In The Road, Cormac McCarthy employs different aspects of time within the first section. The main character has a few flashbacks, and the characters reference the difficulty of keeping time in their lives. The main character flashes back in remembrance of an past girlfriend or wife before the world turned into what it has become in the novel: "He could remember everything of her save her scent" (18). Memories of both the woman and the house he grew up in seem to give the man some type of help to keep working hard to keep the boy and himself alive. Also the characters struggle to keep track of time. Early on the man "thought the month was October but he wasnt sure" (4). Then later in the section, "late in the year. He hardly knew the month" (29). The characters' struggle with time seems to contribute to their sense of hopelessness they feel in their barren, cold world.
In Cormac McCarthy's The Road, dismal descriptive language stands out in repetition through nearly every landscape mentioned. While excessive use of words like dark, ash, and gray emphasize the barren environment, they also help to characterize the father. Within the first few pages the lake is described as "black and ageless" (1), and the meadows and trees "stark and gray" (2). McCarthy presents the same kind of diction in the father's flashback to his childhood. The trees at that time were still "gray and weathered," lining a lake that looked like "dark glass" with a noteworthy dead fish floating along the shore (4). Though he may not have always had such a bleak outlook, the new world tainted even his fondest memory as a child with death. The reader can feel the man's hopelessness in his questions of god and replies to his son, as well as the adjectives used in both the past and present.
Insightful observation Drew--this novel is about the role of memory as much as it is about the relationship between the father and son. The impact of the present physical world on their abstract internal thought & memories is worth following through the novel.
I agree with the use and meaning behind the lengthy sentences in The Road. The most common and apparent method of creating these long sentences comes from the overuse of conjunctions such as "and", "or", and "but" without the necessary punctuation. "He pulled the blue plastic tarp off of him and folded it and carried it out to the grocery cart and packed it and came back with their plates and some cornmeal cakes in a plastic bag and a plastic bottle of syrup" (5). In these sentences, McCarthy combines multiple ideas into a never-ending list. These sentences could also symbolize and be meant to give the reader a mood similar to the characters, a mood of constant anticipation and uneasiness.
Within the first section of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the narrator uses both religious diction and God references. The main use seems to connect the boy to a godly or savior-like figure from the perspective of the man. "He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke" (5). Immediately in the novel, the narrator establishes this Godly symbol of the child in the eyes of the man. Than later on in the novel, the extent of the child's meaning is expresses even further: "That the boy was all that stood between him and death" (29). Obviously the literal meaning is that without the boy the man would have no reason to keep moving forward and surviving. But also it seems the boy is being directly compared to a Christ-like symbol for the man, that the boy is his "savior".
I agree with your statements regarding McCarthy's word choice in that it paints the scene of the desolate world this story is placed in. The descriptions reflect how difficult living in such a barren wasteland of a world can be. The descriptions used as the subject scans the valley before him adds more to the tone of the story by furthering the emptiness of the world and how lonely the planet has become.
The structure of McCarthy's sentences add to the state of the world in the novel. With the destruction of once beautiful and luscious areas now come simple and decayed woodlands, fields, etc. the sentence structure adds to the simplicity of the world. The use of longer sentences also add to how the characters can become lost in thoughts or actions due to the lack of movement and action in the barren world. The bleakness in the word choice and thoughts of the characters furthers the scene of the novel with the continued motif of bleakness and desolation.
Week 2 In The Road, Cormac McCarthy uses the two main characters to represent people's strife for morality and goodness even in desperate times. After their dangerous and risky escape from the house with naked people locked in the basement, the boy wonders why they did not help the people: "They're going to eat them, arent they? Yes. And we couldt help them because then they'd eat us too. Yes. And that's why we couldnt help them. Yes. Okay" (127). The boy is very concerned for the people, but at the same time him and the man seem more concerned with knowing they do the right things. The boy asks the man twice if that's why they couldn't help the people just for the reassurance, and he gives the same response both times. Within this section, as the characters encounter more people, they begin to concern themselves more and more with who the good and bad people are. The boy needs more reassurance to affirm their actions: "We wouldnt ever eat anybody, would we? No. Of course not...Because we're the good guys. Yes" (128-129). Both characters feel a sense of security when told what they are doing is the right and good thing.
The topic of suicide has been slowly introduced to the audience. The first mentioning comes with "Can you do it? When the time comes? Can you?" (29). His conscious is almost motivating him to fulfill his plan. But this difficult thing he must do could be referring to two different scenarios: either that both of them need to commit suicide if in danger or that if the boy can't do it himself, the Man must kill the boy to rid of future dangers. There's also difficulty with this plan. The Man only has one bullet left for his gun. "A single round left in the revolver. You will not face the truth. You will not" (68). The reason why he is so scared to take any risks stems from having almost no ammunition. He is dreading the situation that could come along where he needs to use the bullet to maim or kill an attacker while he is also ridding himself and the boy's easiest suicide method.
Similes hold strong importance within The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In this second section, I noticed that most of the similes actually compared the Man and the Boy to fearful beings that don't always control their own fate. "They staggered on like drunks...He looked like something out of a deathcamp...He'd trained him to lie in the woods like a fawn...And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like groundfoxes in their cover" (115,117,118,130). There's just a constant connection the man and boy being forced to do things based off the humans they encounter. They're living in this world as more reactionary and scared humans.
In the third section, McCarthy adds to characters' strife for goodness. The man reassures the boy when they're in a tough situation: "Okay. This is what the good guys do. They keep trying. They dont give up" (212). Instead of using the logic that they're good just because they aren't bad, the man defines a quality he sees in good people. "They keep trying. They dont give up." Also the man and the boy stumble across a bunker full of necessities, such as food. The boy is very concerned with the decision to take the food: "Is it okay for us to take it? Yes. It is. They would want us to. Just like we would want them to" (189). At this point they're reassurance is again subjective. The man seems to do his best to make what they're doing sound good to the boy. I do think he's right that whoever saved that food would be happy knowing it was going to a struggle pair, including a young boy.
I think the man's Godly aspect in the child's eyes also comes from his soothing attitude for the child. Not only is he always reassuring the child but keeping his head in the right mindset to keep going. "I think he's all right. But who will find him if he's lost? Who will find the little boy? Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again" (281). No matter the case he always help the boy. Interesting to note, these are also his last words to the boy before his death showing his last words were meant to help the boy.
I'm surprised by the boy's transition after the death of his father. Typically at the first the boy is in somewhat of a shock state but he slowly progresses into his acceptance quite soon. "Then he rose and turned and walked back out to the road" (286). To me it seems like the father meant so much to the boy that the book would've ended in the child using the gun on himself since he no longer had the man to protect him.
In The Road, Cormac McCarthy employs different aspects of time within the first section. The main character has a few flashbacks, and the characters reference the difficulty of keeping time in their lives. The main character flashes back in remembrance of an past girlfriend or wife before the world turned into what it has become in the novel: "He could remember everything of her save her scent" (18). Memories of both the woman and the house he grew up in seem to give the man some type of help to keep working hard to keep the boy and himself alive. Also the characters struggle to keep track of time. Early on the man "thought the month was October but he wasnt sure" (4). Then later in the section, "late in the year. He hardly knew the month" (29). The characters' struggle with time seems to contribute to their sense of hopelessness they feel in their barren, cold world.
ReplyDeleteIn Cormac McCarthy's The Road, dismal descriptive language stands out in repetition through nearly every landscape mentioned. While excessive use of words like dark, ash, and gray emphasize the barren environment, they also help to characterize the father. Within the first few pages the lake is described as "black and ageless" (1), and the meadows and trees "stark and gray" (2). McCarthy presents the same kind of diction in the father's flashback to his childhood. The trees at that time were still "gray and weathered," lining a lake that looked like "dark glass" with a noteworthy dead fish floating along the shore (4). Though he may not have always had such a bleak outlook, the new world tainted even his fondest memory as a child with death. The reader can feel the man's hopelessness in his questions of god and replies to his son, as well as the adjectives used in both the past and present.
ReplyDeleteInsightful observation Drew--this novel is about the role of memory as much as it is about the relationship between the father and son. The impact of the present physical world on their abstract internal thought & memories is worth following through the novel.
DeleteI agree with the use and meaning behind the lengthy sentences in The Road. The most common and apparent method of creating these long sentences comes from the overuse of conjunctions such as "and", "or", and "but" without the necessary punctuation. "He pulled the blue plastic tarp off of him and folded it and carried it out to the grocery cart and packed it and came back with their plates and some cornmeal cakes in a plastic bag and a plastic bottle of syrup" (5). In these sentences, McCarthy combines multiple ideas into a never-ending list. These sentences could also symbolize and be meant to give the reader a mood similar to the characters, a mood of constant anticipation and uneasiness.
ReplyDeleteWithin the first section of The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the narrator uses both religious diction and God references. The main use seems to connect the boy to a godly or savior-like figure from the perspective of the man. "He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke" (5). Immediately in the novel, the narrator establishes this Godly symbol of the child in the eyes of the man. Than later on in the novel, the extent of the child's meaning is expresses even further: "That the boy was all that stood between him and death" (29). Obviously the literal meaning is that without the boy the man would have no reason to keep moving forward and surviving. But also it seems the boy is being directly compared to a Christ-like symbol for the man, that the boy is his "savior".
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statements regarding McCarthy's word choice in that it paints the scene of the desolate world this story is placed in. The descriptions reflect how difficult living in such a barren wasteland of a world can be. The descriptions used as the subject scans the valley before him adds more to the tone of the story by furthering the emptiness of the world and how lonely the planet has become.
ReplyDeleteThe structure of McCarthy's sentences add to the state of the world in the novel. With the destruction of once beautiful and luscious areas now come simple and decayed woodlands, fields, etc. the sentence structure adds to the simplicity of the world. The use of longer sentences also add to how the characters can become lost in thoughts or actions due to the lack of movement and action in the barren world. The bleakness in the word choice and thoughts of the characters furthers the scene of the novel with the continued motif of bleakness and desolation.
ReplyDeleteKyle, the technique you describe regarding the conjunctions is called "polysyndeton"--good inference on its impact on mood
ReplyDeleteWeek 2
ReplyDeleteIn The Road, Cormac McCarthy uses the two main characters to represent people's strife for morality and goodness even in desperate times. After their dangerous and risky escape from the house with naked people locked in the basement, the boy wonders why they did not help the people: "They're going to eat them, arent they? Yes. And we couldt help them because then they'd eat us too. Yes. And that's why we couldnt help them. Yes. Okay" (127). The boy is very concerned for the people, but at the same time him and the man seem more concerned with knowing they do the right things. The boy asks the man twice if that's why they couldn't help the people just for the reassurance, and he gives the same response both times. Within this section, as the characters encounter more people, they begin to concern themselves more and more with who the good and bad people are. The boy needs more reassurance to affirm their actions: "We wouldnt ever eat anybody, would we? No. Of course not...Because we're the good guys. Yes" (128-129). Both characters feel a sense of security when told what they are doing is the right and good thing.
The topic of suicide has been slowly introduced to the audience. The first mentioning comes with "Can you do it? When the time comes? Can you?" (29). His conscious is almost motivating him to fulfill his plan. But this difficult thing he must do could be referring to two different scenarios: either that both of them need to commit suicide if in danger or that if the boy can't do it himself, the Man must kill the boy to rid of future dangers. There's also difficulty with this plan. The Man only has one bullet left for his gun. "A single round left in the revolver. You will not face the truth. You will not" (68). The reason why he is so scared to take any risks stems from having almost no ammunition. He is dreading the situation that could come along where he needs to use the bullet to maim or kill an attacker while he is also ridding himself and the boy's easiest suicide method.
ReplyDeleteSimiles hold strong importance within The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In this second section, I noticed that most of the similes actually compared the Man and the Boy to fearful beings that don't always control their own fate. "They staggered on like drunks...He looked like something out of a deathcamp...He'd trained him to lie in the woods like a fawn...And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like groundfoxes in their cover" (115,117,118,130). There's just a constant connection the man and boy being forced to do things based off the humans they encounter. They're living in this world as more reactionary and scared humans.
ReplyDeleteWeek 3
ReplyDeleteIn the third section, McCarthy adds to characters' strife for goodness. The man reassures the boy when they're in a tough situation: "Okay. This is what the good guys do. They keep trying. They dont give up" (212). Instead of using the logic that they're good just because they aren't bad, the man defines a quality he sees in good people. "They keep trying. They dont give up." Also the man and the boy stumble across a bunker full of necessities, such as food. The boy is very concerned with the decision to take the food: "Is it okay for us to take it? Yes. It is. They would want us to. Just like we would want them to" (189). At this point they're reassurance is again subjective. The man seems to do his best to make what they're doing sound good to the boy. I do think he's right that whoever saved that food would be happy knowing it was going to a struggle pair, including a young boy.
I think the man's Godly aspect in the child's eyes also comes from his soothing attitude for the child. Not only is he always reassuring the child but keeping his head in the right mindset to keep going. "I think he's all right. But who will find him if he's lost? Who will find the little boy? Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again" (281). No matter the case he always help the boy. Interesting to note, these are also his last words to the boy before his death showing his last words were meant to help the boy.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised by the boy's transition after the death of his father. Typically at the first the boy is in somewhat of a shock state but he slowly progresses into his acceptance quite soon. "Then he rose and turned and walked back out to the road" (286). To me it seems like the father meant so much to the boy that the book would've ended in the child using the gun on himself since he no longer had the man to protect him.
ReplyDelete