He said that men believe the blood of the slain to be of no consequence but that the wolf knows better. He said that the wolf is a being of great order and that it knows what men do not: that there is no order in this world save that which death has put there.
The quote emphasizes a contrast between human perception and the instinctual understanding of the wolf. It suggests that while humans might disregard the significance of the bloodshed and loss of life, wolves possess an intrinsic knowledge of mortality and its implications. The wolf represents a more profound awareness of the natural order shaped by death.
This idea underlines a key theme in Cormac McCarthy's "The Crossing," where the brutal realities of life and death dictate the world’s structure. Unlike humans, who often live with illusions of control and significance, the wolf recognizes that true order is established through the inevitability of death, highlighting the starkness of survival in the natural world.
