| Cormac McCarthy demythologizes the West in his novel Blood Meridian by presenting a dark, blood-filled spectacle that acts as a direct rebuttal against the romanticized tales of idealistic freedom-seekers conquering the savages following the Mexican-American War. This paper defines McCarthy's version of Manifest Destiny and the American Dream and discusses how the relationship between the characters of Judge Holden and the kid illustrate the continuing destructiveness of that dream. |
