Den sardoniska rättskiparen som våldsprincip
En etisk karaktärsstudie av domare Holden i Cormac McCarthys Blodets meridian
This paper analyses the character judge Holden in Cormac McCarthys novel Blood Meridian through an ethical perspective. The author uses several methods to analyze the character ethically, such as the western-genre, McCarthys authorship, evil as an ethical term and Friedrich Nietzsche's theory the Übermensch. The author then uses a selective group of scenes and chapters from the novel to highlighting the distinctive ethical characteristic of judge Holden. The author finds judge Holden to be the very principle of violence and blood shedding, defending and distributing these principles in his words and his actions throughout the novel. Triumphantly proclaiming his victory, judge Holden embodies the principle that whoever has the power to perform any action has then the moral right to do so.