Roundtable on Blood Meridian | And So The Judge Returns Workshop
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- And So the Judge Returns: Blood Meridian Workshop at the University of Warwick
21 November 2015
Roundtable
Gathering for the final round of the "And So the Judge Returns: Blood Meridian Workshop" at the University of Warwick, the group discusses treading the novel out loud, the judge and chaos, the dance motif, and the jakes-scene concluding the novel.
For the full days programme follow this link: www.academia.e....
The organiser: www2.warwick.ac....
Supported by IATL Warwick: www2.warwick.ac....
One thing this talk had never mentioned is the meteor shower. The kid was born in 1833 under a meteor shower, and during the scene in the jakes there is another meteor shower (both were the leonid meteor showers, attested by astronomers of the time). This is the clue that the Kid/Man is indeed dead (Mark Twain also was born and died on the day of Halley's Comet, and there is a mythological significance to people being born or dying during celestial events, especially in Native American theology)
Another fact that I think isn't talked about enough is the simple fact that we don't get to see the aftermath in the jakes. We do not get to bear witness. The judge places great significance on this concept just before the Kid/Man's death--how without bearing witness, there is little difference between the true past and the past that never happened. I think this is the key as to why we don't see what happened in the jakes. The judge has consumed the Kid/Man in such a monstrous way that the reader and narrator alike are unable to exchange information--the Judge becomes a black hole--such that the Kid is not only dead, but rather removed from the book entirely. This discussion was fantastic, but I think they got too caught up discussing the details of the Kid's death (was he raped/cannibalized/still alive). The fact is we could not bear witness.
Charles Rosencrans
The Leonids did happen in 1833, the year of the kids birth. But, the ending takes place in 1878. The Leonids arrived in 1866/67, not in 1878.
Also, the man does not die at the end. He’s the third man at the jakes relieving himself. Whatever the judge does, probably rape and mutilation of the little girl. The man survives and goes on, as he’s done for 45 yrs. before.
Mark Twain's last novel was about solipsism. Sound familiar?
@Charles Rosencrans - amazing point re the erasure of the kid/man and our inability to bear witness.
Great interpretation. The kid is our lens for everything right up until his death. Even during the long stretches where he seems to disappear into the background it still feels like his eyes are seeing the details that we can reproduce. The judge says before about his cataloging that anything that isnt in his ledger should be destroyed. To him you either bow or you die.
Damn I wish McCarthy did an 'Ask me anything' on Reddit. But you guys are bringing up all these questions and interpretations that I never would've found on my own. I thank thee
My interpretation is that the third man urinating outside the jakes is the kid. As Dr O'Hara identifies towards the end of the round table discussion, the third man is utterly critical to the scene. The judge has not killed the kid, but rather enjoined him to aid in the killing of the missing organ-grinder/dancing bear girl. This final corruption of the kid explains the judges' celebrations in the dance hall.
As identified, the urinating man would have had the same reaction to the unspeakable horror of the jakes as the other two men, unless he was in some way already acclimatized to the contents therein.
It is also possible that it is in fact the kid who is responsible for the murdered children throughout the book, not the judge. The dwarf prostitute engaged by the kid in the previous scene, is his attempt to avert another evil act, but does not suffice and shortly thereafter another young girl is missing.
The judge's victory dance follows, as the kid has finally surrendered to his innate evil and submitted to the judge's dominion. The judge will have eternal life so long as evil and the will to dominate persists in men.
"See the kid"
Damn. The reality of this interpretation just sent shivers down my spine. I just finished the book tonight and I don’t think it will leave my mind for the foreseeable future.
I love how much non-Americans love blood meridian
I personally believe that the judge actually did NOT kill the Kid but instead made love to him to finalise his dominance, then they both killed the little girl. Remember when the Kid was in prison and the judge came to visit him, he said he always loved him and tells him to come closer to him so he can touch the kid but the Kid refused. When the Kid finally arrives at the bar with the dancing bear, this is perhaps the judge confirming to himself that the Kid truly does love him by returning to him. The judge did not kill the Kid because the judge simply loves him but in a real sinister way.
Thanks Katja. Most interesting part of the talk started towards the end.
Thanks, Self Stirring Pot. I'm glad we captivated you to get to the end.
Richard Poe's reading of it on audiobook is absolute perfection
It’s telling that the terrorist attacks in Europe are mentioned, but I feel the group missed an important metacommentary. Those attacks are what comes when a traditional honor culture of pleasurable war collides anachronistically with a law and order society where violence is shunned. The book plays on this tension throughout. If you research the original conflict between the Republic of Texas and the Comanches, their tribe treated scalping and rape as entitlements of war. It was in that context of random killings and brutality that Texas began paying for Comanche scalps and a kind of cyclical brutality began between Rangers and natives that ultimately culminated in a peace treaty: the passing of the Blood Meridian. The Comanches ultimately continued brutal raids into Mexico when they realized their depredations would be proportionately repaid by Texans. This also implies certain solutions to the problem of terrorism in Europe that I suspect this group would find abhorrent. The book invites us to meditate on the nature of those conflicts and why we see them recur through history without end.
This book club needs snacks.
I agree! There were snacks but we should have had marshmallows to roast over candles or something!
I'm thinking of changing my name to "Cormac." If it worked for Charlie McCarthy it might work for me.
The Kid / The Man has a sister . It says that he will never see her again . Did he kill her or sexually abuse her ? Did The Kid's / The Man's father kill or sexually abuse her ?
I had much of the same question the more i went through the first part. is his sister poss also his mother? i dunno its quite an involved paragraph if i remember. after readin your analysis below i think im gonna go in for another time through.
No, his mother died giving birth to him. He didn't kill his sister, it is simply stated he would never see her again.
Ignore troll using pedophilia bait
@@blackderby80 his fate is the outhouse with the archon, thus he won't see her or anyone again.
In the original draft it says that "He has a sister in this world that he will not see again. She has been sent to live with a relative in North Caroline since the mother died"
brainlets