Blood Meridian's Ending Explained

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Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West is Cormac McCarthy's most critically-acclaimed novel to date, but it's also his most complicated story. One of the most frustrating things for readers is the ending, which is presented in such an indirect way that even the basic facts of it can be questioned.
With this video I want to answer:
What did the Judge do to the Kid?
Why did the Judge want to kill the Kid?
What was the main conflict between the Judge and the Kid throughout the entire book?
Why did Cormac McCarthy write his ending the way he did?

[@bernarddoherty2303]

The violence not being described after so much well described violence is sooo brilliant

[@tose5566]

It leaves it up to your imagination, because that will always be more horrific and personal than any author could make

[@osango310]

I also felt like not describing it was a way of saying “what he did was so terrible I refuse to say it”. Which really stuck with me.

[@verdun16]

The fact they shared deaths such as Glantons death (His head being cut down the middle to his throat) or the massacre that one Native Village where the gang did the most messed up shit known to man yet they won’t tell the death of the kid makes me wonder what could be so gruesome they don’t show the kids death.

[@horustortoise6110]

Is “the man” “the kid”? Wouldn’t “the kid” recognize “the judge” at the bar?

[@verdun16]

@@horustortoise6110 yes, the man is the kid. And he did recognize the judge, they talked.

[@hank_Reardon]

For the time this video existed without my knowledge it existed without my consent. -Judge Holden

[@matthew1882]

Holden vs Chigurh when?

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Genius

[@ElevenDollarCheese]

"Watch the coin, Davey" "I'll notify u where to put the coin"

[@ryanwhitaker4444]

"If you weren't aware of the video, did it really exist?" -Also Holden

[@serotoninsyndrome]

What's he a judge of? Edit: The correct answer is "Quiet, lad. He has the ears of a fox...."

[@avanindrad5988]

Slightly embarrassed to say this but while reading the last chapter I somehow missed the part where the judge grabs the man. Up until this point I'd assumed that the man stood in the bar watching the judge dance and that seemed pretty haunting too.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

It's so easy to miss so many little lines throughout the book. Everything is said in passing and so simply that it can slip right by you.

[@mycoguy2132]

Just finished it today and that's exactly what I thought. It was a good book but it has disturbed me.

[@Fitness4London]

Likewise! I consider it a huge weakness of the final chapter that Judge Holden's murder of the man (the Kid!) was not described.

[@gaulicwarlord]

Same here, but instead of not realizing he grabbed the Man, I didn’t know what he grabbed him IN, or where he grabbed him. I didn’t know what a jake was and had to look it up.

[@xoxoyee3862]

I had to read chapter summaries in shmoop and i missed ALOT. i also missed the grabbing

[@1978wasntfun]

i like the part where the judge says “i’ll be the judge of that” and starts judging

[@corpseweed]

I mean, not wrong

[@barbarossa1780]

I judge that to be the best comment about The Judge…in my judgement.

[@orlandovftw]

Franklin Bluth: My name is Judge. Gob: Whose name is Judge? Franklin Bluth: My name is... Gob: That's a silly name! Franklin Bluth: -Judge. My name... Gob: Yes I am judging your name. It am silly! Franklin Bluth: - is... Gob: Oh, now you're correcting my grammar?

[@bdaypartymyplace]

hush, he 's ears like a fox

[@cronenbuilder277]

ROTFL

[@scionixx9568]

I know the child who turned into a man lived a pretty bad life for a while, but he was making a real change to try and be a better person and you can’t help but really like him. That ending absolutely broke me and I could not stop thinking about it for almost a week. Just imagining in my head what he did to him.

[@steveelder5306]

it is so grim. I had the same reaction.

[@MrIvanKnight]

I disagree. The kid was given literally DIVINE guidance and did not learn to stray from the path he was on. The burning tree in the middle of the frost storm. The random burst of wind that covered his tracks when the judge chased him. The Kid stayed on a true path of destruction and it led him back to the judge, the literal embodiment of death.

[@danny_decheeto8300]

I was more of the thought that the Judge was meant to be the devil?@@MrIvanKnight

[@connorbennett6911]

The kid literally before reaching griffon Texas and finally seeing the judge murdered a 15 year old. So no he’s always been a piece of shit

[@dangerousdays2052]

The kid had many chances to kill the judge, the embodiment of evil, but he refused and in the end the judge got him. Reminds me of the poems "First They Came" and "The Hangman."

[@StudioSerious1]

I think the judge embodies all the human evilness that will never end, will never die.

[@neo-filthyfrank1347]

Yeah but I dunno, simultaneously it does die and end. The old west of the story had ended, and today war is at an all time low

[@DiogenesNephew]

@@neo-filthyfrank1347 Evil is alive and well in this world, and it will always be so long as man exists.

[@kenthefele113]

@@neo-filthyfrank1347 Yeah, but violence will always exist.

[@neo-filthyfrank1347]

@@kenthefele113 Yeah but does that actually mean anything though? For most people in technologically developed countries violence is basically nonexistent on a relevant scale. Not saying this is good though.

[@markcarey67]

@@neo-filthyfrank1347 That's what the epilogue is about

[@davidmatthews7642]

‘Closet’ means toilet. Water closets flush. When McCarthy says, ’the Judge was on the closet’ he means that the Judge was in a common out house sitting naked on the toilet (taking a shit). ‘The man’ stumbles in on him which confirms, at least to the Judge, that the universe is throwing the two of them together.(there were other ‘jakes’ to choose from but the man chose this one)

[@bazuso___]

Unnerving how two of mcarthys most iconic characters, holden and Anton, take coincidences and label them as the “universe’s” condoning of horrible violent atrocities

[@crazyratpors]

Only book I ever read and immediately reread after.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Cool! Did it get better on your re-read?

[@Infamous41]

The audiobook is better way better it's narrated by the great Richard Poe!!!!

[@darthenclave6946]

Me too!!

[@paulbrimble8204]

@@Infamous41 makes a long drive easy

[@twillymantheoneandonly5587]

I loved the book on my first read. Just like "the road" Mccarthy paints beautiful writen descriptions of brutality. Whe he describes natives moving along the ground like animals, scalping soilders. The hermit with his house made of sod. Cormac writes some of the best descriptive passages put to paper. The few parts he doesn't describe in great detail have a purpose.

[@Onomatophobias]

Since the book details its gruesomeness so vividly, I always felt that McCarthy didn't describe the Mans death because what the Judge did to him was so horrific, that it couldn't be translated to words. That is why the men finding the Man's dead body doesn't say anything. Btw great video!

[@kishi1488]

They say "good God almighty"

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

It’s such a good idea for a story. After a whole book of detailed horrific actions by humans. What the Judge did to the protagonist couldn’t even be written.

[@aburoach9268]

@@kishi1488 No, they don't say anything, because they got horny from the sight and started masturbating

[@Autocratical]

I took this the same way as I took all the implied childrens' deaths/disappearances that are implied to be the Judge's doing. It's too gruesome and terrible to even be described.

[@weshouser821]

@@Autocratical Right, its presumed that he essentially raped him to death like he probably did with the mexican boy so it was probably very similar to that. So, the sight of a grown man stuffed into an outhouse and whatever a full grown man who is implied to be tough as nails being raped to death by an ever bigger tougher man would look like. No matter how you think about it's going to be a horrible sight in there some really horrible type of struggle and for the judge to just be out dancing without a problem means that the judge was easily able to do it, or the man let him do it.

[@lennyjudd123]

You know what, after reading about endless murders, children/women/babies being murdered, bloodshed and cruelty that are challenging to comprehend, im actually alright with Mccarthy not including a description of the main character of the story being raped to death.

[@johnaeryns5364]

He wasn't raped to death. He was the judge all along. The judge first manifested as an alternate personality that the kid used to justify the murder of his father and sister to himself. Later, he takes on physical form in the kids psyche. Think Tyler Durden in fight club.

[@chatclipdat]

@@johnaeryns5364bullshit 😂

[@johnaeryns5364]

Tell me I'm wrong though

[@lennyjudd123]

@@johnaeryns5364 you're wrong

[@mr.jameson218]

​@@johnaeryns5364You're wrong and that's dumb.

[@LanguageFilm]

Blood Meridian is one of my favorite books, not for its story (which I gave up trying to comprehend) but it's language. I will just open it to random pages and read it and find pleasure in the beauty of the prose. McCarthy stretches English to the breaking point and beyond.

[@firefox6285]

Absolutely agree. A quote on the cover describes it as a 'nightmare odyssey' which I think is so fitting.

[@unscrupulousyou]

I said that the other day. Turn to any two pages for the sublime.

[@visionpiping1048]

You are so right…..just beautiful writing.

[@dangerousdays2052]

Blood Meridian feels surreal and hyper-realistic at the same time.

[@mingthan7028]

Agree

[@ubermalice9589]

Glanton shook his head and spat.

[@Jumbo_Chisel_Tip]

Fuuuuck dude you just totally shattered my understanding of that whole scene when they’re at that church and why Glanton reacted the way he did. Well said.

[@ubermalice9589]

@@Jumbo_Chisel_Tip Well damn. I don't even remember what I watched or why I commented. Wait... video on the ending of Blood Meridian? Yea. That for sure sounds like something I'd watch. Can't deny that. Nonetheless. Thanks?

[@master-dukecuthbert5061]

​@@ubermalice9589im here too!

[@evandotterer4365]

The fact the judge is a child rapist almost makes his character more human. It’s such a barbaric act that we don’t associate it with fictional monsters. It’s a disgusting act attached to man alone..

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Yes. I think it does bring him down from a mythological figure to just a man who has ascended to some strange mental place.

[@Johnconno]

You should look at the history of the English judiciary... ;. (

[@cptnbustanut]

In fact, historically, girls were considered of proper marriage at 10-12. Pretty much all cultures across the world until the last 80 years. And it is still that way in many places in Asia and the middle east today. Humans huh? Such intelligent creatures

[@charliemike13]

@@BenjaminAugustLiterature he seems to be based on Judge Holden in Sam Chamberlain’s “autobiography” and in that story the judge is a large man that assaults and kills a little girl.

[@johnpatterson8697]

there are mythical monsters like that though stories of the Boogieman are a reference to such people. And are a way of warning our children without exposing them to concepts of SA before they are old enough to understand. In fact Albert Fish was referred to as the "Boogieman" when he got caught

[@justanotherredheadattheend955]

8:20 This was exactly my experience when I read it. Over hundreds of pages, Blood Meridian had never hesitated to describe all kinds of horrendous or surreal shit. So it creates this really unspeakable, ominous atmosphere when it doesn't describe what happened to The Boy (now Man) in his final meeting with The Judge. As if it was so terrible and maybe even supernatural that not even this book will go into it. It's the one act of violence Blood Meridian DOESN'T describe. And that kicks you in the chest.

[@enigmaticglo]

what the judge did really kicks you in the groin. and he will graciously dance on, forever, while you’re here, alone, in pain, holden’ deez nuts

[@shlepydog960]

Very interesting that the common belief is that rape in itself isn’t believed to be sexual in nature and that it’s primary utilization is to impose ones power over another. The judges decision to commit murder and rape of the man illustrates that he is in fact the victor (at least in his eyes). This book haunts me, I find myself thinking about more than I wish lol. Terrific video btw very well done!

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Thank you so much!

[@ashwhiteforest9078]

You seem to think sex and power are mutually exclusive. I find this stupid to the point of personal insult. I think worse still, is an actual rapist *wondering* why he enjoys the act. He is either very stupid, or afraid of the answer, and so feigns ignorance. I fall somewhere between. I'm addicted to misery and make it something of a game. I love the sunken heart. I love the turning stomach. I see no divide between sex and power. I embrace it. But you are either very pure, very ignorant, or very, very much a hypocrite. I wonder what you like, but I never wonder why.

[@abandonedmuse]

Rape has always been to exert dominance over another being. Maybe as men you don’t see it that way, but as a woman, I very much feel it in that fashion. Especially when men don’t get their way online and they resort to saying (like during the whole gamer gate fiasco) that they would rape the female gamers. It was a way to exert their dominance, to control the narrative of which they were quickly losing a grip on, in their cherished video game world. Men always use it against women as a threat, because women hold that dear and they men know it is a point of weakness for us. Then when you don’t hold it dear, like a sex worker men will also rape them because they are not being morally clean enough. In the end women cannot and will never win in men’s eyes who wish to exert their dominance and impose their morals over us. It is up to us to change their narrative and scare them or educate them depending on the situation. I have had to scare a few men in my day, and educate a few others. It all depends on the amount of dominance they are trying to achieve over my personal will. Because in the end, I am like the judge, my will is always achieved. They will never win with me when they try to best me I always find a way to outsmart men of that sort.

[@RecordedMercury]

​@@abandonedmuse lmao cringe

[@angryanakin]

@@abandonedmuse okay?

[@ElevenDollarCheese]

Bring back Toadvine.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

I agree!

[@Antheraws]

TOADVINE!!!

[@fenrisodessa]

The bear death was tragic, dancing to the end.

[@NigelJackson]

What man would not be a dancer if he could...It's a great thing, the dance...

[@mycaleb8]

After all the horror of the book, that part hit me the hardest. It shouldn't have, but it did.

[@Joesire]

@@mycaleb8 Yeah, that part was terrible, I couldnt tell what was going on in a lot of the book. That scene was one that was just fd, I like the imagery of the book though

[@peterisnardi1197]

I have this feeling like The Judge that we see at the end isn't real, he's The Kid/The Man's own personal demon, drawn up from his guilt...perhaps they find him alone in the outhouse, having put one in his own brain...

[@stoneylonesome4062]

Reminds me of that scene in Full Metal Jacket… always wished that Kubrick had chosen Blood Meridian to try his hand at a western. Kubrick had a real motif with bathrooms, (Pyle’s death, Dave’s Reflection, Jack Torrance’s Ghost Encounters, Jack D Ripper’s suicide, Alex DeLarge revealing his true identity) and that would’ve fit perfectly with Blood Meridian’s ending.

[@kHeller181]

The Judge was the embodiment of violence and sin in the form of a person. Some men fear and stay away, some are drawn to it. Everyone can see him because everyone has a little bit of them in themselves. But only a few completely embodied it. I think the Man fully embraced his sadism and abandoned any good in him and became one with the judge. I think he was a child molester and raped and murdered the girl who ran out of the bar after the bear was shot. And The man and The Judge became one.

[@samsonsasshair]

@@kHeller181 yes, i agree with you. This is suggested by another fact that he could not have sex with a prostitute

[@dangerousdays2052]

@@kHeller181 How the heck would he have had time to get the little girl? The Man was upstairs smashing a Mexican midget prostitute when she went missing.

[@monchogudino2642]

@@kHeller181 what makes you say that?

[@EubulusKane3259]

He is a great favorite, the judge, he says he'll never die.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Such a beautiful way to end the book.

[@southernaf6785]

I'm an English Major. McCarthy deliberately excised all reasons why and motivations/causes purposefully from this novel. His intention is to immerse you in the senseless violence and to progressively make you feel more isolated and alone because of the lack of empathy and reasons why

[@shawnladue8986]

Doesn’t this seem to be the overarching theme of most of not all of his books?

[@Howl-Runner]

​@@shawnladue8986 No. Perhaps you should well read a book.

[@shawnladue8986]

@@Howl-Runner Nice try stupid, try actually reading his novels, and get back to me.🤡

[@Howl-Runner]

@@shawnladue8986 I have, I've read many of his books. You haven't.

[@shawnladue8986]

@@Howl-Runner No you haven’t, or you wouldn’t be trying to argue over the obvious. Read the Border Trilogy, No Country for Old Men, and Blood Meridian, and get back to me dumb @ss.

[@Johnsmith99663]

“Before man was, boating waited for him. The ultimate weekend activity awaiting its ultimate leisure gentleman.”

[@DiviAugusti]

I've read this book 4 times and might read it a fifth after watching this. My understanding of the ending is slightly different. I felt that The Judge was a personification of evil or chaos. He has a "might is right," Darwinian sort of philosophy. The Judge comes into the life of the Glanton Gang when they are in the most dire of situations. They are fleeing from Apache Indians, who have them in check mate. Miraculously, while fleeing, they find The Judge waiting on a rock in the desert as if he were waiting at a bus stop. The Judge then uses his endless knowledge to bail them out of the situation, but from this point forward Glanton and The Judge are side by side. I can't recall the exact words used but I believe it was something like a "Vile covenant." The Judge seems to have all the endless knowledge of one that has been around forever. He seems to be building on that knowledge at all times with his study of nature and geology. There is a very crucial moment (I believe) when The Kid is in jail and The Judge comes to visit him. The Judge lets The Kid know how much he has disappointed him, and that he could've loved him as a son. Ill type out some of what The Judge says here: "You came forward to take part in a work, but you were a witness against yourself. You sat in judgment on your own deeds. You put your own allowances before the judgements of history, and you broke with the body of which you were pledged a part, and poisoned it in all it's enterprise." "I spoke in the desert for you, and you only, and you turned a deaf ear to me. If war is not holy, man is nothing but antique clay. Even the cretin acted in good faith according to his parts. For it was required of no man to give more than he possessed, nor was any man's share compared to another's. Only each was called upon to empty out his heart into the common, AND ONE DID NOT." "Can you tell me who that one was?" (There was a quote somewhere else in the book where the Judge tells the kid that only he held in his heart some sympathy for the savages.) In the final chapter of the book "The Kid" begins to be called "The Man." We get to the night The Judge is reunited with The Man. Their conversation here is again important. "Plenty of time for the dance." "I ain't studying for no dance." When he is talking about the dance he is referring to the act of depravity that he knows will be happening tonight. "You're here for the dance." "I've got to go." "What man would not be a dancer if he could, it's a great thing, the dance." Here a little girl is mourning her dying bear which was used in the act she was a part of. "Drink up. Drink up. This night thy soul will be needed of thee." He drinks, and the Judge gets to talking about when he first saw him: "I recognized you when I first saw you, and yet you were a disappointment to me. Then and now." "Even so, I find you at the last, here with me." "I ain't with you." "Not?" The man tries to say the only reason he showed up at the bar tonight was to have a good time, just like everyone else. "This is an orchestration for an event. For a dance, in fact. The participants will be apprised of their roles at the proper time. For now it is enough that they have arrived." He makes the point that not everyone involved in tonight's finale can know their part beforehand, lest they not show up for it at all. He refers to what happens tonight as a ceremony and ritual which includes the letting of blood. Finally to the ritual itself: This isn't an accidental meeting between The Man and The Judge. The reason the Judge showed up tonight was because of what he knew would be happening. This would be the night that The Kid, who disappointed him, finally completely embraces the savagery The Judge represents, as The Man. At this point in the chapter we know the little girl who was part of the show with the bear has now gone missing, and a group of people are out looking and calling for her. "Then he opened the rough board door of the jakes and stepped in. The Judge was seated upon the closet. He was naked, and he rose up smiling, and gathered him into his arms against his immense and terrible flesh, and shot the wooden bar latch home behind him." I believe this is the moment The Man fully embraces The Judge's savagery. We are allowed to fill in the blanks with our own minds, which are all desensitized to violence after reading this far. After this some men walk toward the jakes and see a man urinating into the mud outside one of the doors. The implication being that whatever happened in that jake, it wasn't him taking a piss. The men then look inside and are horrified by what they see. Then as we all know The Judge says that he never sleeps, and will never die. That couldn't possibly be more true if we are seeing the judge as the personification for violence and savagery.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Wow, thanks for taking the time to write out your analysis. I'm going to pin it so others who come to this video can see another opinion on the matter!

[@leoporth6726]

Are you saying the man took and raped the girl like the judge had with so many young children in previous chapters who disappeared? And therefore the judges embrace is the man embracing evil and chaos? Just want to make sure I understand you

[@Space_Ghost_Hunter]

Just finished the book for the first time today, i had heard people say the judge kills the kid in the end before ever even reading it so i was expecting that ending, but upon actually reading it myself, i came away from it with much the same interpretation as you, the man urinating outside the jake is what set it off for me, i was like "That's the kid, its gotta be" what an amazing book. and further id add that the expriest was a sort of conscience the kid harbored made manifest, at war with the judge over the kids fate, in the end he couldn't bring himself, to shoot the judge, thus tobin disappears completely as if he had never existed, and the judge returns, having been the kids ultimate choice, whether the kid was willing to acknowledge it, he made his choice long ago. Just some of my own thoughts to go with you're great analysis. Cheers mate!

[@leoporth6726]

@@Space_Ghost_Hunter wow, very cool input. Never saw it that way but I totally get that reading

[@jaredb4445]

Agreed, the man urinating outside the jakes is 'the kid/the man'. The judge is happy because the kid/ the man has embraced the judges evil. The key scene is 'the man' with the dwarf prostitute. he cant make it with her. then the girl disappears... just like kids kept disappearing around the judge, earlier in the book. the final dancinf judge scene is because of the judges moral victory over the kid. he could have killed the kid at any point earlier in the book, so there is nothign to dance over, if he just killed him in the jakes.

[@brandonroberts13]

I think our society sees people as either the kid or the judge, but they forget about the third actor; the servant.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Maybe that's reflected in the expriest Tobin.

[@jbellflower83]

I like authors who leave it to your imagination to put the pieces together. Nothing anyone could write is scarier than the numerous scenarios a person could play out in their head.

[@davit25]

Right. Why tell the story!

[@JamesWilliams-dz5tn]

I don’t like books or movies with unexplained endings. I paid the money to read/see this story and now I gotta figure out the end?

[@Badficwriter]

Why bother reading it if your own mind is better?

[@kevinulysses2105]

Theres a crucial bit of the ending that is not addressed. At the bar there is a dancing bear who is shot, which scares a young girl, causing her to run into the night and go missing. A search party is mentioned. The prostitute the man chose is described as being a dwarf. Children are known to dissapear around the judge. What if the judge awaited in the outhouse with the little girl as a "dish" to share with the man. Maybe what the judge has done is transform the man into a new judge through initiation so that he can "never die". Maybe what people see in the toilet is the man with the little girl.

[@citizenpony]

He will never die

[@brentoncavallaro2040]

good theory, its definitely in the judges character to try and make every one around him as awful as possible.

[@DiogenesNephew]

Could be, though hard to imagine someone not just blowing his brains out on the spot. Also it should've been locked. So more likely, as another commenter pieces together, the man raped her and was actually the guy pissing outside the jakes if anything. Though I'm not entirely sure of anything myself.

[@Mrtotot]

This is the ending I like to go with. However what's interesting to me is the line from the Judge to the Man. "Drink up, tonight thy soul may be required of thee." I looked up the phrase out of curiosity and it only appears in the bible. God is telling a man that tonight he will die for the crime of keeping treasures for himself and not building treasure with god, so to speak. This fits perfectly in the context of the Judges philosophy on war being god. He chastises the man twice in the book for blaspheming against war and so he kills him for that crime. It's ironic because had the Man been able to read the bible he carries around he might have caught the reference. The judge told him to his face that he would be executed for his crime of keeping moral integrity for himself while the brotherhood as the Judge calls it gave their all to war yet only the Man stood alone amongst them.

[@Mrtotot]

However I definitely prefer the ending you mentioned and think alot of evidence points to it more so. But that line from the judge is also very deliberate. So maybe he does kill the man after they rape the bear girl together.

[@nw82534]

I think the Judge represents inexorable, unrelenting 'progress' and as Terry Pratchett put it, "Progress just means bad things happen faster." The Kid/Man lives his life moment to moment and like many of us constantly reacts to his environment or his situation. Contrastingly The Judge seeks to create the environment around him, according to his own 'truth' so he sees the protagonist as his enemy.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

I think that's a very smart way of framing things, especially as they relate to McCarthy, who has a notoriously pessimistic view of the world

[@nw82534]

Enjoying your channel, I'm a big C.M. fan and find your insights well worth the click. Keep up the good work.

[@Wifgargfhaurh]

Some guy made a video talking about how people have tried and failed to make this into a movie. It can't be made into a movie because the book is up to interpretation in too many ways. The screen has a way of telling the audience exactly what happens, instead of leaving things ambiguous. Maybe it's not impossible to make a faithful adaptation but I would never bet on it happening.

[@StakeFromJateFarm]

I always wondered why the kid didn't kill holden when he had the chance

[@HellAintHalfFull]

This is just what I took away from the novel after reading it like four times. The Judge represents the spiritual manifestation of the malevolence in man. The entire novel, The Judge is omnipresent throughout. This is why other members of the Glanton Gang have encountered him in one place or another. This is why he never sleeps, never ages, and never dies. This is why he speaks many languages and is a man of many talents. He represents all different kinds of men. I believe that in the ending, The Man embraces The Judge and murders the missing Bear Girl in the jakes. The Judge pursued The Kid/Man throughout the novel, and finally won, as The Man finally gave into The Judge's sinister charm. Cormac wrote the most profound villain in literary history, and that villain is the representation of all men. A mirror reflection to his protagonist/antagonist. May Cormac rest in peace.

[@postpunk6947]

I had just finished reading Blood Meridian and already during the first "meeting" of the Kid with the Indians, I knew that it would not be a book that I would read only once. I analyze, reflect on it and arm myself with knowledge. I am Polish, so the context of this book is not as obvious to me as it may be for an American, but I imagine that it is a difficult book even for a person living in American culture.

[@procinctu1]

Yes, this book is a deliberate assault in the “Old West” mythos of American Culture. For generations writers were held to strict rules of how the Old West was depicted in popular culture. It is an inversion of the Law and Culture moving Westward from the East Coast being resisted by wild Natives and Outlaws narrative in Western films, books, TV and radio shows. It is meant for maximum shock value. I despise this book. I do have Native American and European ancestors. So, I understand the real history is a much more nuanced and dark story than has been depicted in popular culture.

[@Find-Your-Bliss-]

I left a copy of Blood Meridian on a train between the border of Switzerland and Italy, on my way to Venice. I hoped the person who found it would be its next explorer.

[@martanoconghaile]

I personally thought that the conversation with the Judge at the bar was in The Man's head, he imagined it. This event took place in 1878, so that's 29 years after the scalp hunting expedition (1849, when The Kid was aged 16). Therefore, the Man is aged 45 now, yet the Judge hasn't aged? (He would have to be in his Seventies). By the way, I believe the Judge was a real man, rather than some split personality as some people believe, in fact, he was so described in My Confession, by Samuel Chamberlain in 1856 and alluded to the fact that he raped a ten-year-old girl. The Man regrets his life because had he been more assertive (perhaps shot The Judge when he had the opportunity to do so), he might have the gold. He spent the next three decades as an aimless drifter, picking up work here and there and with very little to his name. I think what occurred in the bar was a sort of drunken reverie, note that no third party speaks with both the Man and the Judge. I thought the description of the backbar mirror as "smoke and phantoms" was a clue here. The Judge (or The Man's subconscious imagination of him) taunts the Man for his compassion, singles out an bar occupant alone, friendless and muttering to himself and how that person was a "hovel" unworthy of being called a man and that his destiny and fate were driven by the wills of other, more assertive and important men. After the conversation at the bar, he has an unsuccessful encounter with a Mexican prostitute, described as a dwarf. Was she? After this, he makes for the jakes and is accosted by The Judge. Clearly, in this ambivalent ending, being sodomized and killed by the Judge is a very grim fate for the man. But we can't ignore the young girl that was cranking the organ, and who fled once the dancing bear on the stage was shot dead. She is missing. Sounds very familiar, doesn't it? I think that she was herself hiding in the jakes. Two men who were bargaining over the hide of the bear make for the jakes themselves. A man (clothed) stands outside pissing (why not in the jakes?). He tells the other two "I wouldn't go in there if I was you", while he nonchalantly buttons up his trousers and walks off (evocative of the earlier scene where The Man, with his trousers by his ankles, buttons them up after the whore asks him to leave and go get a drink). The dialogue is quite unlike the Judge also. What could be in the stall? What could shock men that are already quite used to violence, after all a dancing bear has just been shot? Perhaps the kid is in the stall, with his pants below his ankles, his backside sticking up and a bullet hole in the back of his head. Or, perhaps it's the missing girl? Unfortunately, I think it's the latter. I think The Man, frustrated and drunk, happened across her and took his inadequacies out on her. Earlier in the chapter, he killed the boy Elrod (though only because threatened) and you can perhaps sense a moral line had been crossed. I think the Judge is long dead, somewhere in California and died very wealthy. I think the triumph of the will here is that of Judge Holden's brutal, Darwinian worldview over that of The Man's live and let live attitude. The Judge lacks empathy, which is the root cause of both narcissism and anti-social personality disorder (he is clearly both) and is both typical of sex offenders. Clearly, most of these cowboys were sociopaths, but then again each individual, by degrees. Toadvine, the horse thief, threatens to shoot the Judge when he finds out the young Apache boy they doted on was killed and scalped by the Judge (or whatever else occurred, we don't know). The other cowboys don't share The Judge's philosophical rationalizations but will kill when required without compunction. But the Kid showed compassion for Ben Tobin the ex-priest and went out of his way to help him escape. The Kid chose to flee with Tobin rather than join the Judge, likely because he was afraid the Judge had killed both Davy Brown and Toadvine (in fact, it appears he did not, as both were hanged in Los Angeles a year later. The Judge purchased their gear with his gold). So perhaps the Man regrets his choices and that if he had adopted the Judge's self-serving philosophy, that he had gotten on better in life. This is an argument that the Judge is the Devil. Certainly, he abhors churchmen (like when he sicced a crowed on the preacher whom he falsely accused of child molestation and bestiality). He had a dislike for Tobin. But, I do not think he was supernatural, as he was a real person, according to Chamberlain. You can only then rationalise his appearance in Griffin in that he was an imagination.

[@DiogenesNephew]

What does Chamberlain's book have to do with whether or not the Judge was supernatural in Blood Meridian? It's a fictionalized story. It seemed pretty clear to me he was meant to be seen as supernatural.

[@martanoconghaile]

@@DiogenesNephew nope. If you you read the passage, it's odd that no one interacts or speaks with the Judge while at the bar. There's a line about the mirror behind them and phantoms. The Man has had a few drinks, it's all a drunken reverie. It's more shocking that it is he, after unsuccessful sex with a midget, rapes the girl, not the Judge. Plus, NONE of Cormac McCarthy's other books use 'ghosts' or such like.

[@DiogenesNephew]

@@martanoconghaile You're talking about the end specifically here. How about the rest of the book? Also, the Judge does interact with another man in the crowd at the bar. We aren't privy to the conversation, but it leads to the shooting of the bear. You could still make a case that he's simply an apparition influencing evil in others at this point, but I don't find that more compelling than any other interpretation I've heard.

[@MelGibsonFan]

A bit of a nitpick but Tmk recent research shows empathy is not the “root cause of narcissism”. Narcissistic people are not lacking in empathy but apparently deeply insecure.

[@samstevens7172]

I’ve read two McCarthy books, and wouldn’t read another. This was like the Road, at least for me. Bleak, hopeless and depressing. The worst survive and thrive. Don’t bother trying to change my mind. My mind cleanser after such a sickening avalanche of words was Lonesome Dove. A book with equally brutal scenes, but characters with a moral compass, regardless of the direction the needle pointed. An excellent version was also successfully filmed and is considered a classic. Curious how this never gets in the Meridian conversation. Evil triumphs enough in the real world. I won’t chase it to satisfy my desire to expand my literature universe.

[@choggerboom]

Really enjoyed this man. Read Blood Meridian about a year ago and I find myself thinking about it over and over. I've become a bit of a connoisseur for discussions covering this book. I also appreciate some of the intricacies to your editing style- the background aesthetics, the inclusion of passages, and your pacing made for a very enjoyable and digestible experience. Thanks for your work!

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Thanks a lot! Really makes me proud that I could hold the interest of someone so well-versed in the discussions around the book.

[@stonecake313]

I was under the same impression that the man was raped and killed. I thought it was super clear, so I’m surprised/interested that other ppl got a different impression from that ending

[@andrewxyz24]

I took it as the kid/man embracing his inner Judge at the end. It's not the actual Judge in the jake, but the version of the kid/man that shared the same vices as the Judge. After being confronted by the Judge in the barroom I think the man finally gives in to what the Judge has been preaching after all these years. Lying with the dwarf girl couldn't do it for him so he figures he might as well just feed the old monster he's kept hidden since he left the gang. The organ grinder girl is the one in the jake and the kid/man urinating outside who warns the other man not to go in there.

[@mrSPEEDCASKET]

Damn

[@VideoHostSite]

No.

[@MUSHROOMRAT750]

Nah

[@steveelder5306]

the Judge did the girl and the kid and stuffed them in the shitter

[@scramblemindjumble]

There’s no hint in the entire book previous that shows that the kid had a taste for that particular violence. It doesn’t make sense to me that so many people in this comment section are repeating this theory

[@prkeene]

At 13:09 you make a major error. It has not been 10yrs since their expedition with Glanton. The Glanton expedition occured 1849-50. The final encounter with the Judge in Ft Griffin occurs in 1878. It has been 28 years. The man is now in his mid-ate 40s and the judge hasn't aged a day.

[@Mrtotot]

What I originally took from the ending after reflecting on it was that the Judge and the man raped the bear girl together in some dark and obscene ritual. The dynamic of the last chapter is constantly shifting between our two main characters and the little girl on stage. The man spots the judge across the room talking to a group of men before the bear is shot. Everything the judge does is with purpose. It's my belief that he orchestrated the shooting of the bear to set the stage for the rape already foreseeing how the night would play out. The Judge says as much during his talk with the man when he speaks of the dance and "tonight's ritual" and that "the ritual like any should begin with the letting of blood." It's my belief that the Man arrived in that notoriously scummy city to fulfill his darkest desires, to rape a little girl. We get some confirmation of this when the whore he chooses is a dark dwarf of a woman which sounds quite child like. Perhaps he's building up the courage for the ritual that he silently agreed upon with the Judge at the bar. The man clearly has a moral conscience to some degree and is afraid of his own evil nature. This is why he carries a bible around despite being illiterate. He's unsettled and nervous during his exchange with the judge. The Judge asks him if he came to watch the dance? The man replies with "I aint watchin no dance" The judge smiles. The scene shifts back to the little girl. The judge knows without it being said what the mans intentions are.. The Man is watching the girl, not the dance. The man tries to leave a couple times during the exchange with the judge because he doesn't have the courage to do what he wants to do, not because he's afraid of the judge. If he feared the judge why not flee the area after the bar conversation? Why go sleep with a small whore and wander around the same area? When the Man enters the jakes he finds the Judge naked sitting atop a closet( The bear girl is inside the closet). Where do little girls go when upset? The bathroom. Deaths in blood meridian are often to the point. What we get is the judge approaching the man and "gathering him in his arms against his immense and terrible flesh." To me this sounds like an embrace from the judge for following through with this dark ritual rather than the judge killing the Man. They rape the bear girl together and the Judge returns to the dance. The men who approach the jakes see "A man" pissing in the mud outside. He says "I wouldn't go in there" already aware of the scene. I believe this man is the Man and he's just finished up where as the judge had already returned to the bar. It's also analogues for the Man becoming the Judge and finally giving in to War in the end, where as before he always retained some measure of moral integrity which the Judge has chastised him for. Re reading the chapter in this context it almost feels obvious that this is what happened and it's a more intelligent ending. But we could never know for sure.

[@Beeyo176]

A take I've never heard. This is...horrible.

[@Mrtotot]

@@Beeyo176 On another note I was analyzing the chapter more. The judge tells the man at the bar that "Tonight thy soul may be required of the." I looked up the phrase and it only appears in the bible. God is basically telling a man that tonight he'll die for his crime of blasphemy." So this very well could have been deliberate and the Judge does kill the man as well as the girl. Funnily enough had the man been able to read that bible he carries around he might have known that phrase was a death sentence.

[@Mrtotot]

Then again it could have been a metaphorical death as the man fully in the end gives himself to war and becomes like the judge. The chapter is such a masterpiece in itself and so open to interpretation.

[@venerablearcanum]

He didn't choose the whore, though: she chose him.

[@Calypso694]

No. The judge raped and killed the man. End of story. It’s the man’s life catching up with him.

[@kevinbradley8613]

Nice work with the video! I just finished the book myself, so I was curious to see what others thought of the ending. I don’t think it actually matters how or what the Judge does to “the man” in the end, and I don’t think the ending is really as complicated or confusing as so many seem to think it is. The whole things starts with him as a child being born from violence in the death of his own mother. As he quickly goes from child to kid, his life is full of brutality and death all the way until he becomes a man by the end of the novel. There were so many callbacks to previous parts of the book, particularly with the stars. The character of the judge to me was like a warning to the kid. The kid knew he despised the judge, and he knew he was committing evil that he couldn’t escape (any more than he could escape from the judge). The kid never cared enough about his own life to even think about any of the brutal violence he inflicted on others, and in the end, he gets what he deserves. The story that the judge tells to the gang at the campfire where the kindhearted stranger is murdered by the jealous husband and buried in the wild like a beast… this part is the key, I think. The stranger leaves behind a fatherless child, who becomes a killer himself. “The man” leaves another orphan before he runs into the judge at the end. This was his completion of the cycle of violence, and the dance goes on. I loved this book! It was an incredible read. Instant classic

[@jayt9608]

It is not the fatherless child that becomes a killer but the son of the murderer. The fatherless boy we are told is left with only a paragon to behold and not the man of earth who stumbles, errs, and is fully human. This is the more because the loving wife erases her husband's flaws or renders them inert rather than the catalysts they should have been.

[@NotAllCatsAreNice]

Just finished the book for the first time and glad I found this video to help clarify things. I was confused near the end. I assumed that the guy was dead in the outhouse but wasn't sure

[@versebuchanan512]

"Holden's more preacher than I ever was before, He preaches of reason, he preaches of war" - 'Tobin' by Ben Nichols

[@srbrant5391]

The thumbnail makes it look like MacCarthy became a serial killer.

[@themanthrmyththelegend]

“Brain Injury?” Ahh thumbnail

[@srbrant5391]

@@themanthrmyththelegend I misread your comment as “Beef Injury” and found another addition to my list of awesome potential band names. So thank you.

[@themanthrmyththelegend]

@@srbrant5391 np king

[@joshuamcdonald936]

Nicely written, beautifully presented. The judge is de-evolution-the triumph of violence over peace, strength over mercy that marks all of nature. The kid is somehow humanity-the lost ape that evolved moral sophistication. The judge wants us all back in the primordial soup and he wins in the end. Super sad.

[@jdchristie2583]

It's been a long time since I read it but it seemed to me the man almost willingly embraced The Judge.

[@maps2605]

I finished reading the book late last night and I couldn’t sleep all I could think of is what the judge did to the man and how terrifying it would be to meet someone like the judge irl.

[@demamhutan5547]

I've always felt that the judge is supernatural. There are too many allusions and damn near direct references to it.

[@Davidtime]

I agree with you. It is the simplest answer and most consistent with the rest of the book and the theme of the Judge as a whole. I've heard lots of other explanations but they're always conveniently looking over other details in the novel.

[@popcorn8743]

Right? It's edgy boys saying the same thing that makes no sense to anyone who can read the judge raped children and kijjed them obviously the bear girl being missing is to let us know the judge was actually there

[@deadlyfred02]

This was a fantastic analysis, and produced beautifully!

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Thank you kindly!

[@ianmilbrodt1806]

Perfect... just perfect. From the storytelling to the analysis. This video is one of the best on KZbin.

[@eliwurster5237]

Was really waiting for the Judge to say “war never changes”

[@TrigHao]

“Before man was, War awaited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner”

[@corey8927]

No way man. The Man and The Judge both take massive steamers and don’t flush, and that’s what scares the onlookers.

[@guntperkins2551]

I was thinking that the man died by the kid at the campfire. And the whole bar scene after that was hell.

[@rightthingwrongwaylucrubun5177]

Great commentary! Thanks. I would also like to hear more of the conflict established between the Judge and the Priest.

[@MrZomBie775]

I'm just thinking about how someone would react if they knew nothing about Blood Meridian and just randomly saw your thumbnail. Lol

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Sadly that's exactly the kind of thumbnail youtube demands--something that makes people confused and curious enough to click. I see you posted another comment by the way, but for some reason it isn't showing up. Seems like youtube randomly deletes comments.

[@Kevlar_soul]

Sadly I did and now I have the ending spoiled.

[@ewan724]

Could strongly relate to the part where you said some bits feel contextless, before I watched. Loved this book, your videos have helped me to understand its plot and themes deeper, thank you

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Well I'm just glad you enjoyed them. Knowing they helped you out means a lot!

[@user-cq1oy3lh5z]

Excellent analysis! I read about 2/3s of Blood Meridian over a decade ago before misplacing the book. I just read it in its entirety finishing it a half hour ago. Your analysis helped to confirm much of my interpretation of this masterpiece. Excellent review.

[@lucienwmoon]

I actually have some-what come to the conclusion that perhaps it was the kid himself raping and killing the children. I always found it so odd that the kid/man sought out a dark dwarf to sleep with that night in Griffin, Only to not be able to get it up. Why? Why couldn't The Man get it up during that encounter? Because it lacked violence. I always believed that the kid is the doorway for us readers to be able to relate to the Glanton Gang, Him having the most humanity of the bunch and the only possible way "civil" people would accept the narrative. The narrative of Blood Meridian is that War is God and that morality is a human construct. I think the kid was corrupted since birth "And already he had a taste for mindless violence". I could type forever on this but I think the "embrace" with the judge is the man evolving to be more like him, Ie: Killing Elrond, The kid's younger image, pages before and killing himself to become anew. "Drink up, he said. Drink up. This night thy soul may be required of thee" Meaning abandoning humans construct of morality to follow the footsteps of the judge. This will forever be my favorite novel for so many different reasons.

[@mendelevium2768]

i love this interpretation

[@mrttripz3236]

I always thought the judge was some sort of metaphorical shepherd. The fact that everyone in the gang claimed to have met the judge before they joined almost makes it seem like the judge chose them and guided them down that path. Almost all of his actions and dialogue are to convince the gang to do more evil. When they were in grave danger he appeared on a rock and saved them. The ex priest even mentions that none of the bullets shot with the makeshift powder missed, indicating a supernatural quality to it. I see him as possibly the embodiment of war and violence or the spirit of war in some way. He wins in the end of the book because he managed to guide all of the people he chose through war and violence. In the book The Kid has been on a pilgrimage from the very start. He set off due to his insatiable desire for violence and wondered around committing random acts of violence. But he only gets a true taste of it after he meets the judge for the first time. After that he meets Toadvine in a fight and meets captain white. Continuing on with the theme of the shepherd and the pilgrims they sort of reach the violence holy land under the watch of the judge. They have been as violent as they possibly could be. They kill countless innocent people on their scalping mission. They have partaken in war as a religion. I think the judge kills The Kid at the end of the book because he just killed Elrod, and now Elrods brother is all alone and has nobody. So he is the judges next victim to replace The Kid. The kid served his purpose. He precipitated violence in the world and created another person who’s ripe to go on a pilgrimage of violence. So now the judge can resume his work. That is why he never dies. Because the people who he encourages to be violent create violent people

[@thetributary8089]

Where is the evidence that he couldn’t get it up? I’ve heard this over and over but can’t find it in the book. Just the opposite. The whore is adjusting her hair and fixing her make up afterward, suggesting they indeed had a toss in the hay.

[@ragingexodus]

I don’t think so because like you said The Kid represented a person with a shred of moral fiber which Holden wanted to dominate. Also they didn’t say she was a dwarf just a dwarf of a whore, meaning she was short. And he didn’t pick her she came to him. Plus it never said he couldn’t get it up due to an issue with the sex itself just that she commented he didn’t look okay, especially after the meeting with the judge. I personally don’t think it was supposed to be a moment or reveal into pedophilic tendencies of the character, more to show the bad/troubled state the Kid was in. McCarthy was never one for a big twist, or a “he was the villain the whole time” type of reveal, especially in this book. Mainly I disagree because Judge Holden is based off a real person. A real person who according to Samuel Chamberlain, a man who rode in the Glanton gang, raped a killed a child. Holden was killing children because he represented a love for violence and domination, like he did in real life.

[@TruthWarrior607]

but why does the judge try to kill him in the desert?

[@Saginaw72]

A very excellent and thoughtful essay Benjamin. I enjoy well prepared and well considered discussions of Blood Meridian, my favorite book. Thanks for making it. The wonderful thing about Blood Meridian is that everyone that reads it can have their own unique opinion about its meaning and intention. McCarthy himself isn't talking about it, so we have his tacit permission to take it wherever it takes us without offense. I've subscribed and look forward to more.

[@crownediceman998]

You're the first person I've heard actually make the judge seem human.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Thanks! I do think he is human, contrary to popular opinion.

[@patordeus]

@@BenjaminAugustLiterature if he’s human I think there’s a possibility no one has considered for the ending. The kid brutally kills (and possibly victimizes) the judge. The main things that make people assume the kid was the one to die or at least be victimized are 1. The judges displays of strength 2. The lack of mention of the kid 3. “I will never die” 1. If the judge is human and not some supernatural entity or manifestation he would’ve began to feel the effects of aging by the time the events in the jakes happen. The judge was already of decent age during the Glanton gang events and many years have passed. There is no way for the judge to have maintained his skull crushing, cannon carrying strength. 2. A man is mentioned casually pissing outside the jakes and clearly knows about what’s inside but isn’t quite disturbed. He obviously could just be more mentally sturdy than most men, even those of the old west, however I propose that he has little disgust over what’s inside because he is the culprit. Attention is also draw to buttoning up his trousers as was done before with the Kid/Man with the dwarf. 3. If the kid were to have brutalized the judge to the point the other men reacted as they did it could be said that the judge had corrupted him, at least partially. The judge is symbolic of man’s hate and will to violence and dubachery. As the priest told the kid, killing the judge would taint his soul (not his exact words but you get the point). If the kid really decided to brutalize the judge, the judge still wins. He never dies as his ideal has been carried out and will continue to be so for all human history into the future. The judge himself is not literally dancing and jubilating in the end, but rather the product of the judges ideal is, the kid is dancing.

[@RecordedMercury]

@@BenjaminAugustLiterature I disagree completely, theres a lot of obvious references to the judge being the Devil. Thr amount of mental gymnastics you put yourself through to make him human is just so ridiculous. Especially you being an author. Just goes to show any dummy with a pen and paper can make anything with no substance.

[@UnironicallyToast]

@@patordeus underrated comment

[@patordeus]

@@UnironicallyToast thank you

[@JuvyThaKid]

Love the little clips of the Richard Poe narration. He had a great way of reading this book that really pulled me in.

[@PeterLambert2211]

Brilliant analysis! This book shook me and left me wanting to understand it deeper. Thank you for your illumination

[@arbow954]

“He was raped!” “No he was murdered!” “Naw he was raped and murdered.” Lol Great video though. Such a surreal book.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Thanks! Glad you liked it.

[@guntperkins2551]

He wasn’t raped or murdered. He was already dead and being introduced into hell.

[@sorryitookthisname2]

This is the best explanation I’ve come across. Including all the Ivey League discussions.

[@leighsimmons2663]

Really nice review. The implication of the imp in this analyses is also interesting because the imp is essentially the opposite to the judge. I’ve read all cormacs work and this philosophy of passive indifference and assertive will is in all of them. No real right or wrong: just winners and losers.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Interesting! Maybe I'll analyze some of his other books. Any specific recommendations?

[@leighsimmons2663]

​@@BenjaminAugustLiterature suttree and the crossing are also really good.

[@santosd6065]

Wow! What a description! "It was like being knocked unconscious form behind, waking up and asking people around you what happened and they mumble 'I dunno'". That's exactly right... and normally I would hate that kind of thing but found myself completely mesmerized by it. The violence was so random and pointless, and that seemed to be the point. One event followed another as if without rhyme or reason, and yet somehow I couldn't stop reading. The writing was so beautiful that I really didn't care where the author was going, if he was actually going anywhere

[@neudan7788]

Just finished the book, thank you for clarifying the end!!!

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Thanks for watching!

[@theyellowking1969]

Your analysis is better than any I’ve read. Well done.

[@ernstrobertalmgren9057]

Amazing channel, I just found it, unfortanely it seems to be inactive, I hope you will make more videos in the future!

[@latenightbaltimore]

The part I liked was when Sammy Davis Jr comes out and says “Here comes the judge” and they all go to the gym to workout but they can’t because the only place open is Planet Fitness where there is no judgement

[@rahjeel]

In many ways, after reading the book. I get it. It has a simple message - he who has the strongest will shall prevail, good or evil. Human nature compells us to bend everything to our will, from the natural world to others that think like us. There's a couple of people in the book that started musing whether or not humans are the only beings in the universe that seems pervasive in the quest to destroy and take from others. They wondered if in other planets or planes of existence, are there better versions of humanity or is it all the same.

[@RG-mt2yr]

Very well done. I recently picked this up again but I just don't have the time that I used to.

[@Headytopper125]

Hey I read this on audiobook but your video made me want to get a copy of the paperback and re read it. I’d love to see you do more lit videos

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Thanks! Yeah the audiobook is a lot more consumable, but reading the actual text gives you so much more of a feel for the raw literary skill he uses to execute the story

[@diego360511]

Omg I just read the book and thank God I found This video! Can’t wait for the explanation on the epilogue it was a bit confusing for me

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

Glad you enjoyed it! I'm happy I could be a resource for you

[@_Snafu_]

Thank you for saying it was a confusing mess the first time you read it because that’s the exact feeling I had when I got done reading it. It had a lot of enthralling moments and characters in it, but damn if it didn’t feel like I had read it with a concussion.

[@Nondescript48]

I could never get passed the writing style, but great video!

[@dominiclodato533]

I’d be interested if you could cover the idea of the coins how the faces on either side are two aspects of the same thing and the slug itself is greater than the sum of either face I understand it but have a hard time putting it into words

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

You mean the concept of coins itself, or are you referencing the scene where the Judge uses a coin during a speech?

[@dominiclodato533]

Benjamin August The coin itself, less about the concept of “orbits and tethers” but if you feel like covering that too by all means. You do have a good way of condensing these huge concepts into much more easily digestible chunks

[@leefer1955]

After listening to unabridged audio twice and being left in a matrix of thoughts on the ending. I must say your explanation is spot on helpful. Would you believe the killing of the bear was the MOST emotionally disturbing murder in the book for me!? ( i know it shouldent have been)or should it?

[@nuclearetrem73]

My impression, with my limited understanding of this book is that the rape and murder of the man is not literal. As someone else here pointed out, I believe the Judge is the inner demons of the man. The man’s old, moral-abiding self has been killed and dances nakedly and openly for all to see as the monster he has hidden for years. Someone else pointed out that the man may have been found in the outhouse with the little girl. I think that is the rape part of it. His mortal body has now been fully defiled by his own inner evil through committing the greatest sin. I feel the dance is not literal. The Judge is the man, and his old self is dead with the memory of him now defiled. This may be a flawed view but I want to know you guys’ thoughts on this.

[@joshuam6058]

Man- this whole chapter flew right by me... embarrassed but it's the truth. Thanks for the breakdown! Second run through coming soon.. lol

[@TanoBrati]

In the Texas jakes the judge waited for the man and with the judge was the little girl whose bear had been shot and whose people had been looking for her.

[@chuckchalmers4960]

Seems more like these events could be left up to the interpretation of the reader. The book reflects the reader and your assumptions reflect you more than it does the book.

[@kmetcalfe]

This is excellent. Even the parts I might not agree with are so well laid out, I think I'm convinced.

[@ddell389]

I originally thought that the Judge killed the man in the Jakes, but after reading and trying to figure out the epilogue, my interpretation changed. The digging of the holes, with one not possible without the previous one. The Man, or what he has become was not possible without the Judge. He became the evil that persists infinitely, like the holes to the rim. Maybe the wanderers following behind represent the Glanton Gang. My first read through, but not my last.

[@TheRedverb]

Interesting vid. One of my top 5 favorite books.

[@gregstiles]

dude. this is an excellent explanation. masterful. What a crazy creepy book

[@johnnycanadiana1897]

The judge was based on the devil from paradise lost. I think the dance is life. He talks about the players not knowing their characters until it starts. And that they must dance. The kid decides to not dance and immediately meets his end.

[@marfadog2945]

I used to live across the alley in a rented garage from where this book was written in El Paso.

[@MickLangley]

Really enjoyed your analysis! I've met Cormac, and have good friends who are good friends with him. I see Blood Meridian as a riff on Moby Dick (and this is born out from comments and conversations). Judge Holden is Cormac's vision of the white whale, so maybe do Moby Dick???

[@gregpandise4601]

When I first read the book I didn’t think the judge killed the man. I interpreted it as they both raped the girl in the bathroom. After reading online then I saw the theories of the judge raping and killing the man. I think it is tough to say that the judge killed the man because the judge didn’t kill any of the gang members he encountered after he was eluded by the kid in the desert. I think the judges main goal was to make sure all the gang members were evil, and the reason the judge will “never die” is because he successfully persuaded the man/kid after years of being a decent citizen, to rape and kill a girl. This proves to the judge that his will and his evil will live on. But I can definitely see how the judge could’ve killed the man as well. Ha

[@greekmillennial4540]

Why was there such a strong reaction from the other guys who tried to go into the bathroom?

[@gregpandise4601]

@@greekmillennial4540 I imagine the judge could do some serious damage with his size and strength and i cant imagine the state he couldve left that poor girl in.

[@TranscendentaLobo27]

I agree. It seems outside of The Judge’s character to kill the man. I just don’t see it. The girl disappearing along with the outhouse scene seems to be self explanatory. We already know that the judge has no qualms about keeping young girls around for carnal pleasure. But who knows, after all, “men see what they want to see.”

[@Frandelicious1337]

I don't see any previous suggestion that The Man started agreeing with The Judge's philosophy, on the contrary. It would seem nonsensical that he would suddenly rape and kill a little girl out of nowhere, it doesn't fit the character. He just had sex with a prostitute (another indication that he favors that method over forcing himself on women), and a few days before he tried saving what he though was an old woman in the desert, and didn't immediately resort to violence when that one kid disrespected him in his own bonfire, calling him a liar (he kills him the next morning in self defense). Also, the reason The Judge considers him a great disappointment is because he failed in turning the Kid into a demon like himself. The Judge saw the potential in him, but despite that he refused to be like him, that's why he raped and killed him, to assert his dominance. He couldn't convince him with words, so he ''defeated'' him in the ultimate game, violence, thus proving his point (from his own perspective of course).

[@nathanb5579]

@@Frandelicious1337 the kid/man won by not allowing himself to become as the judge. I don't think the man was raped and killed by judge.

[@alfredhernandez5113]

your reading of the passage at 7:30 mixed with the lofi back track, its like youre spittin bars man , i need full song lol

[@Adam.Langton]

For fans of the book, check out Ben Nichols' album 'The Last Pale Light In The West'. Each song is about a different character in the novel. Some friends and I were all reading this book at the same time, and were all big fans of this artist, and he just happened to release this short album as a side project. Very cool, and worth a listen.

[@BambooAcrobatVerte]

The lighthearted chill background music is really distracting when you're talking about such horrific subject matter.

[@skymagruder5270]

You know it’s a good book when I don’t really agree with anyone’s exact interpretation but in the same sense I don’t think the interpretations are wrong. For me, I’m not sure the Judge is real (the timeline/age of characters points to a bit of the mystical) but whether he is or he isn’t, it doesn’t matter. He’s violence personified. There might not be much of another way in the world other than violence, but even if morality is made by man, it’s done in a way that’s wise, if for no other reason than violence corrupts the doer as it also destroys the victims. Morality has its weaknesses but it least it doesn’t lead to a tree full of dead babies. Or maybe the Judge is the Devil himself, skilled in all of man’s strengths and knowledge with none of the heart. Either way it’s probably my favorite story.

[@fatherflavor3167]

Really interesting considering in the end the judge also says to the man that he couldve been a son to him, great vid

[@carlmurphy2416]

Average scene in Blood Meridian: Townsperson: "Good day sir" Gang person: "Thems fighting words" Slaughter, burning and scalping ensues

[@IndieAuthorX]

I think my primary mistake in reading Blood Meridian was taking The Kid/The Man and The Judge as being metaphors when they were just people.

[@vling7208]

This helped my understanding of the book.

[@BenjaminAugustLiterature]

I'm glad!

[@matthewknowlton6796]

I was listening to this book and would occasionally listen to parts of wendigoons to clarify things I missed or didn't understand. Then KZbin suggested this video and having only read the title and thumbnail it ruined the ending for me. So thank you for that

[@Mr.WarwickBot]

I genuinely believe the judge is a manifestation for the propensity of man to self destruct. Weather you feel like you made the choice, to prioritize self gratification, or you feel like you don’t want to choose, we all dance. In action is in itself a turn you took, in this great game. If you do not constantly strive for good, the evil that has always been there will seep in.

[@Infamous41]

The audiobook is 10xs better it's narrated by the great Richard Poe!!!