A week or so ago I posted here asking people to tell me Blood Meridian wasn’t worth it because despite the excellent prose one would expect from McCarthy, I was genuinely struggling with how gruesome and depressing it was. Well I’m here to tell you I did indeed power through and I’m so glad I did. The grisliness certainly didn’t let up but I ended up liking the second half better than the first and the ending scene really knocked me over. What a force of a novel.
I read several analyses after finishing and I can’t quite make up my mind. I loved how speculative and unknowable the ending was. I personally like the idea that The Judge was an evil entity who “absorbed” The Kid/Man’s soul. So I ask, as I’m sure many have in this sub before me, what happened in that outhouse?
TL;DR What is your ending theory for Blood Meridian?
by chicolegume
2 Comments
Ending, the kid’s death, doesn’t really matter imo. What’s important to the theme is that the kid grew up to not be like the judge.
This major theme is “regeneration through violence.” People immersed in violence may choose to reject it, even if they have to invent an unknown – to themself – way of living to do so.
The kid’s death could be highlighting the cyclical nature of this cycle. I find this detail less interesting.
The Judge is a “normal”, evil dude and he rapes and kills The Kid at the end
I have never understood any of the readings where people think the Judge is a supernatural entity