This time through I was struck that McCarthy actually pulls his punches in terms of the violence perpetrated by the Kid. The judge speaks to this towards the book’s conclusion: how the Kid alone did not give his heart entire to the terrible mission of Glanton and his mercenaries. Yet, in a book infused terrible violent deeds, McCarthy almost entirely skips over the Kid during the more horrific scenes. Why? Are we meant to think he is any more innocent? If this is McCarthy’s intent what do we make of the judge’s verdict? No one inhabiting the battlefield is free from war.
