?Throughout the novel, "Blood Meridian," we are forced to see the Old West in ways I have never seen it before; Cormac McCarthy deglamorized previous Western depictions with beheadings, shootings, stabbings, scalpings, and bludgeoning. We walk through the desert following the kid and the judge. The strength of this book can also be seen as one of the weaknesses. The imagery of the violence from this book can be seen as a strength because of its description but can also be seen as a weakness because it is hard to continuously read attacks filled with grotesque and gore. One may find themselves needing to take pauses in order to recover from what they just witnessed in their minds. The violence and brutality throughout the book is relentless; from scene to scene we get more and more, especially from the judge. It all starts with his appearance; the book describes him as immense and terrible. He is in between six and seven feet tall, but like a child, is hairless and has small hands and feet. There is nothing he won’t do. He plays rapes and scalps the small Apache orphan after playing with him, he kept a man on a leather leash and walked through the desert, he even buys two puppies to only throw them over a bridge. The man is ruthless. And he is persuasive, something that in this book is harmful to others. The judge coaxes all kinds of people into unwise decisions. This is why many people believe the judge is symbolic of “the Devil.” He has no morals and can sweet-talk people into doing bad. Also the repetition of “he says he will never die” at the very end of the book is something that suggests the judge to be immortal. His exuberant evil and playing the fiddle also fit the Devil description. The language the book is written is can be seen as a weakness for some and a strength for others. Some may find it hard to follow due to the short choppy poetic sentences, whereas others may find it more enjoyable to read it due to its ly