I just started reading Blood Meridan for the first time and I was kinda shocked to see the casual use of one of the worst slurs in the English language. I’m just wondering if this is a Huckleberry Finn thing and “justified” in some way? Or more like a Pulp Fiction situation where Tarantino seemed to throw it in there just because he could? Because honestly, I know this is close to being a modern-day classic but there are a lot of amazing books out there I’ve not yet read and I don’t know if it’s worth it to pollute my brain like that or just move on to something else.
I thought the book portrayed realistically how those sorts of people were at that time in history. Considering how gritty and raw the depictions of violence to everyone was, it would stick out more to me if the glanton gang and their ilk referred to black people in a historically inaccurate yet pc term.