In American culture, the West is represented as a vast wilderness dominated by humanity. The idea of ​​the frontier began with the Puritans in the 1600s as a home of evil, a godless land to be reclaimed by a higher power, but later grew to become a place of rebirth and freedom. This image ultimately drove the country's westward expansion, with the primary motivation being religious. Supporters of the Western movement argued that humanity's destiny was to conquer the West – seen as a promised land – and its unknown territories. Doug Williams' "Pilgrims and the Promised Land: A Genealogy of the Western" argues that the core of the Western genre was born from this belief. The typical Western, whose themes can be traced back to Puritan principles and expansionist ideals, features protagonists defeating villains who represent evil in nature. This hero roams the frontier freely and is a guardian of those who are terrorized by its villains. In typical Western media, the defeat of the villain is synonymous with a landscape becoming tamed and civilized. The protagonist, with his abilities and virtues apparently given to him by God, is destined to conquer nature and everything that refuses to bend to his righteous will. The protagonist's inevitable victory is representative of the country's beliefs about expansion, the idea that as a superior society America will naturally colonize the West. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The western novel Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy challenges this theme by presenting nature as indomitable. Rather than simply using the land as a setting, McCarthy describes it in such detail that it dwarfs the characters and their conflicts. The landscape seems to have a will of its own, making even the most powerful characters seem tiny in comparison. The book also questions the fundamental religious nuances of most Westerners. There are no puritanical ideals guiding the main characters; those who pursue a religious path, like the priests in the novel, are deemed unfit to survive the frontier. The religious connotations of this "promised land" have been stripped away, and the characters attempt to conquer it as a new god. However, the characters' attempts at domination are ultimately thwarted by the forces of nature. Although they are expected to “win” like classical Western heroes, their failure demonstrates the fact that no one is simply destined to reclaim the land. Through its powerful depiction of landscape and negative portrayal of religion, Blood Meridian acts as a revisionist novel by challenging two of the core values ​​of the Western. While in classic Westerns the landscape is a mere prop over which the characters rule, Blood Meridian is an overwhelming presence. As people move westward in the novel, nature becomes more violent. In one scene the main group sees a dust pipe that has sent “pilgrims borne aloft like dervishes into those senseless coils to be dropped broken and bleeding […] like some drunken djinn” (McCarthy 117). Nature is compared to a djinn, a powerful mythical being, who makes the landscape appear like a god taking revenge against men who try to conquer it. McCarthy gives the landscape a position of superior power to demonstrate humanity's helplessness in its wake. To further emphasize the sense of desolation in the face of nature, McCarthy writes that “the pilgrim who lies with broken bones may cry out […] butanger towards what?” (McCarthy 117). The dying person is powerless against the forces of nature, indeed, he cannot even "scream" against them. He remains voiceless, unable to carry out even the most basic form of protest against the overwhelming presence. The pilgrim may get “angry”, but it is almost useless when the landscape dominates him so completely. McCarthy's nature is not the Western “promised land” described in Williams.essay but is “a place where the devil rules” (Williams 101). Although the sage argues that the West is a place of opportunity, Blood Meridian challenges this by describing it as a dangerous land that dashes all hopes of domination. Even the novel's powerful characters, such as the divine Judge Holden, fail to completely conquer the landscape. In addition to killing the novel's “bad guys,” the natives who represent the wilderness, the Judge attempts domination by gaining knowledge of the entire natural world. He is the character in the novel who comes closest to dominating both man and nature, but ultimately fails to gain the upper hand over the latter. Because of the judge's unique position as a kind of demigod, a being above man but inferior to nature, McCarthy uses him as a tool to counter the core beliefs that drive the West. In his dominion over humanity, the Judge demonstrates that religion has no place on the frontier and that only man has the ability to become master of the earth. However, in his failure to reign over nature, he simultaneously shows that no matter how powerful people become, they will always remain at the mercy of the natural world. McCarthy uses the judge to ridicule religious figures and their beliefs, challenging the idea that nature is meant to be dominated for the right reasons. The idea that God blessed humanity to conquer the West is a common theme in the West. Ideal Western heroes are “personifications of frontier civilization” (Williams 107), people engaged in a noble quest to tame the frontier by introducing Puritan beliefs and social rules. However, the Judge believes that only humanity should become god on earth and that this religious aspect is not necessary. As a god among men, the judge does not believe that a higher religious power exists because he himself has almost achieved it. As a result, he uses his power and influence over others to ridicule religious figures who challenge his beliefs. For example, at the beginning of the novel, the judge accuses a pastor of various crimes, forcing a group of citizens to kill the preacher. Later, the judge admits that his accusations were lies, revealing that he sends out anyone who believes there is a power greater than man. The judge's actions represent the novel's assertion that religious ideals have no place on the frontier, that God's mission to push westward does not exist. While McCarthy uses the judge to challenge the religious ideals that drive expansion in the West, he also uses the character to imply that man can only do so to a certain extent. Towards the end, the judge is found wandering in the desert. He carries “a parasol made from scraps of rotten skin,” wearing “little more than confetti” like “a degenerate entrepreneur fleeing a medicine show” (McCarthy 310). The Judge, known throughout the novel as a god among men, is reduced to nothing more than a "degenerate entrepreneur" in the desert. His description is that of a barbarian, from his parasol made of rotting flesh to his tattered clothes. It's like a conman who "runs away from a medicine show" after deceiving the audience, similar to how the judge cast a deception spell on the other characters. He made the other members believe.