Radia Chowdhury

10 October 2015

ANALYSIS OF PASSAGE IN BLOOD MERIDIAN

The passage (Blood Meridian, page 54) describes the first sighting of the band of Comanche

warriors as seen by the Captain and his followers. It is, first and foremost, a visual feast. 

PHRASE IS NOT RFFECTIVE The reader is taken to the frontlines of the herd, and then forced

into the midst of it.

The cattle and mules emerge first – ‘no two alike’- and already one of the characteristics of this

particular herd is made clear- its unpredictability. There is no uniformity to this group, no

discernable pattern. This seems to have had an effect on the sergeant who begins to display signs

of uncertainty and starts to move away from the oncoming masses, as though he knows that this

is not an ordinary and easily conquerable enemy.

The herd is described to be ‘coming through the dust’, deepening the sense of formidability. It is

a visual representation of the most dangerous of enemies, who do not appear immediately and

obviously, but draw out the fear of their emergence.

The attention then shifts from the animals to the actual warriors via the show of ownership-

‘already you could see through the dust on the ponies’ hides the painted chevrons and the hands

and rising suns and birds and fish of every device like the shade of old work through sizing on a

canvas’- reminding us that the animals are merely devices to be used by the true owners.  TRUE

BUT WHAT IS THE POINT? The waiting company has now grown uncomfortable and

confused, more so when the ‘fabled horde of mounted lancers and archers’ reveals itself. The use

of the word ‘fabled’ here underlines the sheer unexpectedness of this sudden enemy. That they
seemed almost mythical- the sort of warriors one might expect to dwell only in books but never

arise as an immediate threat. Their weapons- ‘shields bedight with broken mirror glass that cast a

thousand unpieced suns against against the eyes of their enemies’- are described in a strangely

crude and beautiful way. The broken mirror glass could have, simply put, cast a glare into the

eyes of the warriors’ enemy, but the image of the thousand unpieced suns symbolizes their

strength in a more graceful yet powerful way. The mythical quality of these warriors is continued

with descriptions of their attire- ‘clad in costumes attic or biblical or wardrobed out of a fevered

dream’. The word ‘costumes’ instead of ‘attire’ or ‘clothes’ again suggest a ‘fabled’ essence.

TRUE BUT I AM MISSING THE POINT OF THE NOTATION  PLEASE BE CLEARER

The surreal impression of the warriors starts to get stripped away as the magnitude of the danger

they pose makes itself apparent. The portrayal now takes a feral turn.  BETTER The ‘pieces of

uniform still tracked with the blood of prior owners’ mean that these are not just uniforms but

spoils of battles previously won. The ‘coats of slain dragoons’ and ‘armor of a Spanish

conquistador’ which were ‘deeply dented by men whose very bones were dust’ adds a sense of

history. It tells us that this group of seemingly eccentric misfits are by no means amateurs in

killing and conquering. It leaves to the imagination the hundreds, maybe thousands of others who

have faced and been slain by them. The bizarre ensemble of clothes- cavalry jackets, a stovepipe

hat, an umbrella, white stockings, a wedding veil- seem perversely funny in their randomness,

but are almost a mockery of their fallen enemies, a way of turning tragedy into comedy, turning

violence into entertainment. There is a repetition of some of them being half-naked- a state

which most would normally find more vulnerable but in this case adds to the group’s wild

abandon and gives the feeling that it is a group which is mostly devoid of the feeling of

vulnerability. There are many mentions of their costumes and bodies being adorned with parts
and skins of animals, which serves to blur the lines between man and beast. Because at this point,

these men appear to be closer to beasts than actual men –not just any beasts, but beasts of myth.

YOU PRESENT MORE A LISTING OF THE HAPPENINGS THAN AN ANALYSIS

The final few phrases are obvious in their disgust and fear. The reader is now in the middle of the

herd, surrounded by these untamed creatures. The initial disbelief at their emergence has worn

off, and all that remains is looking them straight in their faces- the ‘gaudy and grotesque’ faces

with ‘daubings like a company of mounted clowns, death hilarious’. The comparisons to clowns

and the phrase ‘death hilarious’ serve their purpose of grotesque and dark comedy (an echo of

the previous perverse humor), BUT HE IS DOING MUCH MORE THAN THATand express

that to them, death is worth not more than a passing laugh. The fear is now at its climax. The

warriors who have transformed from characters of myth, to unsophisticated and eccentric

barbarians are now the ragtag waiting group’s personal hell. They are near, almost upon them,

and ‘clothed in smoke like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing’. In the

immediate moment before the battle ensues, the Comanche warriors are in all finality compared

to demons. The phrase ‘like those vaporous beings in regions beyond right knowing’ give a sense

of fear beyond description. The fact that they are not outright said to be like demons (in fact the

word demon is not mentioned at all), provide a disconnect of identity. The warriors have no

identity. They are fear and madness YES THEY ARE PRESENTED AS SUCH BUT

CURIOUSLY THEY ARE ALSO UNIFIED IN DRESS AND INTENT AND THEREFORE

THEY ARE SOMETHING BESIDE BEING MAD AS IN CRAZY.

"B-"