“And now, four centuries after the discovery of America, at the end of a hundred years of life under the Constitution, the frontier has gone, and with its going has closed the first period of American history…” (Source 1). The Wild West played a significant role in the formation of the United States, not only socially but also culturally. The story of the Wild West began during the period of American manifest destiny. Manifest destiny is the idea that God desired Americans to venture out West and occupy a new land. In the process of moving from the East to the West, many white settlers took land away from Native Americans and eradicated their customs, traditions, and culture. The story of the Wild West is illustrated through film and written words as a land that defies the laws and structured life of the East. In film and visuals, this depiction of the countryside includes violent shootouts, vast imagery of the land, and racism toward Native Americans. Notably, a recurring topic and major identifier of the genre presented by authors in all of these stories is the West is the land of opportunity and freedom. These themes are prevalent in Cormac McCarthy’s novel, Blood Meridian. This novel is a story of the Kid, a teenage boy, coming of age during the Wild West. This dark story shows the inevitability of the lawlessness and violence in human nature through the brutal reality of the West. On the Kid’s journey, he encounters Judge Holden, who is a consistent character who acts as the personification of Gnosticism. The Kid eventually dies a dishonorable death while the Judge continues to live forever, gaining the power of knowledge. Cormac McCarthy’s novel, Blood Meridian, and other stories depicting the Wild West in the 1920s create the zeitgeist of the West, specifically as a place that obeys the American ideals of opportunity and individualist freedoms for exclusively white males. 

Many compositions of literature represent the West as the land of opportunity, not only for knowledge but also for power. In “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”, Frederick Turner describes this opportunity; “So as long as free land exists, the opportunity for a competency exists… opportunity, a gate of escape from the bondage of the past” (Source 1). In this quote, Turner is describing the opportunity for knowledge, or competency. Additionally, the open landscape with few established values gives way to the opportunity to select and create one’s system of value and create new normalities. The phrase “a gate of escape from the bondage of the past” demonstrates the new era of culture that the Wild West represents in American history, These two desires for knowledge and power are expressed through the character of the Judge in Blood Meridian; “A man seeks his destiny and no other…for each man’s destiny is as large as the world he inhabits and contains within it…” (McCarthy 344). The Judge describes how he has created his faith, by gaining knowledge of the world around him. Because the Judge attempts to seek ultimate power, “a man seeks his destiny”, he kills anything he encounters. This act ensures that the Judge is the only one to gain that knowledge, therefore having power that no one else can obtain. Within the Wild West, knowledge acts as power and status because of the immensity of the landscape, hence “man’s destiny is as large as the world he inhabits”. In Source 5, D. H. Lawerence describes the sacrifice of this power; “You have to kill a thing to know it satisfactorily, “ (Source 5). Similarly to the Judge’s ideology, Lawrence describes that the gift of knowledge comes with a sacrifice in the phrase “you have to kill a thing”, whether it be to the full extent of death or not. The West is seen as a catalyst for opportunity, especially in the sense of gaining power in the social hierarchy. Because the Wild West acts as a land without laws and the social norms of the East, it unveils the possibility for someone to take advantage of the opportunity, mostly new knowledge. Any means of gaining this power is acceptable, inducing a violence-driven lifestyle. Therefore, this vast environment nurtures a need for power through knowledge. 

Due to its vast landscape and lawlessness, the West is seen as a land of freedom, but more specifically individualistic freedom. Source 1 illustrates the values of the West; “the frontier is productive of individualism…But democracy born of free land, strong in selfishness and individualism…that dominant individualism working for good and for evil…pressing individual liberty beyond its proper bound” (Source 1). By using the word choice of “productive” the author says that the Wild West feeds off of this selfish view, and to survive in the West, one has to be individualistic. Further, the author shows how the Wild West fosters an every man for himself ideology. When describing the characteristics of naturalism, Source 3 mentions this idea; “The ‘brute within’ each individual, composed of strong and often warring emotions: passions such as lust, greed, or the desire for dominance or pleasure,” (Source 3). The author shows the power and strength that each individual person is capable of by using the words “warring emotions”. Additionally, by using animalistic words such as “brute”, the author creates a comparison between humans and the natural world around them, therefore depicting characters of the West as individual and rugged. In Blood Merdian, violence is often seen as status; “The bravest bunch of men under fire I believe I ever saw. I suppose more men from Tennesse bled and died on the field…” (35). He is creating a generalization of people from Tennessee and holding them to a higher standard due to their achievements in violence. Therefore, the author of Source 3 describes that nature brings out this freedom by using “warring” and “desire for dominance”. In Source 9, the analysis of the ending scene in Blood Merdian shows a specific example of the Judge’s freedom; “The judge may go on dancing, but the rest of us are left to clean up the mess and mourn the dead” (Source 9). While the Judge achieved his goals of deciding his fate through acts of violence and curiosity, by using the phrase “the rest of us are left to clean up the mess” the author shows that this freedom is individual, and was at the expense of others. The depiction of the Judge dancing as a metaphor portrays the strength and amusement the Judge feels during the moment, and these emotions associated with dancing mirror the feelings of freedom. To gain freedom in the West, one often has to hurt others, creating a culture of individuality. Freedom for oneself is gained through violence because of lust and greed fostered by the competitive lifestyle and daring, masculine standards of men. 

During the era of the Wild West, many people embraced the sense of nationalism, especially through the glorification and misinterpretation of American ideals. The environment of the West, not only physical but also cultural, fostered a sense of opportunity and individualist freedom to gain power. Due to societal normalities during this time, this was achieved through violence and at the expense of others. The West is a story of morphing American values to justify actions. Although, this power was biased toward white males at the time. In Blood Meridian, Women were nonexistent and did not play a role in society. Native Americans were used as a tool to further the story and act as antagonists. The West was catered toward the glorification of white supremacy. In a letter by Chief Seattle of the Duwamish Tribe in Washington, he describes the native continental vision of the Westerners; “We know that white man does not understand our ways…for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs;” (Source 6). Chief Seattle is describing the exploitation of the land by using the phrase “whatever he needs”. He also recognizes the difference in values between the Native Americans and the Westerners. In another speech by Chief Seattle, he states, “Your God loves your people and hates mine” (Source 7). This statement shows the belittlement of their culture and the obstacles that Native Americans face in daily life. Additionally, he continuously restates the phrase “I am a savage”, this emphasizes the animalistic and violent connotation associated with Native Americans as seen by the westerners. In films and stories of the West, the vibrant culture of Native Americans has been narrowed down and oversimplified. This depiction leaves single biases toward Native Americans and the characterization of violent, unintelligent, and savage people. Due to this characterization and the culture of the West fostered toward white male views, Native Americans do not hold the same opportunity for knowledge and freedoms that others are exposed to in this environment. Opportunity and individual freedom can lead to a powerful change in the culture of a community, but can ultimately damage others as it leads to megalomania apart from those yielding the power. 

Work Cited 

“Characteristics of Naturalism (Literary Movement beginning in mid to late 19th century)”. 19th century. Accessed Mar. 4, 2024.

Chief Seattle. 1855. Accessed Mar. 4, 2024. 

Chief Seattle. “Chief Seattle’s Speech”. The Nomadic Spirit. Version 1. 1854. Accessed Mar. 4, 2024. 

Lawrence, D. H. Accessed Mar. 4, 2024.

MacCarthy, Cormac. Blood Meridian. 1995. Accessed Feb. 1, 2024. 

Turner, Frederick. “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”. 1893. Accessed Mar. 4, 2024.

“‘What Happens to Country’ in Blood Meridian”. Rocky Mountain Review. 2006. Accessed Mar. 4, 2024.