What happens to the kid in the blood meridian what are the hints in the book of the kids fate?

Answer 1

I have heard two ideas put forth. One, which I have yet to find any real truth too, is that Holden lets the kid go. He meets him in the outhouse, "jakes" and hugs him and goes on his own way. There is nothing in the text to suggest that Judge Holden allows the Kid to walk away, unscathed. The second, and probably more accurate idea, is that Holden somehow sexually assaults and then murders (in some extremely vicious manner) the Kid in the outhouse. That being said, I feel there is a strong chance the judge was a pedophile, and it is noted in the same scene that a child has gone missing, the girl who owned the bear who has recently been slain. Men are off looking for the girl. Often times in many of the towns the Glanton gang has riden through a kid will go missing and I have taken this to be that the judge has kidnapped, probably raped, and murderd all the missing children. So, I think when the two men peer into the outhouse at the end, the Judge has done something horrible to the missing girl, and again potentially the Kid. The important thing is that the two men are horrified after seeing what is in the outhouse - after the relentless violence described in brief, albeit extremely graphic detail in the previous 300 pages, McCarthy does not put us through the final act of violene. I hoped the kid made it out, but it is unlikely. The kid stands up to the judge in the end, and his fate is undecided, however it is hinted some atrocity has occured in the outhouse. The variable here is that the girl is missing and maybe the two men simply see here mangled body in the outhouse and not the kid. Who knows, a great read, and as usual an up in the air ending that at the same time feels very complete.