Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West

This page may be triggering; it contains mentions of extreme violence, paedophilia/child murder (the Judge).

The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life. But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate.

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West (usually referred to as just Blood Meridian) is a novel written by Cormac McCarthy. Published in 1985, the novel is based on the real-world escapades of the murderous Glanton gang (scalp hunters who murdered countless Native Americans during their year-long reign of terror).

Characters[]

"The kid" - a teenaged kid from the Deep South who flees his family and travels to Texas. He joins the Glanton Gang.
Judge Holden - Glanton's extremely depraved right-hand man
John Joel Glanton - the leader of the Glanton Gang - scalp-hunters whom roamed around the Mexico-Texas border killing Native peoples for money
Louis Toadvine - a man whom the kid meets shortly after leaving his family and who joins the Gang alongside the kid
Ben Tobin - an ex-priest within the Gang. He attempts to tell the kid to avoid the evil of the Judge.
Bathcat - a native of Wales who wears a necklace of human ears and who visited "Van Diemen's Land" (or Tasmania) before the events of Blood Meridian. Toadvine "befriends" (if anything in Blood Meridian can be called a friendship) Bathcat.
"The idiot"/James Robert Bell - a severly mentally handicapped man essentially made into a pet by the Judge
David Brown - a member of the Glanton Gang whom wears a necklace of human ears (possibly Bathcat's necklace
Black John Jackson - one of the two "John Jacksons"
White John Jackson - the other of the two "John Jacksons", killed by his black counterpart
General Elias - a Mexican general whom hunts after the Gang
Captain White - a despotic American general who plans to take Mexico for America and whom hires the kid into his army.
Sproule - a member of Captain White's army who briefly accompanies the kid
Reverend Green - a preacher framed by Judge Holden for absolutely despicable actions
Lieutenant Couts - the commander of a garrison in Tucson
Colonel Garcia - the leader of a garrison hunting Apaches
Old Sydney - a man attacked by the kid and Toadvine at the beginning of the novel
Chambers - a member of the Gang native to Kentucky
Speyer - an arms dealer
Cloyce Bell - owner/brother of the idiot.
"The hermit" -a former slave owner who the kid meets in the desert
Petit - a soldier conned and murdered by David Brown

Publisher's Summary[]

Blood Meridian is an epic novel of the violence and depravity that attended America's westward expansion, brilliantly subverting the conventions of the Western novel and the mythology of the Wild West. Based on historical events that took place on the Texas-Mexico border in the 1850s, it traces the fortunes of the Kid, a fourteen-year-old Tennesseean who stumbles into a nightmarish world where Indians are being murdered and the market for their scalps is thriving.

Full Summary[]

Chapter I[]

The story begins with the kid - born in 1833 to a mother killed birthing him - running away from his home (presumably) in the Deep South. He crosses the South - visiting the cities of Memphis, Saint Louis, and New Orleans. While in New Orleans, the kid fights with sailors until he is shot by a boatswain. The kid is tended to by a tavernkeeper's wife for two weeks. After leaving, the kid takes a boat into Texas. In the year of 1849, the kid buys a mule and rides into the town of Nacogdoches.

In a ratty canvas tent, the Reverend Green preaches to a full house. The kid enters the tent during the Reverend's sermon. A man with a long moustache and wide brim hat strikes up a conversation with the kid. It is then that an enormous bald man enters the tent. The Reverend stops his sermon. The visitor to the sermon reveals that the Reverend is an illiterate impostor, a child murderer, and one who has congress with animals. The Reverend attempts to rebut these allegations but fails. The crowd that was enraptured by the Reverend just minutes before forms a lynch mob. A young teamster exits the tent during this. The kid follows. The duo walks towards a hotel as the Reverend is murdered by the crowd. The visitor to the sermon - the Judge - is sat at the bar of the hotel. A crowd gathers around the Judge and begins to discuss the Reverend. The Judge callously reveals that everything he alleged against the Reverend was a tapestry of lies. The crowd laughs.

Two days later, the kid meets Toadvine in the hotel. By this time, the teamster has left - his room empty. The kid is walking to an outhouse (dubbed a batboard jakes) when he meets Toadvine. They almost immediately begin a brutal fight - both fully wishing to kill the other. The fight is ended by an interloper smashing the kid with a club. The kid wakes up the next day to find Toadvine staring over him covered in mud. The kid and Toadvine decide to quit their fight. The kid gets his boots and gives Toadvine's knife - presumably lost during or immediately after the fight - back to him. Toadvine grabs his hat - covered in mud - and puts it back on his head before entering into the hotel. Toadvine asks the barman for a man named Sydney.

The barman tells him but attempts to warn Toadvine from visiting "Old Sydney". Toadvine responds to this by setting a fire underneath Old Sydney's door. Once Old Sydney opens the door, Toadvine brutalizes Old Sydney. The kid joins in - kicking Old Sydney in the jaw on Toadvine's orders. By now, the fire that Toadvine started has spread out of control. A clerk runs at Toadvine but is beaten by Toadvine and the kid. Toadvine runs out of the street screaming for joy and still covered in mud. The kid gets his mule from the Spanish family he was boarding it with and rides off. By now, the hotel is firmly on fire. The Judge is watching the hotel burn. When he sees the kid, he sets off in pursuit on horseback.

Chapter II[]

The kid rides through the wilderness - avoiding roads for "fear of people" before he sights the smoke of a cabin. Inside of the cabin is an old hermit who lets the kid drink water before sending him out to water his mule. He finds the mule standing beside a well. The kid returns to the cabin and has to stay the night due to a storm. The hermit (a slaver who managed to escape the Civil War) shows him the heart of a dead slave, talks with him about religious matters while their food cooks, and sleeps in the cabin. He wakes up to find the hermit standing over him and leaves the next day.

The kid visits a herders' camp and is turned towards the town of Bexar. Once in the town, he walks into a bar and tries (with the help of an old man) to get a drink. Though he doesn't have any money, the kid asks to work for his drink. The bartender gives the kid a broom and lets him sweep the floor but refuses to give the kid his drink. Though the bartender pulls out a pistol, the kid beats him and leaves with a single bottle.

The next day, the kid wakes up in an abandoned church to find that his mule is missing. The kid walks to a river and finds several black people at it. He asks where his mule is, but gets no answer. Despite this, the kid finds his mule nearby.

Chapter III[]

While out in the wilderness, the kid is found by a recruiter for "Captain White". After promising the kid resources and land in Mexico through "the spoils of war", the recruiter brings the kid to Captain White. Impressed by the kid's violence (and ignoring the fact that the kid lies about being attacked by bandits), Captain White offers the kid a place in his army (which he plans to use to claim Mexico for America due to his racist beliefs in the inferiority of the Mexican peoples).

The kid visits an army camp, which is home to a disparate band of soldiers. Though the kid decides to keep his mule, he changes into clothes and (to the extent that he can) freshens himself up. With two other new recruits in tow, the kid rides into town on his mule - which he promptly trades for a saddle. The recruits buy various goods, though they have a small amount of money. Late in the night, they visit a bar to get drunk. In the bar is a Mennonite priest who warns the recruits that working with Captain White will lead to their untimely deaths. Though the recruits yell at the priest, his prophecy seemingly begins to come true, as one of their member (a boy named Earl) dies from having his head smashed in while they are still in the bar.

Chapter IV[]

The company that the kid is in walks through the basically empty deserts of the borderland. Shortly after the company hunts antelope, some of the men begin dying of illness. Despite this, the company still trudges onwards through a land one of the men describes as "the high road to hell". One day, an electrical storm flares through the desert.

Shortly after this, the company comes across a hut. They drag the owner of the camp (an old man) before the captain of the company. While watched over by the captain, the old man pisses himself and is promptly dragged away.

After passing through a deserted village, the captain of the company spots a crowd on horseback streaming towards the company. This is an army of Native people dressed in discordant garb that descend on the company and massacre them in an extremely brutal fashion.

Chapter V[]

One of the few survivors of the massacre is the kid. He soon meets with another survivor - a man named Sproule. With Sproule, the kid wanders through the desert. They find the corpses of babies impaled on a tree and a destroyed village. While in the village, the kid makes something to eat.

While walking through the desert, they spot some riders. They assume that the riders are Natives but it turns out that they are Mexicans. Though Sproule says that they are loonies, the two take some water from the Mexicans. That night, while asleep, Sproule is bitten by a bat.

The next day, the duo comes across a carriage being used by a family. After taking some water, they clamber into the carriage - which rides to a nearby town. Sproule dies in the middle of the night during the voyage. Once in the town, the kid is grabbed by soldiers who truss him up and march him to a jar with Captain White's severed head inside of it.

The kid is then thrown into jail and meets with a boy from Georgia who was with Captain White when he was killed. The Georgian boy tells the kid that they are bound for Chihuahua City. Three days later, the kid is brought to the City on muleback. The kid is thrown into another prison, where his cellmate is someone rather familiar - Toadvine.

Chapter VI[]

In the jail, the kid and Toadvine are tormented by a jailer that Toadvine dubs "Old Brassteeth" who has the prisoners clean up the filth from the street with their bare hands. While in their cell, the duo meets a veteran from Kentucky who recounts his encounters with the Native peoples. One day, while cleaning the filth, the trio sees a group of riders (with the Judge in their number) led by a man named John Joel Glanton who have an agreement with the governor to bring back the scalps of Natives. Toadvine is able to insert himself into their number by claiming that they are "Indian-killers" and the trio depart from their imprisonment with the scalp-hunters.

Chapter VII[]

That day, Glanton gets a shipment of extremely powerful pistols from a man named Speyer. After trying out the pistols, Glanton tries to get Speyer to give him the pistols for free. This doesn't work, but the Judge is able to negotiate with Speyer after talking with him on many subjects.

While travelling through the desert, the Glanton Gang come across a group of carnival-folk (including a juggler and a fortune-teller). Glanton uses the services of the fortune-teller - which initially goes as normal (with the Judge saying that the fortune-teller's fortune is to avoid alcohol) but ends with the fortune-teller screeching nigh-incomprehensibly.

The next day, the Glanton Gang come across an old Native woman who Glanton shoots in the head with a saddle-pistol and scalps.

Chapter VIII[]

The Gang visits a cantina where an old veteran of conflicts with the Apache who speaks broken English. While in the cantina, a patron gets stabbed but this goes unnoticed until the Gang leaves the cantina. While in the desert, it is revealed that the veteran that joined with Toadvine and the kid (a man named Chambers) has deserted the Gang.

In the middle of the night, "Black John Jackson" and "White John Jackson" (two men with the same name but with different skin colors who don't like each other) get into an argument. White Jackson pulls out a gun but is beheaded by Black Jackson with a knife. The Gang largely ignores this and starts riding once again. An hour later, they are ambushed by Apaches.

Chapter IX[]

The Gang is able to survive the ambush without any casualties on their side and are able to kill at least one Apache.

After walking through a gypsum lake, the Gang finds the crashed carriage of a gang of prospectors (including a young boy and a man who was shot in the chest). The Gang raids the carriage (loosing the horses of the carriage) and meets with the surviving prospectors. While this happens, one of the horses used by the prospectors - who was bitten by a snake and has a grievously swollen face - gets killed by the Gang's horses.

Using the ore samples claimed by the prospectors, the Judge gives a sermon on the ancient words of God trapped in minerals and other natural objects. The next morning, after the Judge is seen naked in the distance in the night, the young boy is found dead - his corpse lying in a place filled with old bones. The corpse's neck is broken, with this presumably being caused by the Judge. Though the prospectors briefly decide to join the Gang, they decide to stay behind as the Gang rides out and the dying man sings hymns.

While riding through the desert, the Gang meets with Northern ciboleros (buffalo hunters) for a brief moment.

Chapter X[]

As the kid mends a strap, an ex-priest named Tobin within the Gang narrates how the Gang met the Judge.

While walking through the wilderness, the Gang (completely out of gunpowder) came across the Judge wandering through the wastes. Glanton and the Judge became friendly (with Tobin claiming they made some sort of unholy covenant). The Judge sent the Gang into the mountains to mine saltpeter and niter. After this, the Judge told the Gang to circle the mountains and return in forty-eight hours. He then departs. The next day, the Gang finds the corpses of two deserters skinned.
The Gang returns two days later to find the Judge and a Delaware that was with the Gang have mined guano and charcoal. They also find that the mountaintops are surrounded by Apaches. After walking into the most desolate and hellish points of the mountains, the Judge gives a sermon and then - as the Apaches circle the Gang - has them frantically make gunpowder from the raw materials harvested and their own urine. With this, the Gang is able to shoot their way out of the mountains.

Chapter XI[]

While travelling through the mountains, the Gang awakens a bear. Despite being shot at by Glanton, the bear is still able to drag one of the Delawares away.

The Gang finds some Spanish artifacts which the Judge draws and then promptly destroys them by chucking them into a fire. He then tries to sketch a member of the Gang (who refuses) and begins recounting a long story about a man who meets a traveller in the road, invites the traveller to his house, and then kills him.

While walking through the mountains, the Gang runs into an Apache village. Though they are somewhat fearful of the village, the Gang camps near it and sends scouts into it - discovering that it is abandoned. Glanton then enters into the village for a brief moment, taming a dog while he is there.

Chapter XII[]

For two weeks, the Gang rides in hiding - lighting dummy fires and removing the shoes from their horses - before (after being caught in a hailstorm), the Gang sights fires in the distance. They find carriages that have been attacked either by the Apaches or white criminals hiding in the wilderness.

The Delawares (led by a Mexican named John McGill) travel forwards and scouts and return two days later with news that they have sighted the "Gileños" (or Apache warriors) with their women and children. After killing an old Apache man, the Gang swarms into the Apache village and massacre every living thing in the village. During the battle, John McGill is killed by being speared in the chest with a lance and is scalped by Glanton. The judge takes a young Apache boy as a prisoner and Glanton leaves the head of a man whom he thought to be an Apache leader named Gómez (though whom most likely is not Gómez) on a pike.

Shortly after leaving, the Judge kills his prisoner - leading to a brief standoff with Toadvine. The Gang continues to battle with the Apache and rides into Chihuahua on July 21st 1849 to a hero's welcome.

Chapter XIII[]

Though the Gang has an audience with the governor of Chihuahua City and gains a large swathe of provisions from the city, they quickly become a plague onto the city (with a dance becoming a sprawling brawl) and several other cities in the same area.

This starts with simply leaving the cities reeling in the economic sense before beginning to massacre their inhabitants. This starts with a band of peaceful Tiguas (a Native people) who are slaughtered and scalped. At the town of Nacori, a barfight during a funeral procession turns into a slaughter due to the Judge and Tobin firing into the street. In an unnamed town, the Gang simply begin shooting at innocent civilians with no provocation.

While travelling through the mountains, the Gang meets with a small company of soldiers whom the Gang battles with. They follow the soldiers and massacre them before they can reach Chihuahua City, which they ride into. As a consequence of the Gang's unstoppable hunger and lust, a bounty is put out on the Gang.

Chapter XIV[]

As the Gang walks through the mountains, they are caught in an electrical storm. Days later, they ride into the "old stone town of Jesús María" (or Ocampo) in a frightful state (ornamented with human parts, presumably from a family they met the previous day). They take residence in a bodega owned by a man named Frank Carroll. While settling into the town, the Judge plays his fiddle side-by-side with a local fiddler.

During the feast of Las Animas, the Judge tries to give sweets to the local children but is avoided by all of them. The next day, Glanton lapses into an insensible state and is bedridden. The Judge buys a handful of puppies and promptly throws them over a bridge, where they are shot by Bathcat. After emerging from his bed, Glanton rides a donkey through the streets of the town until it is shot dead by an unknown figure. The Gang begins firing into the street in retaliation and then leaves.

While riding on the top of some nearby cliffs, the Gang meets a group of mule riders who they shoot dead. They soon discover that the surviving John Jackson is missing. He is found, near-naked, riding a mule.

The Gang rides beside the Yaqui River, which is lush with foliage. Glanton finds a healer living in the woods and briefly talks with him before leaving. The Judge begins to draw everything he sees in the riverside forest into a notebook. Toadvine asks him why he makes his sketches, to which the Judge replies that he wishes to become "suzerain of the earth" - a "keeper" above all other "keepers" on Earth. By following the river, the Gang rides into the town of Ures. They board at a hotel owned by a German and buy horses. The next day, after much drunken fighting, the Judge and Glanton buy two more horses.

Chapter XV[]

Shortly after murdering an entire pueblo in the Sonoran desert, the Gang is beset by a cavalry of Sonoran soldiers led by General Elias. In the shootout, several men in the Gang are killed. In the aftermath, the kid is left behind with the injured troops. After arguing with an injured man who tries to steal his gun, the kid rides out into the wastes.

While riding through the wilderness, the kid comes across a member of the Gang named Tate. Tate's horse was injured in battle and limps. The kid and Tate ride together through a snowstorm. They are soon found by scouts belonging to Elias and shot at. During the ensuing firefight, the kid loses sight of Tate.

After sighting a fire on the prairie, the kid spots a burning tree and sleeps before it. The next day, the kid sights the burnt remains of scalps collected by the Gang and he then comes across a horse. The kid begins riding said horse and finds some of the Gang (including Glanton and the Judge). After Toadvine gives him a horse, the Judge kills the kid's previous horse by bashing its brains out with a rock.

The next day, while crossing through an "alkali plain" the Gang comes across severed hands in the sand. The next day, they ride into the town of Santa Cruz and lodge with a Mexican family, sleeping in a barn that night.

Chapter XVI[]

While the Gang is riding through the "ruins of the old hacienda of San Bernadino", the horse of a man in the Gang is gored by a massive bull. The Gang finds an old Spanish church, which the Judge gives a lengthy speech about. Once inside the church, someone in the Gang shoots a young man who was squatting in the church. The Judge speaks with the brother of the man (who only speaks German) before they leave.

In the desert, the Gang finds the brutally mutilated corpses of several scouts (including Bathcat and the last of the Delawares in the Gang) stuck to a tree. As the sun rises, the Gang meets with a small platoon of Chiricahua Apache warriors. Instead of simply massacring the warriors (even after Glanton's horse bites the horse of the Chiricahuas' leader) they talk about whiskey and then leave for Tucson.

In Tucson, the Gang meets with a garrison led by a lieutenant named Couts before making their way to a local bar. Glanton and the Judge learn about a wild man being exhibited in town and visit the wild man (or the idiot). At an eating-house, they are nearly thrown out by the owner due to John Jackson's black skin but the Gang psyche Jackson into shooting the owner. They are nearly arrested by Couts but the Judge is able to prevent this using his vast legal knowledge. The Judge and Glanton then get the owner of the idiot to hand him over. Shortly before the Gang leaves, a young girl goes missing (presumably having been murdered by one of the Gang).

Chapter XVII[]

After leaving Tucson, the Gang gives the Chiricahuas a barrel of whiskey (which is filled mostly with water). Two days later, the Gang runs into a "ragged legion" of Sonoran troops under the command of a colonel named Garcia. Seeing that the soldiers are members of a land he considers dead, Glanton (and the rest of the Gang) leaves the soldiers behind shortly after meeting them.

While camping in the wilderness, the Judge makes a lengthy speech on life on other planets and throws a coin like a boomerang. The next day, after encountering a crucified Apache, the Judge makes another speech about the prevalence of war in the human spirit. The day after that, the Judge finds a massive femur from a "creature long extinct".

After three day's travel, the Gang reaches the Colorado River. After encountering a wagon train decimated by cholera, the Gang hires a ferry ran by a doctor to cross the River and enter into a Yuma encampment and meet with a party of Mexicans clad in "fool's regalia" led by a man named Caballo en Pelo.

Chapter XVIII[]

As the Gang plots to take control of the ferry, a group of women sight the idiot. Instead of being disgusted by him, they pity him and decide to free the idiot from his cage. After talking with the idiot's owner (and his brother), they drag the idiot's cage to the river. While watched by Toadvine and the kid, they bathe the idiot and burn his cage. They dress him in fancy clothes and give him candy. One of the women tucks the idiot into bed. The next day, the idiot wakes up and walks into the river. He nearly drowns but is saved by the Judge (who at that moment was swimming in the river in the nude).

Chapter XIX[]

One day, the Yuma people living on the riverbed attack the ferry. The Gang kill all of the attackers and then take control of the ferry. Glanton turns the ferry into a money-making racket and soon starts robbing passengers. A group of soldiers build another ferry, which falls in the hands of the Yumas, but this ferry is destroyed and its owner beheaded.

In Easter, the kid and Toadvine watch as a group of Sonorans burn an effigy of Judas. A few days later, Glanton sends David Brown, Toadvine, and a man named "Long Webster" to the town of San Diego to buy supplies. The day after the trio arrives in San Diego, Toadvine and Long Webster are arrested. David Brown tries to get the alcalde (the Spanish word for mayor) of San Diego to release them, then tries to get a farrier to saw off an expensive shotgun. The farrier refuses, making Brown threaten the man and then take his tools and saw off the shotgun as the police watch.

Shortly after Toadvine and Long Webster are released, Brown kills a soldier by setting him on fire. He is thrown into jail but is able to con another soldier (named Petit) into releasing him by promising to take over the ferry with him. Brown shoots the soldier in the head. When Webster and Toadvine return without David Brown, Glanton breaks into the alcalde's house and tortures the man to figure out where David Brown is. When this doesn't work, Glanton ties up the alcalde, his wife, and a local grocer. Glanton then returns to the ferry.

Several days later, the Yuma attack the ferry. They kill the doctor and several members of the Gang (including Glanton, whose head they split with an axe and whose body they incinerate with his dog). The Judge manages to escape with the idiot at his heels.

Chapter XX[]

The kid and Toadvine also manage to survive, though the kid gains an arrow in his leg. After a shootout with the Yuma, the duo sight the figure of Tobin near the wells at Alamo Mucho. The three are then shot at by the Yumas and return fire. Once the shootout stops, the surviving Gang members discover that they are desperately low on gunpowder.

Tobin sights two figures in the wilderness, these being the Judge (who is largely naked besides some meat that he has draped over his body) and the idiot (whom the Judge has leashed like a dog). The Judge is able to buy Toadvine's hat off of him. After Toadvine and the Judge talk about leaving for California, Tobin tries to get the kid to shoot the Judge through the head while he is naked. The kid does not do this, and he and Tobin leave the Judge behind. Later in the day, they encounter David Brown on his horse and inform him about the death of Glanton.

While at a place filled with the bones of dead animals, the kid is shot at by the Judge with a rifle. Before the kid can shoot the Judge, he leaves his sight - leaving the idiot behind. Tobin tries to get the kid to shoot the idiot but the idiot shambles away before the kid can shoot him. The Judge then tries to lure the kid out. The kid stalks through the wilds and, after several hours, meets with the Judge once more. The Judge and the kid fire at each other. Tobin is hit through the neck but survives and tells the kid to shoot their horses. While watched by the idiot, the kid stalks towards the horses and shoots them. He is then met once again by the Judge, who says that he offers the kid leniency (due to his actions being influenced by Tobin) if he throws his pistol away. The kid lays in hiding until the Judge leaves and then stalks over to Tobin. They hide out in the wilderness together.

Chapter XXI[]

While walking through the wastes, the kid and Tobin meet the Judge once again. He is holding an umbrella made of flesh and bone (possibly made from the bones of David Brown and/or Toadvine) and has several items that were previously in the hands of David Brown. Despite this, the Judge assures the two castaways that David and Toadvine are still alive. After this brief talk, the Judge and the survivors part ways.

The kid and Tobin are found by a tribe of Diegueños (or Kumeyaay) and nursed back to health. After leaving the Diegueños, the two survivors travel towards the coast - finally reaching it to see a ship passing by as a small grouping of horses graze nearby.

Chapter XXII[]

The kid leaves Tobin behind and travels to a nearby town, where he is arrested. The Judge visits him in his cell and tries to convince the kid that he will be executed for conspiring with the natives to kill everyone in the ferry. Despite this, the kid is released two days later. He has a surgery to remove the fragments of arrow from his knee and is visited by the Judge during the surgery.

Some time later, the kid watches as Toadvine and Brown are hanged and buys David Brown's necklace of ears to wear about his own neck. Several years later, when the kid is a man of twenty-eight years, he sees a group of pilgrims die an extremely violent death and sits with an old woman from the group as she dies.

Chapter XXIII[]

In 1878, shortly after meeting with a buffalo-hunter by the side of a fire, the kid is hailed by a ragged party. He talks with them about his time with the Glanton Gang and David Brown's ear necklace. His talk leads one of their member (a young boy named Elrod) to try to shoot the kid. The kid shoots Elrod, who is dragged away by the rest of the party.

The kid rides into a town and enters into a bar being entertained by a dancing bear. While at the bar having his drink, he sights the Judge. After someone shoots the dancing bear dead, the Judge gives a lengthy speech about rituals and the dance of life. The kid then walks out of the bar and is "serviced" by a midget prostitute. He then walks to the "jakes" and is killed by the Judge while in one of the cubicles. The Judge steps out and joins into a nearby dance.

A cryptic epilogue talks about a man who progresses through the plain "by means of holes".

Gallery[]

Sources[]

Goodreads
Wikipedia

Title	Author	Release date	Signifigance
My Confession: Recollections of a Rogue	Samuel E. Chamberlain	1850 (approx)	A book which inspired large portions of Blood Meridian
Butcher's Crossing	John Williams	1960	A bleak novel which subverts most of the tropes of the Western genre
Mason & Dixon	Thomas Pynchon	1997	A postmodernist historical novel set in the wilderness of America with a unique prose style
The Final Challenge	Dale Van Every	1964	A book detailing the American push into the Wild West
No Country for Old Men	Cormac McCarthy	2005	A novel by the same author deconstructing crime fiction
Lonesome Dove	Larry McMurtry	1985	A Western novel released around the same time featuring the Glanton Gang
Yellow Back Radio Broke-Down	Ishmael Reed	1969	A postmodernist novel that deconstructs the Western genre
True History of the Kelly Gang	Peter Carey	2000	A postmodernist novel set in the wilderness with an unusual prose style that details the life of a criminal
Heart of Darkness	Joseph Conrad	1900	A novella detailing a trip into the wilderness that shows the darkness of human nature
Midnight Rider	Kat Martin	1996	A novel set in a similar time period and location (1800s California)