Chapter 17

This chapter was pretty good, though the last half started to sound confusing to me.

I didn't understand the quote on 241, "a man Glanton had appointed cooper pro-tem to the expedition." I don't understand pro-tem.

The barrel of whiskey they traded to the Apaches was pretty messed up. It was pretty obvious that they would only put a little bit in there, and fill the rest with water. And here I thought the company and the Apaches were going to be getting along.

A good simile I noticed was on page 242, "those fluted columns passing in the dark were like the ruins of vast temples." I think it's pretty amazing McCarthy can make trees look like columns of temples.

I thought it wasn't surprising when Glanton recollects his thoughts on the number of people still alive in his company. Pretty bummed that all the Delawares died. They were my favorite of the company. I think the paragraph on 243 that talks about the Delawares being slain, also alludes to some foreshadowing.

When McCarthy mentions the Sonoran company led by Colonel Garcia, I think it's pretty cool that they have derelict weapons. The description of their lack of good weapons and clothes reminded me of the Soviets during World War I or II when they would just drop their troops in the field without weapons and the troops had to scavenge the weapons they find. I think that fits Garcia's legion. I also think that there was somewhat of a rivalry between the two companies when Glanton and his men left. The way it was described gave me a competitive feel.

I thought the quote on page 244 was interesting," the moon sat in a ring overhead and in that ring lay a mock moon with its own cold gray and nacre seas." I just thought it was cool to see a fake moon within the real moon.

I noticed McCarthy mentions birds a lot in the last few chapters, as if the company is jealous or envious of them.

I loved that the Judge brings in some more of his philosophy. I didn't think judge was a person to believe in aliens. He just didn't seem to be a UFO kind of guy. But the thing that is contradictory is that he says he doesn't believe in aliens, but goes ahead and says anything is possible. He's basically going against what he just said before. The funny thing is most of the company, now probably like 3 guys, are just eating what he says up like it's fact. He even goes further by saying on 245, "Even in this world more things exist without our knowledge than with it."

I thought it funny when the judge was playing the coin trick with Davy he replies with "I'll notify you where to put the coin." I just thought that was another example of classic Western humor. I wonder if there is any significance in McCarthy describing the coin trick with the thin wire. Maybe it's a symbol for things in life that seem awe-inspiring at first end up not being that great, or things can be controllable.

I loved the quote on page 248, "The good book does indeed count war an evil, said Irving, Yet there's many a bloody tale of war inside it." This whole section about war is pretty amazing, and this line couldn't be any more true. I thought it interesting of the way the judge described how men are only interested in games, that they live for the stakes. I think this is a pretty simple, yet effective way to describe why people love war. Because in a war, it could be seen as both a game of sport and a game of chance. The game of chance being more literal in my opinion. But the game of sport also because there's always people that sign up for war that don't really care who wins, pretty much like the company. They just want to kill.