Cormac McCarthy is an American author, born in 1933, who wrote Blood Meridian. Bloom considers this work one of the strongest and most apocalyptic books written in modern times, and he admires these character of the Judge for his vitality and negative sublimity, similar to Ahab's in "Moby Dick". According to Bloom, the Kid's rebellion against the Judge is the foundation for a self that might one day survive the apocalypse the Judge represents.
