Blood Meridian

[Anonymous No.7381074]

>That night Glanton stared long into the embers of the fire. All about him men were sleeping but much was changed. So many gone, defected or dead. He watched the fire and if he saw portents there it was much the same to him. He would live to look upon the western sea and he was equal to whatever might follow for he was complete at every hour. Whether his history should run concomitant with men and nations, whether it should cease. He'd long forsworn all weighing of consequence and allowing as he did that men's destinies are given yet he usurped to contain within him all that he would ever be in the world and all that the world would be to him and be his charter written in the urstone itself he claimed agency and said so and he'd drive the remorseless sun on to its final endarkenment as if he'd ordered it all ages since, before there were paths anywhere, before there were men or suns to go upon them.

What did he mean by this?

[Anonymous No.7381082]

>>7381074
Glanton doesn't give a FUCK

[Anonymous No.7381112]

>>7381082
I gathered as much, but what is meant by "be his charter written in the urstone"? What is an urstone?

"And allowing as he did that men's destinies are given yet," what is meant by "given yet"?

"He claimed agency and said so" - what is the importance of clarifying his claim by saying so? Is it somehow related to this:
>But that man who sets himself the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world.

"He'd drive the remorseless sun to its final endarkenment as if he'd ordered it all ages since" - what does he mean by this?

[Anonymous No.7381163]

>>7381112
Okay, so like an actual un-memeing answer--

1. I assume an "urstone" to be some type of original stone, an ur-stone (the ur meaning original or primordial). So i read it to be a further insistence that Glanton takes his fate to be a given, inscribed in the ground itself.

2. I read this as "...are given, yet", rather than "given yet". Which relates directly to 3--

3. Yeah I think you're on-- that Glanton's acknowledgement of fate and set destinies empowers him. and so despite his destiny being given, or due to his destiny being given, he seeks to contain all-- eg. since it's already written, nothing he does or can do is wrong/incorrect/unjust, as such, why not do everything.

4. Going with the nihilism of the above statement-- the acknowledgement of fate or predestination, rather than constricting one's decisionmaking (ala Calvin) renders one a god.

That's how I read it though, feel free to btfo me

[Anonymous No.7381170]

>>7381163
Edit: Obviously not literally a god, but master of one's own fate which, in Glanton's worldview of destiny, may be equivalent.

[Anonymous No.7381171]

>>7381112
He believes in the Judge's order of fatalism/predestination (which is laid out in the "War is god" talk), but is exceedingly confident of his "elected" status in that order. "Charter written in urstone" means something like "elder/primeval law", his pre-ordained entitlement to a position of utmost superiority in the universe. He's like Faust in failing to see how his pact with the deceiving Devil (the Judge) has confirmed nothing but his own subjugation, that the Judge's order represents nothing less than absolute subjugation for men, no matter what ephemeral status they seem to achieve within it. He gets pissed off at the card drawn for him during the fortune-telling scene because it suggests a fault in this confidence about his destiny, basically like a man drawing a losing card at the Judge's fatalistic gambling table.

[Anonymous No.7381284]

>>7381163
I wrote up a lot to respond to this but when I hit refresh this comment >>7381171 says it more succinctly. Specifically, the reference to the fortune teller scene: something bothers Glanton greatly about the card he was dealt (the old woman speaks of an upside down cart, massacre, death, the downfall, and stops short of completing her sentence about "a youth" that is involved when the Judge interrupts). This suggests the opposite of assuming godhood from the acknowledgement of fate.

However, the passage above does claim that despite his "charter" being written in primeval law (his destiny is literally set in stone), he claims agency. Is Glanton trying to avoid his fate? Does he wish to meet his end the way he wants and not the way it was written? Does he desire to ultimately release himself from the Judge's order but cannot understand how to do so?

[Anonymous No.7381312]

>>7381112

Urstone is a reference to the tablets Moses brought down from the mountain as a covenant between humans and god.
Comparing his relationship with the world to this covenant is tinged with irony, though, because they are godless and desecrate the contents of this covenant at even opportunity.

[Anonymous No.7381344]

>>7381284
Yeah no, it's been a long time since I read BM so I was mostly responding in a vaccuum. >>7381171
does a much better job of interpretation wrt/ the book's context, which is obviously the point.

I think that, in claiming agency, Glanton is reasserting how trapped he is within the Judge's worldview. Unlike the kid and perhaps Tobin, who are able to comprehend an order other than the Judge's fatalism, Glanton is, until his death, within the confines of the "maze". By acknowledging his destiny, Glanton hopes to, to some degree, accept or contort it, to, by fiercely believing, earn himself a better deal. There's an arrogance in this, but it's also somewhat pitiable-- rather than disavowing the view of the Judge, Glanton seeks instead to machinate himself a better place within it.

Do you think McCarthy means it sincerely when he writes, "He would live to look upon the western sea and he was equal to whatever might follow for he was complete at every hour"? Is this an actual prophecy, or just Glanton's hopes? Is it meant to be read sincerely?

[Anonymous No.7381383]

>>7381312
>Is this an actual prophecy, or just Glanton's hopes? Is it meant to be read sincerely?
I think it's just another expression of his static, complacent worldview. But he does actually live to see the Pacific since he journeys to San Diego to recover Brown. I think Glanton knows the Judge is no real friend, but believes somehow he can cheat the devil, up to the moment of his exhaustion when the Yuma puts an axe in his skull, and this is precisely the delusion the Judge fosters and preys on.