Blood Meridian

Dances and dancing recur as motifs throughout Blood Meridian. Dancing is used as a form of celebration, often associated with debauchery. When Glanton’s gang returns to the governor’s mansion, for example, its drunken revelry involves a great deal of dancing through the streets. Black Jackson becomes involved in a celebration one evening, and he is pushed onto a stage to dance with the traveling magicians. Even Cloyce’s brother dances without inhibition when he is released from his cage. Dancing in Blood Meridian is done by characters who do not feel constrained, either by social morals, racism, or physical restraints. They dance as an elemental, bodily expression of their freedom and their desire to have fun at any cost.

The character most associated with dancing is Holden, who dances, sings, plays musical instruments, and encourages everyone around him to join him in the dance. As Holden explains to the kid, however, the dance is not necessarily an expression of joy. Instead, Holden views dancing as a symbol of war. He dances as though he is performing a ritual that represents war and violence, insisting that neither the dance, war, nor Holden will ever stop. Holden views dancing as a form of social expression that follows a set order.