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Blood Meridian left me with the feeling that Judge Holden was originally multiple characters turned into a composite to serve as a narrative device and metaphor
by johnvaluk 4y ago
Blood Meridian left me with the feeling that Judge Holden was originally multiple characters turned into a composite to serve as a narrative device and metaphor. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it had been a straightforward odyssey of the kid, involving the many people and situations he encountered along the way. Using the Judge as a thematic binder sort of ruined it for me.
- CPLX 4y agoThere’s a lot of interpretations and I don’t know if he’s ever endorsed one, but I see the judge as a general representation of a concept I’d describe loosely as capitalism, or the Industrial Revolution, or western technological progress in general. He’s the embodiment of a force that just overtops and envelops everything in its path. It’s doesn’t even make sense to consider him moral or immoral or amoral (as many do when considering him a stand in for the devil) but more as a force that just transcends morality completely and makes it irrelevant, a force that has no other purpose but to expand and consume resources, indifferent to death or convention or tradition. A force that never sleeps. I think the scene where he calmly ignores the Indian attack while making explosives is probably the most literal example but the theme runs through his character.
- richardatlarge 4y agoThis comment reminds me of a song by CT Dummies - God Shuffled His Feet