In Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West", there is a profound sense of loss and disconnection portrayed through the child's experience. The child, fathered by a man who refuses to mention the deceased mother, is enveloped in a solitude that leaves him unaware of important familial ties, including a sister he will never encounter again. This environment of abandonment shapes his identity and affects his development.

The passage highlights the bleakness of the child's existence, compounded by his inability to engage with the world through literacy. There is a growing inclination toward violence within him, which reflects a deeper narrative of history and fate intertwined with his lineage. The imagery evokes a sense of inevitability, suggesting that the darkness of his upbringing foreshadows his future as a man shaped by cyclical despair and brutality.