While riding out of Nacogdoches, the kid comes upon a hovel belonging to the hermit, a man both filthy and half mad. The hermit accommodates the kid and his mule, going so far as to provide the kid with shelter during a stormy night. The hermit was once a slaver in Mississippi who keeps as a memento of those days a dried and blackened human heart. He tells the kid that whiskey, women, money, and black people have the power to destroy the world, and prophecies that human beings will create an evil that can sustain itself for a thousand years.
The hermit Quotes in Blood Meridian
The Blood Meridian quotes below are all either spoken by The hermit or refer to The hermit. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Blood Meridian LitChart as a printable PDF.
The hermit Quotes in Blood Meridian
The Blood Meridian quotes below are all either spoken by The hermit or refer to The hermit. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 2
Quotes
You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow. A creature that can do anything. Make a machine. And a machine to make the machine. And evil that can run itself a thousand years, no need to tend it.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
