Description

First paragraph:

Though I am aware that many readers of Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian are dismayed by the extent of the violence in the novel, I am not surprised to learn that many readers actually find the novel to be an exhilarating read. That is, I cannot pretend that the pleasure some readers take in the novel is a problem I would like to solve, for I too enjoyed the novel, and hold McCarthy accountable. Since being victimized can draw us to enjoy being perpetrators, I believe that McCarthy actually encourages us to enjoy Glanton’s mercenaries’ merciless but efficacious slaughter by first having us ride along side the hapless Captain White. When Glanton and his riders massacre the Delaware village, we may in fact not only understand it as an answer to the Apache’s slaughter, but experience it as immensely satisfying response to previous abuse. McCarthy thereby maneuvers us into agreeing with the judge that one lives best when one lives like Glanton and his riders do, that is, by embracing one’s inner savagery.