Analysis Of Blood Meridian Or The Evening Redness Of The West

On the day of September 11, 1857, an emigrant party camped at Mountain Meadows was brutally killed by the Mormon militia aided by Indians. This essay examines two viewpoints regarding the massacre found in Sally Denton’s “American Massacre” and in “Massacre at Mountain Meadows” by Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley, and Glen M. Turley.

This long sentence emphasizes that John Grady Cole feels like the train - both shaky and “running”, as he does from his own country and past. He is described as having “rode with the sun coppering his face and the red wind blowing out of the west. He turned south...and stood like a man come to the end of something” (5). “End of something” refers to John Grady Cole’s absent desire to remain in America; now that his grandfather is gone, his mother will sell the ranch - as it falls into her possession - meaning he will no longer be able to be a cowboy. The words “red” and “west” echo a negative tone, again portraying that a future in America has vanished for Cole would not want to live. This is exemplified as John “[turns towards the] south” (5) and “stood like a man” (5), showing how he is ready to leave for Mexico. McCarthy employs lugubrious descriptions like “red” (5) and “end of something” (5) as he wants blame to be placed on America for failing John Grady Cole. When John Grady Cole goes to Rawlins the night he decides to leave America, Rawlins asks him, “If I dont go will you go anyways?” (20). He definitively responds, “I'm already gone” (20). Since he is “already gone”, it is perspicuous that his grandfather’s death has greatly affected him and that America offers no opportunity - precisely what McCarthy wants to be seen of the country; he responds in three words, proving that he knows exactly what he wants to

A man and his son travelling alone amidst the ruins of a previously prosperous nation; a young man venturing into a treacherous land to tie up the loose ends in his life; a broken ranch hand that suspects he had a conversation with death: in the most desolate and uncertain environments, the surrounding world can lend a bleak and lifeless perspective to one’s struggle to survive. In lands without accompaniment from other humans, the will to live can be as difficult to muster as shelter for the night or the first meal in days. Cormac McCarthy explores the difficulties of survival under the tension of barren landscapes and youthful inexperience and their effects on the loss of innocence. Gained maturity enables humans to persist and stay hopeful, even in the least hopeful situations. These environments and mindsets play an important role in the messages of three novels by Cormac McCarthy: The Road, The Crossing, and Cities of the Plain.

The father and son conflict is a crucial theme in the nonfiction book Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer. In Jon Krakauer’s book, the main character, Chris McCandless exhibits a lifelong conflict with his father, Walt McCandless. Chris is an erudite, talented, yet stubborn young man. He yearns to leave the typical lifestyle of the upper middle class American family, and after graduating college at Emory, he mysteriously disappears. Walt is a controlling man with a morally unstable past, and his career and money is of more value to him than his family. The theme often appears in the background of the book, representing one of the major motivations for Chris McCandless’ absence. This theme is evident

In Blood Meridian, Cormac McCarthy describes a lawless and godless group of men ordained to cleanse the West of lesser people. This group wanders through the West leaving a trail of slaughtered people in their trail. The emptiness and ruthlessness of their hearts is reflected in the harsh and unforgiving landscape. McCarthy uses reoccurring themes of war, religion, and dance to paint a graphic picture of the savageness of life in the West.

“Indians are like the weather.” With his opening words Vine Deloria Jr. sets up the basis for the rest of his witty yet substantial manifesto, Custer Died for Your Sins. The book, which describes the struggles and misrepresentation of the American Indian people in 1960s American culture, is written in a style that changes from ironic and humorous satire to serious notions, then back again. Through energetic dialogue that engages the reader in a clever and articulate presentation, Deloria advocates the dismissal of old stereotypes and shows a viewpoint that allows the general public to gain a deeper understanding of what it is to be an American Indian.

In the novel, The Road, Cormac McCarthy illustrates the expressions, settings and the actions by various literary devices and the protagonist’s struggle to survive in the civilization full of darkness and inhumanity. The theme between a father and a son is appearing, giving both the characters the role of protagonist. Survival, hope, humanity, the power of the good and bad, the power of religion can be seen throughout the novel in different writing techniques. He symbolizes the end of the civilization or what the world had turned out to be as “The Cannibals”. The novel presents the readers with events that exemplify the events that make unexpected catastrophe so dangerous and violent. The novel reduces all human and natural life to the

In Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson utilizes the idea of a “devil” during a time of when Chicago was prospering to showcase the evil lurking behind the mirage of wealth and beauty. The speaker is a third person omniscient narrator who has known about Burnham and Holmes life Chicago in the late-nineteenth century. The audience is intended for readers who enjoy non-fiction thriller novels or wants to know about the historical event from different viewpoints. The purpose is to entertain the audience but also teach them about the coexistence and balance of “good” and “evil” in one city. The subject is about Chicago during the Columbian Exposition, focusing on the juxtaposition of the lives of Burnham and Holmes. The tone shifts throughout the novel between every other chapter when there is a change in character since they have different thoughts and settings. Larson uses this to emphasize the universal themes of harmonization of polar opposites. He contrasts the two demeanors of Chicago, the white city was Burnham’s fair, also known a dream land. On the other hand, the black city is Holmes’ house of terror.

Native American literature from the Southeastern United States is deeply rooted in the oral traditions of the various tribes that have historically called that region home. While the tribes most integrally associated with the Southeastern U.S. in the American popular mind--the FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES (Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole)--were forcibly relocated to Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma) from their ancestral territories in the American South, descendents of those tribes have created compelling literary works that have kept alive their tribal identities and histories by incorporating traditional themes and narrative elements. While reflecting profound awareness of

Brown mainly relies on historical research while writing the manuscript for “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee”. He studied personal descriptions, historical documents, and town council records to create a historically accurate account on how Americans conquered the West. While writing this book, Brown mainly writes about the events of the “Indian Wars”, which occurred during 1860’s through the 1890’s.

The push west was not always as glorified as many 1950s western movies would portray. Rather, there were complicated politics that often led to the disenfranchisement of the native peoples who lived on the lands the Americans were essentially squatting on. There are a number of stylistic elements embedded within Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton's 1885 work that lead credence to this theme. Using realism and naturalism to show how the social environment of an oppressed people will forever hinder their character development, Amparo Ruiz de Burton exposes the greed and lack of concern in American policy for the native people it was essentially stealing land from.

"Riding The Red"at first glance is a simple narrative with a grandmother telling a story about a wolf, but with further analyzation the two themes of first love and innocent become very clear. The author’s repetition of certain words like blood and dance directs your attention to a deeper meaning hinting and connections to the "Little Red Riding Hood" which reflects back to the underlining message of what happens when a girl grows up.

Cooper's novel deals with the issue of frontier as an area of boundary, change, and turmoil. He addresses not only the geographical frontier but also the boundaries of race and culture. Choose two of the characters in the book, and discuss whether contact with the frontier caused each one to grow and change or whether they resisted change. How did their choices reflect the values of American Romanticism?

Cormac McCarthy’s novel, No Country for Old Men, enlightens the life of Llewellyn Moss, a welder and Vietnam veteran, who happens to stumble upon several murdered bodies, a sufficient supply of cocaine, and two million dollars of cartel drug money. Moss decides to seize the money and consequently sets off a chase for his life against the old hand sheriff Ed Tom Bell and hired psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh. However, McCarthy essentially exploits Moss’ and Chigurh’s escapade only as a subplot and ultimately conveys a deeper meaning. The novelist heavily relies on Bell’s failure to reconcile his morals of the approach crime used to take years before. Through analyzing the characters, moral relativism, and

It is easy to see that current events and issues of the world around them have had an impact on authors and what they have written from the stories in this time period. The Native American authors wrote stories describing life during and after white man came to America. We read Oratory’s by two Native American’s COCHISE and CHARLOT. They gave heart-wrenching speeches, giving great details into the history of the tribes and the devastating effect the white man had on them. Author Zitkala Sa gave us a powerful interpretation of her life as a Indian and how the white’s coming to America affected her life.