Why do you think Carl was so loyal to Crete?

Do you believe Carl was naive or just blind to Crete's cruelty? Or was it just because of the "Weight of Blood"?

I think if was the weight of blood...I can't imagine any other reason for the loyalty.

I think it started as a family type of loyalty and then their lives just became entangled as Crete manipulated him and made him do his dirty work by making him feel guilty. Once he covered for him one time he was a part of the crimes and could no longer refuse.

Simply because he was his brother - "his blood". By the time he realized Crete was a monster, he felt it was too late to change, therefore the title "The Weight of Blood", literally the weight of his brother.

It was because of the weight of blood. Carl was loyal to Crete because he was his brother. Then the loyalty went even further because Crete took care of Joe Bill Sump so Carl wouldn't get into trouble.

I think because he was his brother he didn't want to turn on him, and he didn't want to believe his brother was capable of doing the evil that he was doing. Family is a hard thing sometimes, you can love someone and hate them at the same time.

Probably because of their family ties at first and then because Crete had a hold on him after the murder of Joe Bill Sump.

The title says it all - The Weight of Blood. I think most families would stand up for each other, but probably not to the extent Carl did. At some point, one has to do the right thing, and Carl, for all his love for Lila, always turned a blind eye to Crete's evil.

The need for "brotherly love" sends Carl into denial about how bad his brother really is. Once Carl has helped Crete get rid of some evidence, and the fact that Crete helped Carl in getting rid of the body of a man he accidentally killed, he couldn't really turn him in without implicating himself.

I agree with the other readers that it was a combination of family ties and guilt that kept him silent.

Blood is thicker than water. His brother always took care of him. He had no reason to doubt him.

We place a premium on the importance of family in our culture, but in the South it is often raised to a biblical mandate. I believe that it is that cultural imperative that initiates Carl's loyalty. These family ties are magnified by the fact that his mother is unable to truly care for him, and so Crete becomes a surrogate. Finally when he becomes even peripherally involved in Crete's crimes he is fully trapped by his guilt and love.

As others have commented, I think it is the family tie. I was a bit bothered that Carl didn't seem to have a clue about what Crete was involved in when Lila came to town.