Manifest Destiny and the affects it has on the characters in Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Details: Date: Analysis of manifest destiny as depicted in Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy Violence has always been part of society. A cursory glance at the evolutionary periods to the classical ages up to the modern time shows that many breakthroughs were made after violent upheavals to either remedy the wrongs in society or to ensure survival of one group against the other. Such instances include the wars for territory where one group was faced by extinction if they didn’t rise up in arms such as the regular French-Germanic wars. In church wars the argument was warfare was justified when performed in services and defense of the church and the faith and this was further supported by absolution for those who died in the war, (Riley-Smith). However, one of the most germane debates on violence and its justification has to do with manifest destiny. This paper will ground its study of the belief by analyzing the master piece by Cormac McCarthy named Blood Meridian. The argument herein is that manifest destiny is a misguided notion that is exploited for self-aggrandizement by both individuals and states. The debate over manifest destiny has not at anytime taken place without the issue of place of violence taking the centre stage. Manifest destiny as a belief was propagated by the Democrats in the 1840s and asserted the United State’s expansion over Mexico and the western frontier was apparent and inexorable. As such, the argument posited that there was nothing that could come between this belief and its realization. Though the expansion policy was older, the term manifest destiny was first used in 1845 by John O’Sullivan in a newspaper review, (Adams). The idea was not only expansionist in the territorial sense but in spreading of a world based on the United State’s ideals of rights to freedom among others. The Mexican-American war of 1846 formed a platform for the proponents of this ideal to support their postulations and with more states becoming annexed, the idea of an American experiment of democracy and freedom seemed a reality, (Fuller). However, the belief was also opposed by among others Abraham Lincoln who felt such aggressive tendencies bordered on treason especially when the government was supposed to support them. His theory of relative patriotism was best demonstrated in the Eulogy to Henry Clay (Fornieri). To understand the implication of the manifest destiny at the period, an assessment of the characters in Blood Meridian is imperative. This novel has received world wide acclaim though critics have always expressed reservations on the violence it depicts. The novel unveil the violence of manifest destiny by following the tracks of the protagonist named the Kid in a 1849-50 setting. The runaway kid whose mother had died at child birth falls foul of the law and within no time, the tendency towards violence that is inherent in him is revealed. From the first early fight in bar brawl, the author depicts the Kid as one whose propensity to violence places him as a good candidate for the violence of the West frontiers. With time, the young teenager comes into contact with other outlaws such as Ben Tobin and Toadvine and it is the latter who cajoles him to join the Glanton gang. This vicious group gets its respite from the Mexican government by hunting for scalps in return for bounties in Chihuahua and the overlying regions. As their horrors increase day by day, and as death keeps visiting them in the vast Wild West, the gang’s thirst for gore goes into overdrive and they turn against the same people they were t protect. Under the philosophical guidance of Judge Holden a vicious, sly pedophile and murderer, the gang reaches a point of no return in their belief that their work is justified. Each of the character has a personal notion of manifest destiny and it is best exemplified in Glanton the ring leader and Judge Holden the manipulator. Their avarice and yearning to conquer goes beyond what can be called rational and actually borders on the psychopathic (Joshua). However, this is to be expecte...