***NOTE: This post was written by Annalise, but for some reason I don’t have posting access on the blog so I am posting under Lily’s username*****<\/p>\n
Despite the fact that in these chapters of Blood Meridian<\/em> we receive a brief reprieve from the otherwise constant violence that graced almost every page of the first section, it is by no means eliminated from chapters 7-12.\u00a0 We still are experiencing the same shocking moments of scalper violence, from the old woman in chapter 7, to the innocent babies and children in chapter 12.\u00a0 As McCarthy continues in this manner to expose us as readers to the reality of the violence during this time, the focus turns and we begin to gain more insight into the characters\u2019 unique personalities as well as their emotions and thoughts as they travel with the company.<\/p>\n The Kid is no longer appears to be the protagonist.\u00a0 Instead, we learn much more about the judge in this section.\u00a0 Recall our first encounter with him from chapter 1, when he very publicly and dramatically disrupts mass to falsely accuse the reverend of being an imposter.\u00a0 We now see this dramatic, egotistical persona quickly develop as he emerges clearly as the company\u2019s leader, instilling both fear and awe in the members of the company.\u00a0 Being the only Spanish speaker in the crew, he controls all forms of communication, and tends to leave the others in the dark, such as when the band of entertainers is telling fortunes.\u00a0 When probed about the meaning of the woman\u2019s haunting chants, \u201cThe judge smiled\u201d (McCarthy 97).\u00a0 In fact, it\u2019s something he tends to do a lot, just smile.\u00a0 It is his coy way of saying \u201cI\u2019m better than you.\u201d \u00a0When riddling Webster about having his portrait drawn, \u201cThe judge smiled\u201d (147).\u00a0 When telling his confounding story about the harnessmaker, \u201cthe judge looked up and smiled\u201d (151).\u00a0 And even when held at gunpoint by Toadvine after killing the child he played with, \u201cThe judge smiled\u201d (171).\u00a0 This phrase occurs again and again throughout the novel, always just as the judge is hiding something, tricking someone, or exerting his superiority.<\/p>\n But who is the judge?\u00a0 Who is this man who has so slyly captured the devotion of the crew?\u00a0 It is as if he is supernatural.\u00a0 \u201cEvery man in the company claims to have encountered that sootysouled rascal in some other place\u201d (130).\u00a0 \u201cHe can write with both hands at a time\u201d (140).\u00a0 \u201cSo like an icon was he in his sitting\u201d (153).\u00a0 The expriest praises his actions on the volcano, leaving with the men \u201cbehind him like the disciples of a new faith\u201d (136).\u00a0 What is it about the judge that holds all these men in rapture?\u00a0 What is his purpose in travelling with the company collecting scalps?\u00a0 Does he have some sort of ulterior motive?\u00a0 He tells the crew that his motive in making sketches and notes in his book is \u201cto expunge them from the memory of man\u201d (147). \u00a0Why is the judge playing God?<\/p>\n I question if it is not the judge himself who is the driving force behind the mindless violence of the crew.\u00a0 He seems detached, even maniacal at times.\u00a0 He obliterates the Indians on the volcano.\u00a0 He suggests the way to raise a child is to throw it into a pack of wild dogs, to make it escape wild lions, and to have it run naked through the desert.\u00a0 He saves a child from the ruins of the town that they slaughter, loves and cares for it, then suddenly murders it just like all the others.\u00a0 Is the judge crazy?\u00a0 Is he the one fueling the psychopathic nature of the killings?\u00a0 Could he be the explanation for these actions that seem so indecently inhuman?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ***NOTE: This post was written by Annalise, but for some reason I don’t have posting access on the blog so I am posting under Lily’s username***** Despite the fact that in these chapters of Blood Meridian we receive a brief … Continue reading