I recently finished Blood Meridian and picked up Heart of Darkness from my local library for my next read. Just finished that, and I noticed a lot of similarities between the characters. Both great, charismatic orators. Both greedy and ruthless. Both solitary wanderers who surround themselves with acolytes when it suits their needs, collecting trophies they have no use or want for aside from profit. Both empty to the core and without moral compass.
There are distinct differences, mainly that the Judge seems to be immortal, maybe even demonic, and Kurtz is just nuts and dies.
There are also a lot of themes in common between the two works. A powerful, advanced state having their way with the people and resources of less advanced civilization and the lawless, inhumane ruin that goes along with it.
I know Blood Meridian is based loosely on actual events, as was Heart of Darkness, but I get the feeling McCarthy, at the very least, took some inspiration from it, if not used it as a basis for some of the themes and characters.
Am I just tripping, or does anyone else who has read both see the connections here? Is it just because I read them back to back?