining up with gangs

hopingto avargethemselvesuponothers(for a thoroughexplorationofthis topic, seeRichard

Rhodes'WhyTheyKill). We might havesomeunderctandingof the appealof ganglife at this

point ofthe novel too, for after repeatedlyhavinghis vulnerability manifestedandexploitedthus

far in his joumey, surelysomeof us wish the kid could associatehimself with wirmersfor a
 pdtL. \.'v\ ..- l'i^ ,h " {x'-, ' i lk''l fi-t (c''L
b".{ tL-
w:bltau"' cr'-^ 6'f" L''r
t' r,.-t \ " '"r''"Ltt;s
A,'- o*.r J i+ - 6( W4ll..-
"'rI. u.t^.k." 6t^l^^
change.And, asif in answerto our call, a winnershowsup: Glantonandhis outriderscome

into town looking for recruits.

Our first descriptionof Glantonandhis ridersmakesthernseemasifthey arethe sort of

manwho might provepotentanoughto handlethe Apachehordewhich devastatedWhite andhis :.-

entourage.Like the Apaches,Glanton'sriders aredescribedasa formidable"horde" (79) whose

thatit "stun[s]"(78)onlookers.Theyarea hordeof

visageis sohorrifyingandawesome
'\liscous looking humansmountedon unshodindianponiesriding halfdrunk throughthe streets,

bearded,barbarous,clad in the skinsof animalsstitchedup with thewsandarmedwith weapons

of everydescription,revolversof enormousweight andbowie knivesthe sizeof clay-moreand

shorttwobarreledrifles with boresyou could stick your thumbsin" (78). Unlike White, the /.
leaderof this gangis a true dancer. We know early on, aswhenhe makesthe animalsabouthim
ul-z*
explodeand"dance"while testinghis guns,that Glantonis not a manwho will pretendto be a I

moral crusader.Being in his companyis presentedasifit werea sofi ofprivilege: the kid and

Toadvinehaveto passthemselvesofas "seasonedindiankillers" (79) in orderto be includedas '/

part of his gang(all the kid hadto do wasto bestandkill a bartenderfor White to seekhim ou$. w<tJ* 3+

And in a way it is: while the kid rideswith him the kid doesn'tknow defeatfor quite sometime.

Riding with Glanton,in fact, seemsto respondto, to quit, variousexperiencesthe kid hadwhile

riding with White.

For example,McCarthyhasus attendto how natureinteractsor relatesto Glantonand /' &t-

his gangjust ashe did with White andhis riders. But whereaswith White, naturewasporhayed

asfir oryonent,with Glanton,natureis portrayedashavinglittle or no interestin testingor /

/,.
,e1 bestingeitherhim or his riders. In fact, Glantonandhis riders areoften describedasif they me

in accordwith nature. We aretold, for example,that "their track acrossthe landreflectedin its I,
(L*- |
' {| ' -r'
faint arcaturethe movementsofthe earthitself' (153),andthat "the men asthey rode tumed
o*"'''"*
 8

black in the sun from the blood on their clothesandheir facesandthenpaledslowly in the rising

dustuntil they assumedoncemote the color of the land throughwhich they passed"(160). We

shouldn'tbe surprisedthat natureandGlantonandhis riderscoalesceat times, for, aswe have

seen,natureis oftenportrayedin the novel asmalevolent,black in spirit, andthereforeakin to

Glanton'sriderswho 'tread[ed] their thin andflaring shadowsuntil theyhad crossedaltogether

./
whichsowell becamethem"(163).
into thedarkness

Someofthe activitieswhich wereheretoforelinked to defeatin the text arerecalledand

transformedwhile the kid rideswith Glanton.That is, for the readerthey beginto accrue

different,more appealingassociations.For instance,the act ofurinating hasthus far in the text

beenassociatedw'ith the kid's captureandostensiblehumiliation. But while the kid rideswith

^':
Glantonthe kid hearsfrom the expriesthow their companion,thejudge, miraculouslyoncesaved ,
eX-r'2.t"&
all their lives by gettingthemto piss into a grmpowdermixture he (i.e., thejudge) waspreparinC.
4+:,"1!
McCmthy phrasesthejudge's requestfor urine in sucha way that we might alsobe drawnto

Hayward'sprayerfor help. Thejudge tells themto 'biss, [. . .], piss for your very
rermernber
,/
souls" (1,32),andwe might rememberWhite's men encouragingHaywardto "[p]ray it up" (47)

for rain. But while Hayward'sprayerfor rain seemsto havebroughtuponhim the horrible ?yaaW(

horde,thejudge's requestfor urine ensureshis groupan easyvictory. The text could not provide

more obviousandliteral evidenceto supportthe argumentthat thosewho rely on their own

intemalresourcesarethe oneswho surviveandthrive.

i
Certainly, somemight object to my linking the kid to the judge as they are never -|;nts---

charactenzedas natural companionsin the way that the judge and Glanton, for instance,ffie.

However,both of them are to be countedamongstthosereferredto when the text refersto

Glanton'sriders as "they," and,owing to the preponderanceof paragraphswhich begin with

"they" (often with "They rode" or "They ride") in the text, many of us likely imagine them as
 9

unitedthroughoutmuchoftheirjoumeystogether.Thenarratorovertlytellsus at onepointthat:

to
"They rode on. They rode like meninvestedwith a purposewhoseorigins were antecedent

the, like blood legateesof an orderboth imperativeandremote. For althougheachman among

themwasdiscreteuntohimself,conjoinedtheymadea [. . .] communalsoul"(152). *-

Thenarrativeporhaystheseriders aspurposeful,asriding togetherto accomplisha

mission. SinceI believethat the Apacheattackwas intenseandaffectingenoughthat it is not a*l(--

easily shakenoff by the reader,I believe that as we hear of Glanton and his rider0'slcommunal
r\e"
aspects,of how they ride and ride, and of how they ride with a purpose,that many of us at some
4,,.,".-,4
9- .t*f^::,^ re."6..,1:
level both senseand hope that their mission is to provide a Saxonresponseto the Apaihe's
q.^6cI/.
massacrewe aresufferingfrom. I previouslyquoteda langthypassagefrom the Apache's /Zz.r.l fe,(l"Gs-
h \t'* rc'}.;5-
[o, {- massacreof White's ridershopingI would therebyrernindmy readerof how affecting,of ho*
ll..r-'rL .l-
awful it might havebeenfor themto havereadthat passagefor the first time. I alsodid to in
&nr,l )^*l+
hopesof persuadingmy readerthat this sceneinvolving Glanton'sriders' massacteof both the JL-.t +l'*-(-
r1tf\-
dii!-
Delawarevillage recalls and repliesto it:
!r'. rr,.'' t""]xs
Within that first minutethe slaughterhadbecomegeneral.Womenwere screamingand pt.Codh't
"f
b,t: l'
nakedchildren and one old man totteredforth waving apair of white pantaloons. The

horsemenmoved amongthem and slew them with clubs or knives. A hundredtethered

dogs were howling and others were racing crazedamong the huts ripping at one another i.i(.>+k,>
I
\e^ and at the tied dogsnor would this bedlam and clamor ceaseor diminish from the first n -RL-
CNr \
trf' moment the riders enteredthe village. Already a number of the huts were afire and a Ct,-ftrtix-
I
il*t
whole enfiladeof refugeeshad begun steamingnorth along the shorewailing crazilywith ?^Z'

the riders amongthem like herdsmenclubbing down the laggardsfirst. t. . .] When

Glanton and his chiefs swung back through the village people were running out under the

horses'hoovesand the horseswere plunging and someof the men were moving on foot
 10

amongthe hutswith torchesanddraggingthe victims out, slatheredanddrippingwith

blood, hackingat the dying mrddecapitatingthosewho knelt for mercy. Therewere in

the campa numberof Mexican slavesandtheseran forth calling out in Spanishandwere

brainedor shotandoneof the Delawaresernergedfrom the smokewith a nakedinfant

danglingin eachhandand squattedat a ring of middenstonesandswungthan by the

heelseachin tum andbashedtheir headsagainstthe stonesso that the brainsburst forth

throughthe fontanelin a bloody spewandhumanson fire cameshriekingforth like

berserkersandthe riders hackedtherndown with their enormousknives anda young

thebloodiedforefeetof Glanton'swarhorse.(156)
womanranup andembraced

a "greatvomit of gore" (98). The

As with the Apacheattack,we havein thesepassages

differenceis that it might be more appropriateto describethe narrativedischmgethil ilt-"*e |

ff*^t ,
*,nt'-- bor
orgasmic. I saythis becausewe now ride with the perpetratorratherthan the victim, in an t
n^ ot^- uJ"'-{
excitedpenetration of a villagewe likely felt we hadbeenpreparingfor. [42.;r r-7.^rc..",.
' t^t t-
1'.9'""t
in a '
Like beforean orgasm,McCarthy sculptedthe paragraphswhich precededthe attack

rhlthmic, similar, familiar way. Again, we areoffereda successionof paragraphswhich begin

with "they." Specifically,we aretold that"They followed"(149),that"Theypassed"(149)'that

"For t}renexttwo weekstheywouldride" (151),that"They cut thethroats"(151),that"They

i"P
f,o\ thedel Norte" (152),that'"Thatnighttheywerevisited"(152),that"Towardthe
crossed

moming they sawfires" (152),that "Whan the companyset forth in the eveningthey continued
:.-5$
southasbefore"(153),that"They sawto their arms"(154),that"They'd drivena stickinto the

ground"(154),that"Theyreachedthenorthend"(154)beforehearinghow "They led the [. . ']

horses"into war" (155). On the Vintage editionof Blood Meridian, a casefor my argumentcan

be madejust by looking at the paragraphson the pageprecedingthe attack(page154). Each

paragraphis roughly the samelength,is reasonablyshort,andbeginswith a monosyllabicword

 l1

begiruringwith "T."

sequentiallyis
It is importantto notethat the effect of encounteringthesetwo massacres

them simultaneously(aswe could haveifthe two

very different thanifwe had encountered /

weredepictedin a painting). It is asinappropriateto point to the narratorreferringto

massacres

Glanton's"chiefs"(156)andarguethatMcCarthymovesus to seeSaxonsandApachesas

essentiallyof the sameblood, asit is would be to arguethat the AmericanCNN ernbedswho

rodethe tanksinto Baghdadin responseto the 911 devastationshowedus the essential

''s
equivalencebetweenMuslim andAmericanwarriors. No, sincewe sufferedfrom the Apache \ a^) !tn;t
i b"o'x t
attack,we aredrawnto ride androot for Glantonandhis gangin muchthe sameway that n1a1_Ypt.*i\ ,;
I
" I t1v'&d''
' I
, ! Ssr-$,,'"who felt victimizedby the 9l I aftackrootedfor the American
tankdivisionsto
'"'*"'6'-:
run right '
over / l
b$ ,r"^f- .-.-- --- . ::-
g ' \ L , l r y Baghdad.
"'d{i{
If we experienced theApacheattackasour defeat,theDelawaremassacre is our fiot {.^ 4'Le
n,
,.\o *d'__.-^:- ^__--^_.^-_- {..A) , on .4f..-
" _l( \ vlctory, our revenge.
c
' t4 k P Pa'4""'t 63co '
t"nr',ura o"'
Somemightsayarguethatwe are'n'tlikely to root for puppykillers,but I believethlt . - n,-j ' Grr{
+4
\)/ t-
{ McCarttrylargelyportraysGlantonin sucha way thatevenif we hatehim, we mightstill admire -ro '
:" /
Ld..'sn I
..- ). him. Much like Clint Eastwood's character in Unforgiven, another narrative which ostensibly
x
V t"'{ 6LnLu'
o^ is
ourloveaffairwith theAmericancowboy,Glanton
complicates who
someone "eatsleadand ,., J.t-..-
V-' .r f
shitsbullets," that is, he is anunrelentinglyhard,tough,devastatingforce.(His bravadonever t
HiI-i
ceases,not evenat the momentof his death.) The narratorfixateson him throughoutthe Clu,ockv

which beginwith "Glanton," followed by

Delawaremassacre:we encountermany sentences

detailsof him doing somethingworth noticing. For example: "Glantonbroughtthe rifle to the

crook of his arm andcappedonedrum androtatedthe barrelsandcappedthe other. He did not

takehis eyesfrom theApaches"(158). Herehe is cool,in control;he is someone

we readily
/
believe"knew that everymomenton this groundmustbe contestedlater in the desert"(157).

Anotherexamole:"Glanton drewhis rifle from its scabbardand shotthe two leadhorsesand

 l2

the rifle anddrew his pistol andbeganto fire betweenthe actualearsofhis horse"
resheathed

(156). Herehe is an immenselycoordinatedwarrior, andwhenwe readthe words,"beganto fire

betweenthe actualemsof his hone," the narrator'sadmirationfor Glantonis palpable: we may

feel that he shouldhavebeenmorehonestandendedthe sentencewith an exclamationmark

ratherthan a period.

McCarthy likely very effectively,manipulatesus into admiringGlanton,just ashe

manipulates(someof) us into enjoyingGlanton'smalevolentways. Wh/ Would he haveus

shotgunandtomahawkour way throughlife? Doeshe want us to "give ourselvesentireto the

blood of war," or at leastto admirethosewho do? I would like to think that he craftedthis novel

hopingto makeus awarethat of our susceptibilityto manipulation. But sinceI am suggestingin

this essaythat his novel affectsusprimarily subliminallyor unconsciously,I don't think this was

his intention. McCarthy,therefore,whateverhis successin convincinghis readersthat God

exists,certainlyhasme suspectingthat whenhe craftedthis novel, "the devil was at his elbow"

(1e).

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 Works Cited

McCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian: Or the EveningRednessin the West. New York:

Vintage,1985.

Rhodes,Richard. lYhy TheyKill: TheDiscoveries of a Maverick Criminologist. New York:

Vintage, 1999.