Blood Meridian, Lecture Two: Judge Holden (Chapters V-XIII) (Patreon)

'The judge like a great ponderous djinn stepped through the fire and the flames delivered him up as if he were in some way native to their element.'

Today we are riding on through hell, and up to chapter thirteen.

We're discussing the trauma of the past, empathy vs cruelty, why the unconscious speaks in pictures, the value of tarot reading, the link between pain and memory, shapeshifting, colour symbolism, Judge Holden as genie, and the meaning of 'Et in Arcadia ego'. 

As this is another lengthy lecture, please do feel free to use the timestamps below to view it in the manner that best suits you.

Blood Meridian Series:

• How to Read Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
• Breaking into Blood Meridian (Title, Epigraphs & Assigned Reading)
• Lecture One: See the Child (Ch. I-V) 

Recommended Resource for this Lecture:

• 'The Kekulé Problem: Where did language come from?' (Cormac McCarthy) 

Lecture Timestamps:

• 0:00 how is your experience of the novel thus far?
• 1:57 the mercy & empathy of the Kid
• 4:00 uncovering an allusion to Hamlet
• 6:30 the Kid’s divided nature
• 8:57 scalp-hunting and the bounty system
• 11:00 on not wanting to resurrect the trauma of the past
• 12:00 is Blood Meridian an unethical novel?
• 13:00 the issue with mythologising
• 16:00 Nietzsche on pain, meaning, memory & morality
• 17:40 Aztec mythology, shapeshifting & supernaturalism
• 19:40 meeting Judge Holden again
• 21:00 meeting the infamous Glanton Gang
• 22:00 Judge Holden in Chamberlain’s My Confession
• 25:30 the mythologising of Cormac McCarthy
• 28:00 the two John Jacksons & the shadow self
• 32:30 the magic/religion of weaponry
• 33:30 a discussion on putting Blood Meridian down
• 34:15 sublimating our violent nature
• 36:30 Judge Holden’s macabre sense of humour
• 39:00 witnessing acts & words being things
• 40:45 McCarthy’s essay ‘The Kekule Problem’
• 41:30 why does the unconscious speak in pictures?
• 45:00 McCarthy as the unconscious
• 48:20 meeting the family of magicians
• 49:30 the tarot reading
• 51:00 Judge Holden’s reaction to the reading
• 52:30 Judge Holden as fool/trickster
• 53:30 the Kid’s drawing of the Four of Cups
• 55:00 Glanton’s card hidden in the synopsis
• 56:00 Judge Holden as genie/djinn
• 1:00:00 when Jackson kills Jackson
• 1:01:00 becoming desensitised to the violence
• 1:02:30 the Judge’s theological lecture (“books lie”)
• 1:06:00 how Judge Holden met the Glanton Gang
• 1:08:00 hearing the voice of God when it stops
• 1:09:00 the devil’s association with fiddling
• 1:10:00 Judge Holden’s gunpowder
• 1:11:00 Et in Arcadia ego
• 1:13:00 when the Judge destroys originals
• 1:17:00 expunging from the memory of man
• 1:19:00 the Judge on raising children
• 1:23:00 nothing occurs without witness
• 1:24:00 why can’t we look away?
• 1:26:00 Toadvine aims at the Judge
• 1:26:37 the white meridian & colour symbolism
• 1:28:00 polluting the waters with blood
• 1:30:00 “better the Indians”
• 1:32:45 is Blood Meridian a copy? Or a witness?
• 1:34:00 chapter assignment for our next lecture

Some Questions:

1) What is Judge Holden? 

2) Is Blood Meridian an unethical novel? Is such a thing possible? 

3) Has the novel been sent to teach us anything? 

4) Can one “enjoy” Blood Meridian? What is the right word to describe our reading experience?

Bonus: Please share with us any of your favourite passages/lines, and any insights that have occurred to you.

And they rode on.