Blood Meridian Character Analysis
In the book, Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy uses rhetoric, descriptive language, and symbols to provide us with a very interesting read if not very bloody at times. There are a host of characters some described in vivid detail, others not, but all are linked in with one another in the end.
The Kid:
A humble character from Tennessee who throughout the entire novel is referred to as only, The Kid was raised only by his father as his mother died giving birth to him. He doesn't even know her name. He also has a sister who he never sees again. From this tragic beginning he runs away at 14 years old and goes through a variety of harrowing experiences and eventually falls in with a group of vagrants and rascals.
The Judge:
Another important and vital character, The Judge is a hulking figure of large stature both elegant and dangerous at the same time. He is first introduced as "An enormous man dressed in an oilcloth slicker" whose bald as a stone with no beard, eyebrows or lashes. He's apparently close to seven feet tall and not a very religious person as he smokes in the house of god and only removes his hat to "chase the rain front it" He then proceeds to interrupt the sermon/revival to inform the church goers that the Reverend who is holding this event is an impostor, a pervert and a criminal wanted in four states. Chaos erupts as everyone tries to grab he reverend to hang him. The kid and his friend escape and head to the bar. The bald headed Judge is already there, drinking a whiskey. The kid and his friend sit down at the bar and order drinks but the Judge pays for them. Later a multitude of men come in and ply the Judge with questions about how he got all this information about the reverend. He simply replies that "I never laid eyes on the man before today. Never even heard of him." Essentially, he had just made up everything about the Reverend probably just to get a good laugh.
Toadvine:
A relatively major character, Toadvine is a fierce man and we readers are given a first sense of this as he and the kid get into a massive fight and only make up the next day. His head is very narrow hair plastered with mud. On his forehead are the letters H T and almost between the eyes is F. He goes into a hotel with the kid and goes after a man named Old Sidney. He lights his room on fire and he and the kid then proceeds to beat the living daylights out of him. The fire is spreading now and they also hit the clerk of the hotel multiple times and run out, getting their horses/mules and ride out of town, away from the burning hotel. The Judge is there... Watching...
Captain White:
A ex-soldier who fought in the Mexican-American War and leads troop of men to Mexico that he believes should be conquered by the U.S. He is later decapitated by his foes.
Benjamin Tobin (Ex-Priest):
As his name says he is an ex-priest turned to a life of crime. He becomes close friends with the kids and enemies with the Judge.
John Joel Glanton: The leader of the scalp hunting troop who roams the countryside taking scalps of almost anybody they can find. Everybody has their own opinion about him and many of the stories don't add up. He is very intelligent however.
David Brown:
Another member of the Glanton group. However he is especially violent and radical wearing a ring of ears as a sort of morbid decoration.
John Jackson:
There are two people in the group with this name, one a negro, the other white and as you can probably infer, this leads to many problems and arguments. It is eventually resolved.
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