In chapter 22 you learn a lot about what the judge has going through his head, either hes saying what he has to say to throw kid off mentally or he really believes what he's spitting out at the kid. And a lot of time goes by this chapter, it's rare that McCarthy gives a specific date.
The kid never says much but when he does in this chapter it's deep, "for even if you should have stood your ground, he said, yet what ground was it?"It's really odd when Judge throws in the line "don't you know that I'd have you like a son?" judge has gone so far to turn whatever relationship they had to nothing, and then he throws that line in?
Friday, May 14, 2010
AAAAH Forgot my book!
Yeah, I kinda forgot my book at school last night so I read it during 1st this morning.... stupid AP tests knocked me of schedule.... luckily I had read most of this chapter before the tests AND its a short one so I didn't have to read too fast.
So I'll work from the back forward. First of all, McCarthy skips like 12 years into the future and sort of implies that he's been sailing and traveling aimlessly. I found his new priestly atire rather interesting, especially since he can't read the book he's carrying around. The end was rather disturbing...and puzzling. The old lady, it said, had been dead for "years." How does a body not rot after years? I could see this if it were a mummy or if it were frozen or something like that, but it seemed like it was in open air, though dry desert air, there would still be some moisture to degrade the body. I don't know....interesting.
Back in the town again, he gets arrested, most likely by some act of the judge. His early morning conversation with judge reveals a lot of what happened during the unmentioned times. I wonder if Tobin was really crazy, and, if so, whether he was also crazy in the desert with the kid. If he was, this could prove to be complementary to the judge. Either way, judge uses it to redeem himself with the kid. The judge says "his wits had stood him as far west as the Aquarius Mountains." The Aquarius Mountains are in Arizona, shown here. Page 307, judge carries on his traitor thing: "Buy you were a witness against yourself. You sat in judgemen on your own deeds. You put your own allowances before the dugements of history and broke with the body of which you were pledged a part and poisoned it in all its enterprise." What I got from this is that he thinks the kid is dooming himself by having the hope of a better life which is in contradiction with history.
The rest of the chapter, all I got from it was big word which I will now define for you.
antic
fistula
die-an engraved stamp for impressing a design upon some softer material, as in coining money.
gravers and burins picture
contriving
dosshouse
wallsconce
So I'll work from the back forward. First of all, McCarthy skips like 12 years into the future and sort of implies that he's been sailing and traveling aimlessly. I found his new priestly atire rather interesting, especially since he can't read the book he's carrying around. The end was rather disturbing...and puzzling. The old lady, it said, had been dead for "years." How does a body not rot after years? I could see this if it were a mummy or if it were frozen or something like that, but it seemed like it was in open air, though dry desert air, there would still be some moisture to degrade the body. I don't know....interesting.
Back in the town again, he gets arrested, most likely by some act of the judge. His early morning conversation with judge reveals a lot of what happened during the unmentioned times. I wonder if Tobin was really crazy, and, if so, whether he was also crazy in the desert with the kid. If he was, this could prove to be complementary to the judge. Either way, judge uses it to redeem himself with the kid. The judge says "his wits had stood him as far west as the Aquarius Mountains." The Aquarius Mountains are in Arizona, shown here. Page 307, judge carries on his traitor thing: "Buy you were a witness against yourself. You sat in judgemen on your own deeds. You put your own allowances before the dugements of history and broke with the body of which you were pledged a part and poisoned it in all its enterprise." What I got from this is that he thinks the kid is dooming himself by having the hope of a better life which is in contradiction with history.
The rest of the chapter, all I got from it was big word which I will now define for you.
antic
fistula
die-an engraved stamp for impressing a design upon some softer material, as in coining money.
gravers and burins picture
contriving
dosshouse
wallsconce
¡Extra Early!
So, I kind of forgot how to do this blog stuff. It's been a while, but I'll remember asbestos I can. The chapter was very different in that it showed a huge passage of time (the kid is what? Twenty-eight at one point?). There's very little judge, maybe two pages, and we see the death of Toadvine and Brown. And Tobin is just... gone.
When the judge is talking to the kid in his jail cell, he says "What joins men together is not the sharing of bread but the sharing of enemies (307)." Nothing brings folk together like a common enemy. It's no big deal when people share prosperity together, but when two people have a mutual hate for someone, they team up and become best pals, all because they hate someone. Judge also says "I'd have loved you like a son." I don't know how the judge would treat his son, but I from the text, we can presume he would rape him, several times. Having the judge "love me like a son" is the last thing I want, or anyone would want.
When the kid is finally let out of jail, it's said he "was turned out into the streets." It makes him sound like a disease, not a person. Instead of just walking around, he is set loose, free to start trouble and kill and do whatever pleases himself. Whatever tickles his fancy.
The two hanged bodies (which turn out to be those of Toadvine and Brown) are said to be "effigies for to frighten birds." I read this aloud and turned it upside down and made sure I wasn't shuffling the words, but that's what it says. While it is a Neat-o simile, the syntax isn't making any sense (to me). "Effigies to frighten birds" would have been just fine. I don't understand the extra "for."
And lastly, the Chinese folk are described as having "speech like cats." It's funny. Because now that I think about it they do sound like cats. I don't have anything more to say on that. It's just funny. Here are some words:
cretin (I heard this word on Monsters Inc. but I wasn't exactly sure what it meant)
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Blood Meridian Chapter 22
First of all, you've probably noticed that I'm not at school. Therefore, I grant Jim Dandy (a.k.a Doctor Sleuth) and the rest of the AP English crowd (even Pedanticus if he wishes) the option to say anything about my blog and make fun of me as much as they want (just as long as you do it randomly and with a burning passion). You were probably going to do this anyway, but now at least I'll know.
Now to the blog. This chapter was very depressing and confusing. Maybe it was the lapse in time that confused me, but I'm not sure. Also, everyone dies! No one else is alive except for the Judge and the Kid.
Brown and Toadvine died in the worst way possible. They were executed and "(hung) at their rope-ends (looking) like effigies for to frighten birds (McCarthy 311)." Talk about anti-climactic! The execution literally spanned one sentence. I was expecting some huge fight to the death involving some sort of law (like the soldiers or the police). But instead, they are just hung. For the simile, I think McCarthy is likening the bodies to scarecrows which is a pretty cool comparison. Probably the whole scary view of scarecrows, like Friday the 13th or one of those scary movies.
Also, we see a change in heart of the Judge. He no longer wants to kill the kid, but he admires and adores him (weird). On page 307, the Judge says, "Come here. Let me touch you." He says this when he is trying to convince the Kid to listen to him and believe him but the Kid just stays against the wall. I have to say this and the surgery scene don't help the Judge's pedophile image. When the Judge takes his jacket off, he shows a Derringer pistol. Here is a picture (I used to use this little gun when I was a prostitute!) . Another great quote is on the same page, "What joins men together is not the sharing of bread but the sharing of enemies." This reminds me of the whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" quote. Actually, there's a pretty funny Muppet clip that shows this. Click here. Ha! Yup that really shows what I'm trying to say.
Now the Kid finally goes off by himself. He has the wisdom and knowledge of the murderous group of scalp-hunters to back him along the way so he should be fine. The part about the strange cult was very disturbing. The whole cross carrying and trail of blood would be very strange. A good simile is on page 314, "(the cult) disappeared in the coming darkness like heralds of some unspeakable calamity leaving only bloody footprints on the stone." Heralds are usually considered monarchs or messengers (dictionary.com) so is the cult some sort of messenger of death and destruction? There still may be some foreshadowing in this chapter, even though it's the second to last one. The dead woman was the best part. She is a symbol that shows how sin and chaos can reduce people to mere shells and how the murderous and inhospitable regions of the west are dangerous enough to harbor mummies. Also, the fact that the Kid spills his entire life's story out to a dead and decaying corpse is pretty interesting. Maybe McCarthy is trying to show that the only people that can sympathize with the Kid are the dead. Here is a cool website about Native American mummies.
Now for some words...
Kimono (pg 312)- a loose, wide-sleeved robe, fastened at the waist with a wide sash (dictionary.com) I think this is like one of the Geisha robes.
hackamore (pg 314)- a simple looped bridle, by means of which controlling pressure is exerted on the nose of a horse, used chiefly in breaking colts (dictionary.com)
Now to the blog. This chapter was very depressing and confusing. Maybe it was the lapse in time that confused me, but I'm not sure. Also, everyone dies! No one else is alive except for the Judge and the Kid.
Brown and Toadvine died in the worst way possible. They were executed and "(hung) at their rope-ends (looking) like effigies for to frighten birds (McCarthy 311)." Talk about anti-climactic! The execution literally spanned one sentence. I was expecting some huge fight to the death involving some sort of law (like the soldiers or the police). But instead, they are just hung. For the simile, I think McCarthy is likening the bodies to scarecrows which is a pretty cool comparison. Probably the whole scary view of scarecrows, like Friday the 13th or one of those scary movies.
Also, we see a change in heart of the Judge. He no longer wants to kill the kid, but he admires and adores him (weird). On page 307, the Judge says, "Come here. Let me touch you." He says this when he is trying to convince the Kid to listen to him and believe him but the Kid just stays against the wall. I have to say this and the surgery scene don't help the Judge's pedophile image. When the Judge takes his jacket off, he shows a Derringer pistol. Here is a picture (I used to use this little gun when I was a prostitute!) . Another great quote is on the same page, "What joins men together is not the sharing of bread but the sharing of enemies." This reminds me of the whole "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" quote. Actually, there's a pretty funny Muppet clip that shows this. Click here. Ha! Yup that really shows what I'm trying to say.
Now the Kid finally goes off by himself. He has the wisdom and knowledge of the murderous group of scalp-hunters to back him along the way so he should be fine. The part about the strange cult was very disturbing. The whole cross carrying and trail of blood would be very strange. A good simile is on page 314, "(the cult) disappeared in the coming darkness like heralds of some unspeakable calamity leaving only bloody footprints on the stone." Heralds are usually considered monarchs or messengers (dictionary.com) so is the cult some sort of messenger of death and destruction? There still may be some foreshadowing in this chapter, even though it's the second to last one. The dead woman was the best part. She is a symbol that shows how sin and chaos can reduce people to mere shells and how the murderous and inhospitable regions of the west are dangerous enough to harbor mummies. Also, the fact that the Kid spills his entire life's story out to a dead and decaying corpse is pretty interesting. Maybe McCarthy is trying to show that the only people that can sympathize with the Kid are the dead. Here is a cool website about Native American mummies.
Now for some words...
Kimono (pg 312)- a loose, wide-sleeved robe, fastened at the waist with a wide sash (dictionary.com) I think this is like one of the Geisha robes.
hackamore (pg 314)- a simple looped bridle, by means of which controlling pressure is exerted on the nose of a horse, used chiefly in breaking colts (dictionary.com)
Chapter 22
Good chapter overall. Major time skip mid chapter, and no little scene break bar to show it either.
It was interesting that the judge got the kid arrested at the beginning of the chapter and said he was going to get hanged, but I think this was just to scare him, since he was later released. I liked the way he sold the kid out, but was completely correct in his reasoning. Once again, the judge's insanity is beaten only by his reasoning. I did think it was pretty strange that the judge broke out into a lecture when he was talking to the kid though. page 306, "Dont you know that I'd have love you like a son?" I thought this was surprising, and I don't know if judge meant it, or if it was just a part of his overall scheme. Also on 307, the judge says, "Let me touch you." I don't think I even need to say just how creepy this is. When I read the whole section on the judge and kid talk, I got from it that the judge was disappointed in the kid, that maybe he did think of the kid as a son in his own way. Page 307, "If war is not holy man is nothing but antic clay." I thought this quote is awesome, definitely the top 5 for judge.
The surgeon scene was pretty cool. It's about time he got the arrow shaft removed. I thought it'd have been infected by now though. Especially since he really didn't have the time to clean the wound, or scab at this point. I looked fistula, but i still don't understand it in the sentence "A soft fisula had formed around it", page 308.
The dream / hallucination the kid had while recovering from ether confused me a little. From what I got out of it, judge was there and so was a strange man that made coinage. Also in this little section, it's noted that the kid is now 16 , so he's one year older now? Page 310, "his leg was like an evil visitant in the bed with him such was the pain."
The fate of Toadvine and Brown is found out in this chapter. They were hung. Page 311, "the hanged men at their rope-ends looked like effigies for to frighten birds." I got from this that they looked like scarecrows. It was pretty depressing that they died, but I saw it coming. The hanging is anticlimatical I think.
On the last paragraph of 311, I got from it that the kid might have got robbed because it said that someone took his shoes. Unless this was figurative, the kid has become soft.
I thought it was weird that the book skipped time to when the kid is now 28. Pretty cool that he just spent 12 years riding around. Thought it pretty messed up that the pilgrims he was supposed to lead and the strange funeral procession was all massacred, and he didn't even find the people who did it. Also, what was up with the old lady dead for years? I know that it wasn't literal because a woman can't be dead standing up for years like that in the desert. I wonder what this signifies.
It was interesting that the judge got the kid arrested at the beginning of the chapter and said he was going to get hanged, but I think this was just to scare him, since he was later released. I liked the way he sold the kid out, but was completely correct in his reasoning. Once again, the judge's insanity is beaten only by his reasoning. I did think it was pretty strange that the judge broke out into a lecture when he was talking to the kid though. page 306, "Dont you know that I'd have love you like a son?" I thought this was surprising, and I don't know if judge meant it, or if it was just a part of his overall scheme. Also on 307, the judge says, "Let me touch you." I don't think I even need to say just how creepy this is. When I read the whole section on the judge and kid talk, I got from it that the judge was disappointed in the kid, that maybe he did think of the kid as a son in his own way. Page 307, "If war is not holy man is nothing but antic clay." I thought this quote is awesome, definitely the top 5 for judge.
The surgeon scene was pretty cool. It's about time he got the arrow shaft removed. I thought it'd have been infected by now though. Especially since he really didn't have the time to clean the wound, or scab at this point. I looked fistula, but i still don't understand it in the sentence "A soft fisula had formed around it", page 308.
The dream / hallucination the kid had while recovering from ether confused me a little. From what I got out of it, judge was there and so was a strange man that made coinage. Also in this little section, it's noted that the kid is now 16 , so he's one year older now? Page 310, "his leg was like an evil visitant in the bed with him such was the pain."
The fate of Toadvine and Brown is found out in this chapter. They were hung. Page 311, "the hanged men at their rope-ends looked like effigies for to frighten birds." I got from this that they looked like scarecrows. It was pretty depressing that they died, but I saw it coming. The hanging is anticlimatical I think.
On the last paragraph of 311, I got from it that the kid might have got robbed because it said that someone took his shoes. Unless this was figurative, the kid has become soft.
I thought it was weird that the book skipped time to when the kid is now 28. Pretty cool that he just spent 12 years riding around. Thought it pretty messed up that the pilgrims he was supposed to lead and the strange funeral procession was all massacred, and he didn't even find the people who did it. Also, what was up with the old lady dead for years? I know that it wasn't literal because a woman can't be dead standing up for years like that in the desert. I wonder what this signifies.
Friday, May 7, 2010
May 7, 2010 Blog Chapter 21
Short chapter, I didn't find too much to talk about but here goes
Page 298, McCarthy uses the phrase "strips of tug." in reference to hides over ribs in description of Judge's parasol. First of all, that sounds sick looking parasol but a good contraption none the less. Second, I'm not sure what strips of tug are, but I get the impression that its like sinew? Judge is, like we've said before, like McGyver, with his fancy bone and rotten hide parasol and his rawhide collar, perhaps just a little more sadistic though.... McCarthy describes his appearance further as "He seemed some degenerate entrepreneur fleeing from a medicine show and the outrage of citizens who'd sacked it." A medicine show, I found, is a traveling sales man who sells remedies and what not. The image McCarthy makes here is one that shows how dilapidated judge looked, as if he had been attacked by a mob of angry customers. It's like Mr. Pirelli from Sweeney Todd.
Page 299, judge says, "There's a flawed place in the fabric of your heart. Do you think I could not know? You alone were mutinous. You alone reserved in your soul some corner of clemency for the heathen." What is he talking about mutiny? Does he mean mutinous towards judge or to the group? The heathen, does this refer to the indians or to Tobin? Clemency means showing compassion for something. Then he says that Toadvine and Brown are still alive, "in possession of the fruits of their election..." does this mean that they are in heaven? He told the kid to ask Tobin if it were true, "The priest doesn't lie." Which is contradictory to what he was implying before when he was trying to get him to come out.
Page 300, McCarthy repeats the word "They" several times seven times in sentences. It was done as a description, so it wouldn't make sense to say that he was accusing them of anything. What do you think was the purpose?
Warner Ranch
Cravat
Replivined
Pampooties
Page 298, McCarthy uses the phrase "strips of tug." in reference to hides over ribs in description of Judge's parasol. First of all, that sounds sick looking parasol but a good contraption none the less. Second, I'm not sure what strips of tug are, but I get the impression that its like sinew? Judge is, like we've said before, like McGyver, with his fancy bone and rotten hide parasol and his rawhide collar, perhaps just a little more sadistic though.... McCarthy describes his appearance further as "He seemed some degenerate entrepreneur fleeing from a medicine show and the outrage of citizens who'd sacked it." A medicine show, I found, is a traveling sales man who sells remedies and what not. The image McCarthy makes here is one that shows how dilapidated judge looked, as if he had been attacked by a mob of angry customers. It's like Mr. Pirelli from Sweeney Todd.
Page 299, judge says, "There's a flawed place in the fabric of your heart. Do you think I could not know? You alone were mutinous. You alone reserved in your soul some corner of clemency for the heathen." What is he talking about mutiny? Does he mean mutinous towards judge or to the group? The heathen, does this refer to the indians or to Tobin? Clemency means showing compassion for something. Then he says that Toadvine and Brown are still alive, "in possession of the fruits of their election..." does this mean that they are in heaven? He told the kid to ask Tobin if it were true, "The priest doesn't lie." Which is contradictory to what he was implying before when he was trying to get him to come out.
Page 300, McCarthy repeats the word "They" several times seven times in sentences. It was done as a description, so it wouldn't make sense to say that he was accusing them of anything. What do you think was the purpose?
Warner Ranch
Cravat
Replivined
Pampooties
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Chapter 21
This chapter was good. Seemed like a transition chapter to me though.
Once again, the party, Tobin and the kid, moves on which is pretty much most of what they do in this chapter, just trying to find a safe location away from the judge. A quote on page 295 that I didn't understand, "The earth fell away on every side equally in arcature and by these limits were they circumscribed and of them were they locus." These are the various meanings of locus, but I still have no clue what McCarthy is getting at here. This probably isn't an important line, but I just took note of it.
Also as I read this chapter I had in the back of my mind the thought that maybe Tobin was actually evil and the judge was good or whatever. When Tobin kept telling the kid to leave him and go on, I initially thought that he was trying to be selfless, but then I thought maybe he's just trying to seem selfless, in an ever increasing deception towards the kid.
I noticed a pretty bad simile on page 296. "As if the wells were ringed about by some hazard lethal to creatures." This was about the dead animals surrounding the watering hole. I thought this was bad because McCarthy just describes this scene to a hazard lethal to creatures. Sure this intentional vagueness leads readers to form their own opinion of what hazard this is (I like to think it's because of the new Nah Money album that was released), but with an author that describes the most minuscule detail, I expected a more powerful simile. I know I can't say this, but I'm just sayin'.
I expected the kid not to have shot the judge when they were hiding. As the judge said, the kid isn't the assassin type. He would be suited to killing judge in a classic western draw, which hasn't happened in this book, nor will happen. Also, it would've been anticlimactic if the judge was shot like that and died. When the judge is calling to the kid to get him to show himself or whatever, he says a pretty cool line on page 299, "You alone reserved in your soul some corner of clemency for the heathen." This could literally mean mercy for Shelby, or it could be the figurative demon that the judge stands for, or the corruption of the old company. It was good to find out that judge didn't kill Toadvine and Brown, but it seems McCarthy alluded to their fate. The quote on 300, "They are in the fruits of their election." I think there's a saying that talks about fruit, and it has something to do with punishment. This line made me think of the quote, so maybe the judge actually took them to the authorities or something, but how could he if they were in the middle of nowhere and chased by Yumas?
The Dieguenos Indians seemed pretty cool. Nice to know there are still peaceful Indians that don't want their blood. The food they were brought seemed tasty. "Stew of lizards and pocketmice hot in clay bowls." Can't remember the last time I had a meal that sounded that good. I got to admit, I thought the kid was going to shoot that Indian who reached for his pistola. If it were any other character, that probably would've been the case. I think the kid has calmed down since the beginning of the story, or has a greater understanding of life.
I didn't know what a joshua tree was, so I got a picture of it to share. I gotta say, it's a pretty dumb idea to name a tree someone's name. I want to see a picture of a Steven bush.
Once again, the party, Tobin and the kid, moves on which is pretty much most of what they do in this chapter, just trying to find a safe location away from the judge. A quote on page 295 that I didn't understand, "The earth fell away on every side equally in arcature and by these limits were they circumscribed and of them were they locus." These are the various meanings of locus, but I still have no clue what McCarthy is getting at here. This probably isn't an important line, but I just took note of it.
Also as I read this chapter I had in the back of my mind the thought that maybe Tobin was actually evil and the judge was good or whatever. When Tobin kept telling the kid to leave him and go on, I initially thought that he was trying to be selfless, but then I thought maybe he's just trying to seem selfless, in an ever increasing deception towards the kid.
I noticed a pretty bad simile on page 296. "As if the wells were ringed about by some hazard lethal to creatures." This was about the dead animals surrounding the watering hole. I thought this was bad because McCarthy just describes this scene to a hazard lethal to creatures. Sure this intentional vagueness leads readers to form their own opinion of what hazard this is (I like to think it's because of the new Nah Money album that was released), but with an author that describes the most minuscule detail, I expected a more powerful simile. I know I can't say this, but I'm just sayin'.
I expected the kid not to have shot the judge when they were hiding. As the judge said, the kid isn't the assassin type. He would be suited to killing judge in a classic western draw, which hasn't happened in this book, nor will happen. Also, it would've been anticlimactic if the judge was shot like that and died. When the judge is calling to the kid to get him to show himself or whatever, he says a pretty cool line on page 299, "You alone reserved in your soul some corner of clemency for the heathen." This could literally mean mercy for Shelby, or it could be the figurative demon that the judge stands for, or the corruption of the old company. It was good to find out that judge didn't kill Toadvine and Brown, but it seems McCarthy alluded to their fate. The quote on 300, "They are in the fruits of their election." I think there's a saying that talks about fruit, and it has something to do with punishment. This line made me think of the quote, so maybe the judge actually took them to the authorities or something, but how could he if they were in the middle of nowhere and chased by Yumas?
The Dieguenos Indians seemed pretty cool. Nice to know there are still peaceful Indians that don't want their blood. The food they were brought seemed tasty. "Stew of lizards and pocketmice hot in clay bowls." Can't remember the last time I had a meal that sounded that good. I got to admit, I thought the kid was going to shoot that Indian who reached for his pistola. If it were any other character, that probably would've been the case. I think the kid has calmed down since the beginning of the story, or has a greater understanding of life.
I didn't know what a joshua tree was, so I got a picture of it to share. I gotta say, it's a pretty dumb idea to name a tree someone's name. I want to see a picture of a Steven bush.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)