血色子午线 (1985)

Blood Meridian or the Evening Redness in the West (known simply and more commonly as Blood Meridian) is a 1985 epic historical novel by American author Cormac McCarthy, classified as an anti-Western and Gothic Western. McCarthy's fifth book, it was published by Random House.

Set in the American frontier with a historical context, the narrative follows a fictional teenager from Tennessee referred to as "The Kid", with the bulk of the text devoted to his experiences with the Glanton gang, a historical group of scalp hunters who massacred American Indians and others in the United States–Mexico borderlands from 1849 to 1850 for bounty, sadistic pleasure, and eventually out of nihilistic habit. The role of antagonist is gradually filled by Judge Holden, a physically massive, highly educated, preternaturally skilled member of the gang with pale and hairless skin who relishes the destruction and domination of whatever he encounters, including children and docile animals.

Although the novel initially received lukewarm critical and commercial reception, it has since become highly acclaimed and is widely recognized as McCarthy's magnum opus and one of the greatest American novels of all time, with some labelling the work as the Great American Novel.

Plot

The novel follows a young man who is never directly named, only being referred to as "the kid." The kid was born in Tennessee during the Leonids meteor shower of 1833. At 14, he runs away and travels across states, arriving in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he enters a tent in which a reverend is giving a sermon. Judge Holden enters and announces that the reverend is a wanted imposter, detailing excessive crimes and inciting the crowd to violence. The Judge reveals shortly afterward that he had never met the reverend, and caused the lynching for no reason at all. The kid escapes, encountering and brawling with a mercenary named Toadvine, but later assists him with arson and assault. The kid sees the Judge as he escapes town, and the Judge smiles at him.

In Bexar, the kid kills a bartender for refusing him a drink. He is persuaded to join Captain White's company of ill-equipped filibusters. The militia is overwhelmed by Comanche warriors. The kid escapes and wanders about with Sproule, another survivor of the massacre. After walking through a village ravaged by Comanches, the two force their way onto a wagon and ride to a nearby town, Sproule dying along the way. Soldiers later seize the kid and take him to jail in Chihuahua City, where he finds Toadvine. Toadvine arranges for the pair and another inmate to be released into a gang of scalphunters led by a former Texas Ranger and cavalry veteran named John Joel Glanton. The Judge is in company.

The gang contracts to protect Chihuahua from marauding Apaches, receiving payment for each scalp. However, the gang kills anyone who can provide a passable scalp for a higher share, including residents of Mexican villages. A bounty is placed on Glanton after officials realize the gang's fraud. At the Colorado River, the gang discovers a ferry, appropriating it by conspiring with and betraying the nearby Yumas. The gang settles there, exploiting travelers until they are massacred by the Yumas. Many of the gang are killed, including Glanton.

The kid is injured, but escapes with Toadvine to Alamo Mucho. The pair reunite with a former priest named Tobin, also of the Glanton gang. The Judge joins the trio, naked and unarmed. He bargains for Toadvine's hat, but is unable to bargain for the kid's pistol. Tobin attempts to convince the kid to shoot the Judge.

The kid and Tobin depart towards Carrizo Creek. En route, the two encounter gang-member Brown, who was detained in San Diego during the massacre. Brown has two horses and is equipped with two rifles. Tobin informs Brown that Glanton and the gang are dead, but that Toadvine and the Judge are behind.

As the kid drinks from the creek, a gunshot hits his reflection. He sees two horses and the Judge, now clothed, with a rifle. The kid kills the horses, and the Judge shoots Tobin through the neck. The kid and Tobin continue on, pursued by the Judge, until the pair are found by Diegueños who feed them at their San Felipe camp.

The kid and Tobin reach San Diego. Tobin searches for a doctor for their injuries, but the kid is arrested before they can reunite. The Judge visits him in jail. The kid is released and undergoes surgery. He dreams of the Judge while under anesthesia.

Later that year, the kid sees Toadvine and Brown hanged in Los Angeles. The kid buys and wears Brown's "scapular" of human ears. The kid asks around for news of Tobin in San Diego and Los Angeles, but quits his search. The kid wanders the Southwest. He carries with him a Bible that he is unable to read. In one episode, he discovers the remains of an old woman, attempting to offer her aid before he realizes that she is dead.

In 1878, the kid, now 45, is referred to as "the man." He invites a lone group of youths to sit at his fire. The boys are interested in the scapular, but the congeniality sours as one of the boys challenges the man and later attempts to shoot him. The man kills the boy.

The man subsequently travels to Fort Griffin, Texas, where he enters a bar featuring a dancing bear. He spots the Judge across the bar, who has not aged. The dancing bear is killed by a bar patron. In the ensuing confusion, the Judge appears by the man, and the two converse about philosophical themes of violence, war, and fate. The man visits the outhouse and opens the door, only to discover the Judge standing before him naked. The Judge grins, "gathers" the man against him, and latches the door, locking them both inside. Two drunken men leave the bar a short time later, inspecting the commotion. They look inside the outhouse and are horrified by the sight.

In the dance hall, the naked Judge dances and plays a fiddle. The novel concludes with the narrator remarking that the Judge "never sleeps," and that "he will never die."