Louis Toadvine Character Analysis in Blood Meridian

A branded fugitive, Toadvine first appears in Nacogdoches, Texas, where he almost murders the kid after a petty altercation, though they soon become compatriots and burn down a hotel together. The two find themselves in one another’s company again while imprisoned in Chihuahua City along with Grannyrat. Toadvine secures their freedom by enlisting them all in Glanton’s gang of scalp hunters. Toadvine is a somewhat complex character: he is a capricious murderer who goes so far as to kill a prison overseer and macabrely fashion his golden teeth into a necklace, yet he nonetheless violently objects when the Judge plays with, only to slaughter and scalp, an Apache infant. Some time after the Yuma massacre on the Colorado River and its aftermath, Toadvine, along with David Brown, is executed by hanging in Los Angeles.

Louis Toadvine Character Timeline in Blood Meridian

The timeline below shows where the character Louis Toadvine appears in Blood Meridian. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...having spent all of his money on drink. He sees a man, later identified as Louis Toadvine, coming up from the jakes, or outhouse. The kid goes out, and, when the... (full context)

The kid wakes in the hotel to find Toadvine’s branded face looking over him. The two agree to quit fighting. The kid recovers his... (full context)

Toadvine lights some tinder on fire and pushes it under Sidney’s door. Sidney emerges; Toadvine attempts... (full context)

Toadvine and the kid escape into the Texas morning while the hotel continues to burn. Toadvine... (full context)

...kid sees a fellow prisoner walk to a bucket on the floor and urinate—it is Louis Toadvine. (full context)

...work in the city streets gathering up filth. Their overseer is a “goldtoothed pervert” whom Toadvine wants to kill personally. Toadvine assures the kid that they’ll get out of the prison.... (full context)

In the prison, the kid sleeps next to Toadvine and a man from Kentucky called Grannyrat Chambers who had served in the Mexican-American War... (full context)

...for perhaps a century, and attempted to sell the scalps in Durango. At story’s end, Toadvine asks the kid how much money they could get for their prison overseer’s gold teeth. (full context)

...the Judge studies the prisoners while they work. He seems to smile at the kid. Toadvine explains later that night that the Governor of Chihuahua, Angel Trias, is paying Glanton and... (full context)

Three days later, Glanton and his gang, which now includes the kid, Toadvine, and Grannyrat, ride out of Chihuahua, led by Governor Trias. Girls throw flowers to them... (full context)

After a day of riding, the gang makes camp. The narrator explains that Toadvine, the Kid, and Grannyrat are replacements for three scalp hunters who died earlier in the... (full context)

In the morning, the gang sets out. Toadvine becomes friendly with Bathcat, a.k.a. the Vandiemenlander, a fellow fugitive originally from Wales who migrated... (full context)

The gang leaves the square and makes camp in a nearby grove. From there, Toadvine and the kid watch the family of magicians announce their entertainments to the beat of... (full context)

...confidence game with cards, called Monte. Out of the gloom, an old man shuffles toward Toadvine, Bathcat, and the kid. After some linguistic misunderstanding, the old man makes it clear that... (full context)

...of meat and hide remain. They ride on. While stopping for supper, the Judge asks Toadvine what’s become of Grannyrat Chambers—Toadvine says that he’s separated from the gang, and that he... (full context)

...lakebed where they find a dead Apache, half naked and with multiple healed war wounds. Toadvine has shot this man in the chest. The Judge searches the dead man’s warbag and... (full context)

...epic poetry. In the morning, the snakebitten horse is dead, and the sky is clear. Toadvine and the Judge make small talk on the weather. The squatters inform Glanton that they... (full context)

...Judge’s lap one minute, and the next he has killed it and taken its scalp. Toadvine curses the Judge and aims a pistol at his head; the Judge tells him to... (full context)

The day of the massacre comes. Toadvine tells the kid that the Tiguas aren’t bothering anyone, but no one responds. Bathcat notices... (full context)

...and camping on a plain, the gang returns to Chihuahua City, where two soldiers stop Toadvine at the gate and Glanton announces, “I aint got nobody’s teeth.” Two days later, about... (full context)

Toadvine asks the Judge what the purpose of his studies is. The Judge explains that only... (full context)

On Easter of that year, Toadvine and the kid and another gang member, Billy Carr, are going upstream to cut willow... (full context)

On April 2, David Brown, Webster, and Toadvine set out for San Diego to obtain supplies. They arrive without incident five days later.... (full context)

In the plaza, Brown encounters Toadvine and Webster, newly released. The three begin drinking, first on a beach (none of them... (full context)

Days later, after Toadvine and Webster return to the ferry and tell Glanton what befell them, Glanton leaves the... (full context)

Pursued by the Yumas, Toadvine and the kid escape into the desert. The kid has taken an arrow to his... (full context)

...two Americans and begin throwing spears at them and raining down arrows. The kid and Toadvine make a stand, killing one Indian before resuming their trek, pursued by the Indians all... (full context)

At the wells of Alamo Mucho (a lake basin in Baja California), the kid and Toadvine meet up with Tobin. They drop down into one of the wells together to drink... (full context)

...with meat. The two rendezvous with their fellows at the well, where the Judge offers Toadvine $100 for his hat. Toadvine accepts the trade for $125 and slides down the slope... (full context)

...“impartially.” At last, the kid descends with his canteen, which he fills. The kid asks Toadvine if he’ll join him and Tobin on a journey to California, but Toadvine, looking at... (full context)

...“life is forfeit.” The kid neither sells his gun nor shoots the Judge, and, leaving Toadvine, he and Tobin set out west. (full context)

...him; he turns and sees the Judge armed with a rifle on horseback, dressed in Toadvine and Brown’s clothing. The kid draws his pistol and hides, watching as the Judge and... (full context)

...kid apparently did some mercy for the Indians they slaughtered together. The Judge concludes that Toadvine and Brown are in fact alive, “in possession of the fruits of their election.” The... (full context)

...public hanging. Later that evening, he discovers that the men hanged are none other than Toadvine and Davy Brown. (full context)