Blood Meridian Blog 7: The Judge

               Another major, major character throughout the novel is an infamous character called, "The Judge." A particularly ruthless and very violent character, he strikes fear into the heart of his enemies and leaves a swath of destruction in his wake. He is first introduced to us in this novel in a scene that describes one of his traits. He bursts into a sermon/revival to inform the church goers that the Reverend who is holding this religious event is an impostor, a pervert and a criminal wanted in four states. He lists multiple charges, each of which progresses in seriousness until they are almost unbelievable. Everyone tries to get to the 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." He had just made up everything about the Reverend just because it would make for a funny scene. He was probably drunk at the time as well.

               Not only is his appearance imposing as he is a massively tall and bulky, he has a certain elegance that contrasts terribly with his motives and actions. He has many interests and talents that befit a noble, respectable man but completely don't match him as a person. He is brutally honest, almost completely though not in a way which we would normally interpret. He is honest in every-way but not honest at all at the same time. Confusing isn't it? He is only honest towards things that will benefit him in someway and that it messes with all other people. His blunt honesty is sort of refreshing at the beginning as he speaks his views freely and doesn't care what other people thing. However, we soon realize that his character is much more sinister and devious than we originally realized. He is a curious man which is interesting as he hangs out with a group of people who you wouldn't expect him to be related too in many ways. He looks at all Native American culture around him even as he kills and scalps them. However at least he tries to learn and understand them while his partners simply see them as a grisly source of income. He often sits at the campfire and tells tons of his stories, whether real or not, we do not know. He also pretty much controls the whole group with an unspoken consent. No one contests his claim. Even though Glanton is supposedly "the leader" we can see that its really the judge. His character is quite interesting as he enjoys the finer points of life such as eating, dancing, music, etc but is just as ready, in a blink of an eye to turn around and shoot someone. His contrasting, ironic demeanor makes him all the more brutal and evil.