Drawing a Blank: Illustrating “the kid” in Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian

Abstract

abstract:Cormac McCarthy’s Blood Meridian features a perplexing protagonist, “the kid,” who routinely vanishes from the surface narrative and whose physical description and internal life remain largely hidden. By collaborating with a professional visual artist, the author has produced an illustration of the kid that can help scholars, educators, and students better understand the character’s allegorical role in the novel.