Chaptero 3

This chapter was lacking in violence, but I still enjoyed it because it moved the story along, and I think McCarthy is setting up for something big in the next couple of chapters. I mean the kid's new companion, Earl just mysteriously dies and it ends right there. Maybe Chapter 5 is going to be some Sherlock Holmes / Scooby-Doo thing where they find out who actually did it. Probably not, but one can hope. Though I do have some thoughts as to what is to come.

I liked the recruiter or sergeant that wanted him to join Captain White's army. He kept saying all the goods and the prosperity that the kid will get if he joins. I just have to say he's good at his job. He could probably make a pacifist join White's army. I did like something he said though at the beginning, "Come on out. I'm white and Christian." I just thought that was funny and decided to share. The part where McCarthy describes the recruiters horse was pretty interesting too, all trimmed in silver, and I think the horse had white stockings, which means you're awesome in Horse World.

The Captain sounds like a real cool guy. The way he just kept signing papers when they walked in was pretty jerkish, but I suppose they were very important papers, like the cure for cancer or something. I liked how the Captain gave the kid a little history lesson when the kid mentioned he was from Tennessee. Which on a side note, I'm surprised he actually told where he was from considering how much he's lied until now. I think lying is a form of entertainment to him, since he's lied during occasions that weren't necessary for it.

I was actually pretty disappointed when I read the cantina scene. I mean whenever this kid gets around alcohol he gets crazy, which he didn't this time. And McCarthy mentions the women of questionable morals just so casually. I figured they would at least hit on one of the guys, but nope. They just sat at their table and left. And that Mennonite was a pretty interesting character. He seemed to me like a wise man of some sorts, and he wasn't that scared of the soldiers when they harassed him. I thought his quote, "the wrath of God lies sleeping," was probably one of the coolest lines in this book so far. And probably it may be foreshadowing an event later on.

Also, I thought it was weird that the kid woke up the next morning and found Earl dead with his skull broken laying in a pool of blood. Now I want to know who killed that man. The Mennonite came back and said, "There is no such joy in the tavern as upon the road thereto." I have no idea what this means, and would love to find out. Also I wonder if the Mennonite appears again later on.