What does cormac mccarthy argues about the connection between violence Essay

What does cormac mccarthy argues about the connection between violence and history - Essay Example s Statement: The purpose of this paper is to investigate Cormac McCarthy’s argument in his book Blood Meridian asserting that violence is related to history because all historical events are caused by violence. The story’s main protagonist is a nameless young man known only as â€Å"the kid† who was born in 1833 and runs away from home at the age of fourteen. In his wanderings across the American West, he gets involved with groups who indulge in vicious blood shed, and the murdering of Indians for their scalps. In the nightmarish world, he takes up innately violent professions when recruited by murderers such as Judge Holden who believes that violence forms the foundation of human nature and that war continues to exist at all times. Judge Holden says, â€Å"War endures. As well ask men what they think of stone. War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner† (McCarthy 208). Similar characters whom the kid meets are Captain White and later Glanton and his gang with whom he goes on scalphunting rampages (Greenwood 50). McCarthy weaves together history and fiction, with some of his characters being real people who had appeared in historical accounts of travels with the scalp hunter Glanton. They include â€Å"the kid’s† fellow scalp hunters, the expriest Tobin, Marcus Webster, David Brown and John Jackson. The author â€Å"builds certain major fictional events in the narrative out of pieces of minor historical artifacts and strings certain major historical events together with his fiction† (Moos 25). In 1849 when the kid reaches Fredonia, in present-day Texas which had been the site of a land battle between the Mexican government and the founders of a separatist republic who had grabbed the land. Thus, Texas had been annexed by the United States government in 1845, and by 1849, the region was an area of conflict between Mexican governmen, native Americans, U.S. government and Texas (Greenwood 50).