---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When the flames came up her eyes burned…"
description: "\"“When the flames came up her eyes burned out there like gatelamps to another world. A world burning on the shore of an unknowable void. A world constru..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/cormac-mccarthy-181_another-world_when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned_138639.jpg"
---

#  When the flames came up her eyes burned out there like…

![“When the flames came up her eyes burned out there like gatelamps to another world. A world burning on the shore of an unknowable void. A world construed out of blood and blood's alcahest and blood in its core and in its integument because it was nothing save blood had power to resonate against…” quote by Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/cormac-mccarthy-181_another-world_when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned_138639.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/cormac-mccarthy-181_another-world_when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned_138639.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/cormac-mccarthy-181_another-world_when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned_138639.jpg)

> ““When the flames came up her eyes burned out there like gatelamps to another world. A world burning on the shore of an unknowable void. A world construed out of blood and blood's alcahest and blood in its core and in its integument because it was nothing save blood had power to resonate against that void which threatened hourly to devour it. He wrapped himself in the blanket and watched her. When those eyes and the nation to which they stood witness were gone at last with their dignity back into their origins there would perhaps be other fires and other witnesses and other worlds otherwise beheld. But they would not be this one.””

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

A vivid, apocalyptic vision where blood symbolizes power against void, ending with a fleeting witness.

**In simple terms:** Blood represents power in a void, ending in loss of witness.

Key Takeaway

Recognize the fleeting nature of power and witness.

Themes

apocalypse power void witness

Mood

dark poetic

Type

philosophical literary

When to use this quote

- literary analysis
- philosophical reflection
- artistic interpretation

Key Concepts

blood symbolism existential dread

Questions to Reflect On

- What does the blood metaphor signify?
- How does the loss of witness affect meaning?

A Different Perspective

May be too abstract for some readers.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Another world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-world/)

## Related quotes

> [“Boxes We built walls of cardboard thinking they would keep us safe. And they did. Until the flames came.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolee-dean/boxes-we-built-walls-of-cardboard-thinking-they-would-keep-us-safe/)

[Carolee Dean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolee-dean/)

> [World In Flames' is pretty powerful to me, it's about waking up in the middle of the night, the whole world has ignited into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-brink/world-in-flames-is-pretty-powerful-to-me-it-s-about-waking-up-in-the/)

[Maria Brink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-brink/)

> [His eyes burned violet - not with anger but with intense desire. The kind of look that made you love a person so much,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-kate/his-eyes-burned-violet-not-with-anger-but-with-intense-desire-the/)

[Lauren Kate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-kate/)

> [Her eyes burned, her muscles ached, but in some strange and secret place, she was happy to finally be doing something that wasn't just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-caine/her-eyes-burned-her-muscles-ached-but-in-some-strange-and-secret/)

[Rachel Caine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-caine/)

> [“How is there laughter, how is there joy, as this world is always burning?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/how-is-there-laughter-how-is-there-joy-as-this-world-is-always-burning/)

[Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/)

> [''I choose to shut myself off from this world because I can see it is burning.'' ''Because I know the truth of why it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-limn/i-choose-to-shut-myself-off-from-this-world-because-i-can-see-it-is/)

[Jeremy Limn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-limn/)

> [Maybe all you can do, when your world is burning, is hold on to the thing you love the most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pearce/maybe-all-you-can-do-when-your-world-is-burning-is-hold-on-to-the/)

[Jackson Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pearce/)

> [Why the goverments of world are not serious for the burning problem of global warming? I think because most of the people of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/why-the-goverments-of-world-are-not-serious-for-the-burning-problem/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [A most burning question of time, though. It burns in every nook and cranny of the ethnological world, burning, bright, brightly, in the fullest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-bastian/a-most-burning-question-of-time-though-it-burns-in-every-nook-and/)

Adolf Bastian

> [“Yes. They're bringing in books from all over the world and burning them here.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-suke-natsukawa/yes-they-re-bringing-in-books-from-all-over-the-world-and-burning/)

Sōsuke Natsukawa

> [“The world is burning, and yet the firelight illuminates the way out. The times are dire, even catastrophic. Nonetheless we can sense a grand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-klaas/the-world-is-burning-and-yet-the-firelight-illuminates-the-way-out/)

Brian Klaas

> [“His eyes burned with intensity. I wondered briefly if someone he knew was being held in that cold room that smelled like death. Someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaye-wells/his-eyes-burned-with-intensity-i-wondered-briefly-if-someone-he-knew/)

[Jaye Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaye-wells/)

> [“The divorce papers remained unopened in the crisp yellow envelope. He had thrown it on his desk without a backward glance. Between his lashes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzan-battah/the-divorce-papers-remained-unopened-in-the-crisp-yellow-envelope-he/)

[Suzan Battah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzan-battah/)

> [“Now and then a pair of eyes would burn at us out of the dark ahead. I knew that they were the eyes of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-penn-warren/now-and-then-a-pair-of-eyes-would-burn-at-us-out-of-the-dark-ahead-i/)

[Robert Penn Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-penn-warren/)

> [“Better to go out to see the world one time with his own eyes, than to be burned alive with the plastic curtains.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-howey/better-to-go-out-to-see-the-world-one-time-with-his-own-eyes-than-to/)

[Hugh Howey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-howey/)

## More by Cormac McCarthy

> [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“The events of the world can have no separate life from the world. And yet the world itself can have no temporal view of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-events-of-the-world-can-have-no-separate-life-from-the-world-and/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“I had two dreams about him after he died. I dont remember the first one all that well but it was about meetin him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/i-had-two-dreams-about-him-after-he-died-i-dont-remember-the-first/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“You think people was meaner then than they are now? the deputy said. The old man was looking out at the flooded town. No,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-think-people-was-meaner-then-than-they-are-now-the-deputy-said/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“They set forth in a crimson dawn where sky and earth closed in a razorous plane. Out there dark little archipelagos of cloud and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-set-forth-in-a-crimson-dawn-where-sky-and-earth-closed-in-a/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“Nothing. Where all was burnt to ash before them no fires were to be had and the nights were long and dark and cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/nothing-where-all-was-burnt-to-ash-before-them-no-fires-were-to-be/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [He said that whether a man's life was writ in a book someplace or whether it took its form day by day was one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-said-that-whether-a-man-s-life-was-writ-in-a-book-someplace-or/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“He lives in a room above a courtyard behind a tavern and he comes down at night like some fairybook beast to fight with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/he-lives-in-a-room-above-a-courtyard-behind-a-tavern-and-he-comes/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“Ultimo hombre. Last man standing, must've been one. Where'd he go?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/ultimo-hombre-last-man-standing-must-ve-been-one-where-d-he-go/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/to-seek-out-the-upright-no-fall-but-preceded-by-a-declination-he-took/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“They went through the last of the cars and then walked up the track to the locomotive and climbed up to the catwalk. Rust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/they-went-through-the-last-of-the-cars-and-then-walked-up-the-track/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“Night fell upon them dark and starblown and the wagon grew swollen near mute with dew. On their chairs in such black immobility these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/night-fell-upon-them-dark-and-starblown-and-the-wagon-grew-swollen/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“When I was in school I studied biology. I learned that in making their experiments scientists will take some group - bacteria, mice, people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-i-was-in-school-i-studied-biology-i-learned-that-in-making-their/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [ “We none of us knew him to speak \[Dutch\]. Asked him where he'd learned it you know what he said? What did he say.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/we-none-of-us-knew-him-to-speak-dutch-asked-him-where-he-d-learned-it/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [“You know that the things you put it your head stay there, right?' 'Yeah. But you remember some things, don't you?' 'Yeah. You remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/you-know-that-the-things-you-put-it-your-head-stay-there-right-yeah/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

[Explore all 927 Cormac McCarthy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

## More Another world quotes

> [I identify with Superman. I am adopted, I am an only child, and I love the idea that he comes from another world, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-singer/i-identify-with-superman-i-am-adopted-i-am-an-only-child-and-i-love/)

[Bryan Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-singer/)

> [Every time you touch me I stop breathing, that's why I never have much to say. Every time I see you, my heart skips…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/every-time-you-touch-me-i-stop-breathing-that-s-why-i-never-have-much/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [I had never done anything with blue screen before, or prosthetics, or anything like that. Lord of the Rings was like stepping into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cate-blanchett/i-had-never-done-anything-with-blue-screen-before-or-prosthetics-or/)

[Cate Blanchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cate-blanchett/)

> [Remove from the history of the past all those actions which have either sprung directly from the religious nature of man, or been modified…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hopkins/remove-from-the-history-of-the-past-all-those-actions-which-have/)

[Mark Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hopkins/)

> [“Here, in the garden at night, it is another world, strange and yet friendly and familiar, never frightening. There is such quietness, such sweetness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-hill/here-in-the-garden-at-night-it-is-another-world-strange-and-yet/)

[Susan Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-hill/)

> [“A novel is not an allegory...it is a sensual experience of another world. If you don't enter that world, hold your breath with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/a-novel-is-not-an-allegory-it-is-a-sensual-experience-of-another/)

[Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/)

> [To try to really land a spacecraft really on another world is really difficult, and if we lose that ability, it's going to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-nye/to-try-to-really-land-a-spacecraft-really-on-another-world-is-really/)

[Bill Nye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-nye/)

> [“Story is a butterfly whose wings transport us to another world where we receive gifts that change who we are and who we want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harley-king/story-is-a-butterfly-whose-wings-transport-us-to-another-world-where/)

[Harley King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harley-king/)

> [“And it was then that the things I've never liked to talk about began. Not that they were particularly terrible; I've no wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-it-was-then-that-the-things-i-ve-never-liked-to-talk-about-began/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [The young man knows that he is irretrievably lost. This is no town of cats, he finally realizes. It is the place where he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/haruki-murakami/the-young-man-knows-that-he-is-irretrievably-lost-this-is-no-town-of/)

[Haruki Murakami](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/haruki-murakami/)

> [ \[The Utopia of Rules\] should offer a challenge to us all. Should we just accept this bureaucracy as inevitable? Or is there a way… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-tett/the-utopia-of-rules-should-offer-a-challenge-to-us-all-should-we-just/)

[Gillian Tett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-tett/)

> [We are here to make another world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-edwards-deming/we-are-here-to-make-another-world/)

[W. Edwards Deming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-edwards-deming/)

> [“How often since then has she wondered what might have happened if she'd tried to remain with him; if she’d returned Richard's kiss on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-cunningham/how-often-since-then-has-she-wondered-what-might-have-happened-if-she/)

[Michael Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-cunningham/)

> [“There is another world and it is in this one. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-eluard/there-is-another-world-and-it-is-in-this-one/)

[Paul Éluard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-eluard/)

> [“One late-autumn day I opened the back door to fetch some water, and there was a young hare sat on my back step. Save…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-ansell/one-late-autumn-day-i-opened-the-back-door-to-fetch-some-water-and/)

Neil Ansell

[Browse all 707 Another world quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/another-world/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“When the flames came up her eyes burned out there like gatelamps to another world. A world burning on the shore of an unknowable void. A world construed out of blood and blood's alcahest and blood in its core and in its integument because it was nothing save blood had power to resonate against that void which threatened hourly to devour it. He wrapped himself in the blanket and watched her. When those eyes and the nation to which they stood witness were gone at last with their dignity back into their origins there would perhaps be other fires and other witnesses and other worlds otherwise beheld. But they would not be this one.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Cormac McCarthy"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned-out-there-like-gatelamps-to/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Another world"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned-out-there-like-gatelamps-to/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/cormac-mccarthy-181_another-world_when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned_138639.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/cormac-mccarthy-181_another-world_when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned_138639.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/995/cormac-mccarthy-181_another-world_when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned_138639.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“When the flames came up her eyes burned out there like gatelamps to another world. A world burning on the…” — Cormac McCarthy",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Cormac McCarthy",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“When the flames came up her...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned-out-there-like-gatelamps-to/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/when-the-flames-came-up-her-eyes-burned-out-there-like-gatelamps-to/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
