Violence in the Blood

What else can you say about Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy? All of the most important literature theorists have commented about it. I've heard many explaining their interpretation of what happened to the main character at the end, who is the kid, all the texts that influence this book and what is the point of all this violence.

The weird thing is, I didn't want to write a post about this book. For me reading it was just like watching one of those gore movies that after a few weeks you don't even remember what was it about. Note that Cormac McCarthy also wrote No Country For Old Men, and The Road among others.

Why do I write a post about this book, then? Well, every time someone talks about gun control this is the book that comes to my mind –violence, sheer violence, nonsensical violence, endless violence. The novel is so bloody that it's boring. What is funny is that when I was reading it I was stopped twice in the subway by total strangers, both men, who wanted to share with me how much they loved this book. Sometimes people do that once in a while in the train, but twice with the same book? They both also showed their surprise that a woman was reading it.

So gun control and Blood Meridian. Are they related? I think they are. The book has a historical set up which are the writings of Sam Chamberlain. This was a time in history when the West was still wild and untamed. I find interesting that the book finishes with an epilogue of the building of a fence, which is the beginning of civilization, dividing the land between owners, owners backed up by laws presumably. All the blood depicted in the book was shed for no good reason right at the creation of this country, or at least the part of the country that brought a big deal of space and resources into the US. And you know what a lot o land means... freedom, of course. If you don't like it here, move over there.

I dare to say guns mean to this country more than to any other in the world. It goes to the root of whatever the people of this nation think of themselves. For Europe, China, Russia, Africa, or India guns came to their history in the middle of the battle. For the United States, guns were there from the foundation. Asking this country to give up guns or even controlling their access or use is calling the devil by its name.

I am not trying to excuse here any side of the debate about gun control, though. If other countries were able to rise from the most terrible violence anyone can. Violence should be a stage in the development of a country. It's time to grow up.