Blood Meridian's Ending Explained

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Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West is Cormac McCarthy's most critically-acclaimed novel to date, but it's also his most complicated story. One of the most frustrating things for readers is the ending, which is presented in such an indirect way that even the basic facts of it can be questioned.

With this video I want to answer:

What did the Judge do to the Kid?

Why did the Judge want to kill the Kid?

What was the main conflict between the Judge and the Kid throughout the entire book?

Why did Cormac McCarthy write his ending the way he did?

[bernarddoherty]

The violence not being described after so much well described violence is sooo brilliant

[scionixx]

I know the child who turned into a man lived a pretty bad life for a while, but he was making a real change to try and be a better person and you can’t help but really like him. That ending absolutely broke me and I could not stop thinking about it for almost a week. Just imagining in my head what he did to him.

[hank_Reardon]

For the time this video existed without my knowledge it existed without my consent.

-Judge Holden

[avanindrad]

Slightly embarrassed to say this but while reading the last chapter I somehow missed the part where the judge grabs the man. Up until this point I'd assumed that the man stood in the bar watching the judge dance and that seemed pretty haunting too.

[davidmatthews]

‘Closet’ means toilet. Water closets flush. When McCarthy says, ’the Judge was on the closet’ he means that the Judge was in a common out house sitting naked on the toilet (taking a shit). ‘The man’ stumbles in on him which confirms, at least to the Judge, that the universe is throwing the two of them together.(there were other ‘jakes’ to choose from but the man chose this one)

[Onomatophobias]

Since the book details its gruesomeness so vividly, I always felt that McCarthy didn't describe the Mans death because what the Judge did to him was so horrific, that it couldn't be translated to words. That is why the men finding the Man's dead body doesn't say anything. Btw great video!

[crazyratpors]

Only book I ever read and immediately reread after.

[StudioSerious]

I think the judge embodies all the human evilness that will never end, will never die.

[wasntfun]

i like the part where the judge says “i’ll be the judge of that” and starts judging

[LanguageFilm]

Blood Meridian is one of my favorite books, not for its story (which I gave up trying to comprehend) but it's language. I will just open it to random pages and read it and find pleasure in the beauty of the prose. McCarthy stretches English to the breaking point and beyond.

[evandotterer]

The fact the judge is a child rapist almost makes his character more human. It’s such a barbaric act that we don’t associate it with fictional monsters. It’s a disgusting act attached to man alone..

[justanotherredheadattheend]

8:20 This was exactly my experience when I read it. Over hundreds of pages, Blood Meridian had never hesitated to describe all kinds of horrendous or surreal shit. So it creates this really unspeakable, ominous atmosphere when it doesn't describe what happened to The Boy (now Man) in his final meeting with The Judge. As if it was so terrible and maybe even supernatural that not even this book will go into it. It's the one act of violence Blood Meridian DOESN'T describe. And that kicks you in the chest.

[srbrant]

The thumbnail makes it look like MacCarthy became a serial killer.

[shlepydog]

Very interesting that the common belief is that rape in itself isn’t believed to be sexual in nature and that it’s primary utilization is to impose ones power over another. The judges decision to commit murder and rape of the man illustrates that he is in fact the victor (at least in his eyes). This book haunts me, I find myself thinking about more than I wish lol. Terrific video btw very well done!

[corey]

No way man. The Man and The Judge both take massive steamers and don’t flush, and that’s what scares the onlookers.

[fenrisodessa]

The bear death was tragic, dancing to the end.

[EubulusKane]

He is a great favorite, the judge, he says he'll never die.

[peterisnardi]

I have this feeling like The Judge that we see at the end isn't real, he's The Kid/The Man's own personal demon, drawn up from his guilt...perhaps they find him alone in the outhouse, having put one in his own brain...

[Sweeptheleg]

I like authors who leave it to your imagination to put the pieces together. Nothing anyone could write is scarier than the numerous scenarios a person could play out in their head.

[Johnsmith]

“Before man was, boating waited for him. The ultimate weekend activity awaiting its ultimate leisure gentleman.”