They laid up in the shade of a rock shelf until past noon, scratching out a place in the gray lava dust to sleep, and they set forth in the afternoon down the valley following the war trail and they were very small and they moved very slowly in the immensity of that landscape.Come evening they hove toward the rimrock again and Sproule pointed out a dark stain on the face of the barren cliff. It looked like the black from old fires. The kid shielded his eyes. The scalloped canyon walls rippled in the heat like drapery folds.
In the excerpt from Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian," the characters find refuge from the heat beneath a rock shelf, using the gray lava dust as a makeshift resting place. As they continue their journey down the valley on a worn trail, their smallness and slow pace emphasize the vastness of the surrounding landscape. This setting not only creates a sense of isolation but also highlights the challenges they face in this harsh environment.
As evening approaches, they return toward the rimrock, where Sproule notices a dark stain on the cliff face, suggesting remnants of past fires. The kid squints at the landscape, noting how the canyon walls shimmer in the heat. This vivid imagery enhances the scene, capturing the intense and unforgiving nature of their surroundings, which profoundly affects their experience and underscores the themes of survival and struggle in the novel.
