No matter what McCarthy book you read, you'll always come across the question of God in one way or another. In Blood Meridian, McCarthy constantly asks us to think about whether there is any God and, if there is one, whether this God cares about human suffering. Furthermore, we must ask ourselves: if there is no God, then is there no such thing as morality? This is a tough question, especially when you're asking it while watching people slaughter one another for more than 300 pages. But these are the tough questions we need to ask ourselves if we're going to move forward as a civilization.
Questions About Religion
- Do you think Blood Meridian ultimately supports the idea of God? Why? Why not?
- What does the judge mean when he says that God speaks through rocks and bones? Please use evidence from the text to support your answers.
- Do you think the judge is Satan? Is he some sort of immortal demon? What evidence do we have to support either suggestion?
- Do you think McCarthy intends for Blood Meridian to shake people's faith in religion or to reinforce it?
Chew on This
In Blood Meridian, we see that with all the violence and hatred in the world, there's no way God could exist.
Blood Meridian shows us that God probably does exist, but doesn't care about us or our problems all that much.