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A fictionalized Holden is a central figure in Cormac McCarthy 's novel '' Blood Meridian ''. In the novel, he and Glanton are the leaders of a pack of nomadic criminals who rob, Rape , and kill across the border between Texas and Mexico . He is described as a seven foot tall Albino with absolutely no hair. One study of the novel reports that Holden is "unscrupulous, violent, and more than a little spooky." {Link without Title} . Throughout the novel, he murders scores of people, including children of both sexes. Finding verification of Holden's existence has been a hobby for some Cormac McCarthy scholars. JUDGE HOLDEN IN ''BLOOD MERIDIAN'' As depicted in ''Blood Meridian'', Holden is a homicidal pedophile. Aside from the children he openly kills, he is seen enticing children with sweets, and a child often goes missing from locations when he is in the vicinity. Holden displays an extraordinary range of gifts in the book: preternatural breadth of knowledge and skills - paleontology, archaeology, languages, law, artist, chemist, conjuror, philosopher. The general assumption that Holden is an albino may well be mistaken. His extreme paleness is not a feature of albinos only, and there is no indication that he either has colorless irises, poor eyesight or the extreme sensitivity to sunlight that this normally entails. A slight hint might be that at the well (watering hole) after the ferry slaughter he is insistent upon obtaining Toadvine's hat. He is entirely hairless, not even having eyebrows or eyelashes, very unusual for any human being, even an albino; the trait is common in people with Alopecia Universalis . This strange appearance, as well as Holden's awareness and anticipation of situations, enormous strength, quick reactions, apparent immunity to sleep and aging, and other abilities point to him being something other than human. In 'Blood Meridian' he represents a demon, brujo or some other essence of evil who thoroughly understands the ruthless acts committed. The Judge Holden character delights in misleading, manipulating and setting men against one another, and in complex argument. It is a mystery how Holden obtains all the arms and dress and horses of the tough and wily Toadvine and David Brown. Holden mysteriously appeared at the crucial time before the Apache siege of the volcano. Also, he was the best prepared for the Yuma attack on the ferry (one assumes that the cannon was not normally in his room). He may well have had a hand in Tobin's final disappearance, and the arrest of Toadvine and Brown. He mysteriously knows the details of Tobin's ecclesiastical background. He sketches interesting artifacts and botanizes in his notebooks but habitually destroys at least some of whatever he discovers. Some have argued that McCarthy's Holden is — or at least embodies — a . |
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