The Dynamic Between The Judge And The Kid Is Very Reminiscent Of An Abusive Parent And Their Child To

the dynamic between the judge and the kid is very reminiscent of an abusive parent and their child to me, especially when its viewed from the lens of punishment. besides the judge's insistence that he wouldve been like a father to the kid, it can also be interpreted that the judge perceives the kid's rejection of his philosophy and his place in it as a sign of disobedience, and so to "correct" this perceived disobedience the judge chooses to punish the kid harshly, which comes in the form of whatever violent act occurs in the outhouse. the violence committed towards the kid there is the accumulation of the judge's frustration towards his insubordinance in rejecting his place within his ideology, and it functions as the correction of the judge's worldview in eliminating the very element that refutes it. this punishment feels foreshadowed by the jail scene, which introduces the element of accountability in the judge blaming the kid for the yuma massacre and then berating him for his adherence to his morality and his rejection of the judge that comes with it. i think its of note how he focuses on the kid's supposed transgression and places accountability on him for their conflict ("our animosities were formed and waiting before ever we two met. yet even so you could have changed it all") and the frustration that results from it on the judge's end evolves into the fate that awaits the kid in the outhouse, the punishment. it reads as a shafting of accountability from the judge to the kid that goes on to justify what was done to him, a la "you made me do this", similar to how some abusive parents will use some transgression, real or not, to justify the abuse of their child

theres way more to it in my mind and my thoughts be kinda scattered but this is the basic jist of it😇

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