Judge Holden of Blood Meridian
Although Cormac McCarthy's novel Blood Meridian tells the story of the kid and his journey through the harshest of environments, much of the action in the novel centers around Judge Holden. Judge Holden is a mystery from his very first appearance in the novel and remains so until the very end of the novel, when he is one of the few characters surviving. The kid first comes face to face with Holden in a saloon after a riot and eventually joins with Holden and a gang of misfit scalp-hunters to roam the Mexican-American borderlands.
Judge Holden has some historical foundation as a character. The Judge is mentioned in Samuel Chamberlain's My Confession, a personal narrative published in 1956. Chamberlain was a private during the war with Mexico and met Holden when he joined Glanton's gang of renegade scalp-hunters. Chamberlain describes Holden as gigantic and without hair, just as Holden is described by McCarthy (Sepich 125).
One of the most mysterious qualities of Judge Holden is his ability to move from place to place and almost be in two places at once. As Tobin says, "every man in the company claims to have encountered that sootysouled rascal in some other place" (McCarthy 124). Holden's first appearance in the novel is a prime example of his ability to appear in two places simultaneously. The Judge manages to escape from the riot in Reverend Green's tent to a saloon where he is completely dry, even though it is pouring rain outside (7-8). The Judge also mysteriously appears next to the kid at the bar where the dancing bear has just been killed. He looks "little changed or none in all these years" (325). In both of these situations Judge Holden is the cause of the chaos around him. The Judge single-handedly incites the riot on Reverend Green and is the cause of the bear being slaughtered. These events are indicative of the entire novel in that there is constant chaos and violence wherever Judge Holden go es.
Judge Holden's physical appearance seems unbelievable and full of contrast. Holden towers over everyone, yet he seems pre-pubescent because of his total lack of hair and his small hands and feet. Much of the imagery surrounding Judge Holden describes him in child-like terms. The features of the kid and the Judge tend to complement each other.
Throughout the novel Holden resembles characteristics of an adult. An example of Holden being an adult is staying in a hotel by himself, underage and often goes out to drink. He goes to clubs to drink his problems away. In the
Holden struggles with himself mightily and cannot fulfill his responsibilities. One of Holden’s struggles is that he has a bad attitude towards everyone. For example, at the school he goes to, he hates his roommates and his teachers. In addition to not liking anyone, Holden
Holden is an outlier of society, and tries to hide his own weaknesses with his angry thoughts. It is also implied that Holden is enrolled in an institution as he talks about doctor appointments towards the beginning of the book.
Holden is the main character of the book. He is a complicated boy how seems to get thrown out of boarding schools left and right. He is constantly thinking about depressive thoughts of his past, like times he was with his brother, who is dead. His thoughts of his brother bring serious rage for some reason. In one instance he tells about the day after his brothers death, and Holden was filled with such anger and loneliness, he punched through all the glass doors in his garage. This required him to go to the hospital, and unfortunately his stay at the hospital forced him to miss his brothers funeral. He also keeps thinking about his old girl friend Jane. Holden is reminded of past times with her, where her father upset her, and Holden was the only one there to console her. So with that in mind, he thinks he still may have a place with her, and Holden believes that all his happiness will rest with her. Holden is just a guy who is searching for something to get him out of his depression, but he has no idea what it is, and above all how to get it.
As the book ends, McCarthy depicts a final image of a man “naked dancing” to let us know that Judge Holden was never a good man and will never be one. He is a deep layered man who cannot ever be fully analyzed or comprehended. He is involved with many deaths prior but the death of the kid reveals that the judge is a sexual predator. “He’d filled his pockets with little candy deathsheads and he sat by the door and offered these to children passing on the walk under the eaves but they shied away like little horses” (191). This indicates that the judge has always had sexual desires towards children. Now, it is rather clear that the kid is not just killed by a weapon or scalping. Since the beginning, the kid’s fate has always in the judge’s hands, his death does not surprise readers but it makes it clear that the judge is a molester.
that he is trying to hide his true identity. He does not want people to know who he really is or that he was kicked out of his fourth school. Holden is always using fake names and tries speaking in a tone to persuade someone to think a cretin way. He does this when he talks to women. While he is talking to the psychiatrist he explains peoples reactions to his lies like they really believe him, when it is very possible that he is a horrible liar and they are looking at him with a “what are you talking a bout?” expression. Holden often lies to the point where he is lying to him self.
J.D Salinger questions the behavior of young men by making Holden refuse the usual things that society would say he should.It is very apparent that Holden cannot relate to the men around him. The characters in the novel that show the typical characteristics of men of the period. With Stradlater, Holden’s roommate, being the typical handsome teenage guy that takes girls in his to fool around with. Salinger uses this character to further show that Holden is not like the guys his age, perhaps proving that Holden does not have the same sexual drive as the guys around
Part of the irony in Holden’s story is that physically, he looks mature, but mentally, he is still very much a child: “I act quite young for my age, sometimes. I was sixteen then, and I’m seventeen now … I’m six foot two and a half and I have gray hair ” (9). There is no middle ground, adolescence, for Holden. He can only be an adult, physically, or a child, mentally. Holden’s history teacher, Mr. Spencer, tries to appeal to him by using a metaphor: “Life is a game, boy.
A major person that the Beatles has influenced was an artist named Kurt Cobain (widely known as the singer of Nirvana). Another short example of someone that was influenced by the Beatles was Gene Simmons (singer and bassist of KISS). Not only Artists but people were influenced by the words in the Beatles music to start fighting for rights of people. During the Vietnam war John Lennon would talk about how the world should come together and fight for peace. This came up to the song (Imagine) sung by John Lennon. The Beatles had a popular hairstyle that young teen boys got called “Mop-top”. Usually young teens wore this style of hair and it was highly mocked by adults. Clothing they wore eventually became popular to both male and female listeners. An example where the highly known glasses that John Lennon would wear called teashade glasses but are known now from people as “John Lennon glasses”, these glasses were round shaped shades. The influence of The Beatles on the people may seem small but it created a huge effect on fashion now, and on how people view the
... powerful tool as later on we see that these same children had turned in their own parents which signifies that the loyalty between parent and child does not even exist. This is the most powerful tool as it leaves everyone on their own and suspicious if the person next to you will turn you in.
On the train he meets the mother of Ernest Morrow, who Holden hates as well. Disguising himself as the janitor, Holden makes up amy lies about her son and also claims that he is heading to New York to get a brain tumor operation. I am sure Holden lied and disguised himself as the janitor instead of his own self was to make sure no rumors caught on and so that people do not know where he is. This shows that Holden actually isolated himself from school and he wanted to get away from his problems but I feel that the problems will still revolve around him.
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960. The members were John Lennon(guitar, lead vocals), Paul McCartney(bass, vocals), George Harrison(lead guitar), and Ringo Starr(drums). The Beatles are regarded as the most influential act of the rock era. In March 1957, John Lennon, age 16 at the time, formed a small band with some school mates. Paul McCartney, 15, joined as a guitarist. McCartney invited 14 year old George Harrison to watch. After a month of Harrison persisting to join the band, Lennon finally let him. Lennon's friends from school left the band, leaving just Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison. They changed their band name to the Silver Beetles, then the Silver Beatles, and then finally, the Beatles. The Beatles
The Beatles were originally four street bums from Liverpool. They all loved music and work together at music as teenagers. They were a
The band that I chose was The Beatles. The Beatles formed in 1960 in Liverpool, England. The band consisted of four members: John Lennon who was the lead singer and played rhythm guitar, Paul McCartney who played bass guitar, George Harrison who played lead guitar and Ringo Starr who played drums. Lennon was seen as the main songwriter of the group with the help of McCartney. The band came to America in 1964. Although there is only one band member still alive, and it has been over four decades since the band has split up, The Beatles are still known as one of the greatest and most influential names in rock music. Although John Lennon originally formed the group as a skiffle band, the group experimented in many different genres such as hard rock, pop ballads and Indian music. The band’s psychedelic music style and way of life lead them to become the personification of the anti-establishment counterculture of the 1960s.
If a child uses technology too often, then it may change the way that child thinks, and sometimes even the actual wiring of the child 's brain. If a child is using technology too much, they are not giving their brain enough opportunities to use their imagination or to read and really think and grasp the material. Out of the children between the ages of 12 and 17, 95 percent spend their time online. The playing of videos games can lead to distraction and memory loss. Children who use search engines may have a hard time remembering