Culla Holme is one of the novel’s two protagonists. There is almost no physical description of Culla; instead, McCarthy’s characterization focuses on Culla’s guilt and his violent, deviant impulses, symbolized both by his shadow and by the trio. Culla never escapes his guilt or these impulses: He begins the story fleeing responsibility for his crimes, and he ends the story doing the same, having covered endless ground in the interim. Culla’s character arc is a circle.

Culla often appears in shadow and is described as being chained to his own shadow. While Culla is spurned for the darkness that swathes him, Rinthy is welcomed for the light that surrounds her. When Rinthy goes into labor, Culla’s shadow appears as a sinful stain on his soul: “the man’s shadow pooled at his feet, a dark stain in which he stood” (13). Culla’s guilt follows him in the form of his shadow, condemning him to struggle futilely to escape it. In Preston Flats, he appears “manacled to a shadow that struggled grossly in the dust” (124). Culla’s guilt differentiates him from the trio, which personifies the shadowy parts of his psyche. Unlike the trio, which embraces its malevolence, Culla pretends such violence isn’t in his nature.