The End

-          Response in 25 words

Tawdry

Yet, provoking an emotion

Revolves- display of past, moving forward, foreshadows a contended ending in contrast

Cliché, unimaginative and predictable

Any other a disappointment

Arguing for a Statement - 2

“There is a powerfully poetic effect in the simplicity of the language, by avoiding rhetorical flourish, and elaborate language McCarthy makes a stronger impact’

McCarthy’s simplistic language reflects the lack of emotion expressed from the characters, this is evident in key scenes, such as; when the mother leaves them. Her inconsiderate attitude towards her husband could be interpreted to her trying to make it easier for him, his memory of her is bitter and therefore less painful. By not trying to encourage the reader to empathise with any characters and rather have a negative perception towards them the reader also is made to find building relations difficult- as so do the characters in such a ‘gloomy world, which is slowly dimming’.

The slow, bleak rhythm highlights the never ending road in which they must follow, the monosyllabic tone encourages this and any increase in pace is therefore highlighted.

However, these ‘climax’s’ are extremely brief, for example; when the father is shot in the leg and we follow him into the house, the excitement is over within a few paragraphs, this ensures they make no emotional attachment and do not dwell on the past as we must not do also.

When emotion is portrayed and we experience rhetorical flourishes, the simplistic language only further reminds us that they are ‘the living in a dead world’, whilst they are alive they still feel emotions, but once this emotional expression has been shown, e.g. finding the mutilated, naked bodies and the father’s fear and desperation to leave, our sympathy lasts until it is resolved and we are back to simplistic and monosyllabic tone, where we are reminded the road must continue.

McCarthy’s blunt description highlights the reality as he does not try to hide it under complex language, and rhetorical flourishes.

The father and son’s conversations express a slight poetic rhythm; this is constant and remains throughout their conversations through the novel, ‘What if somebody finds it? They won’t find it. I hope they don’t. They won’t. ’ this is also evident through McCarthy’s narration; ‘The hour. There is no later. This is later’ again the use of blunt simplistic language emphases their reality, achieved by the short, clear points and this poetic rhythm almost creates empathy ‘all things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one’s heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes. So, he whispered to the sleeping boy. I have you.’ The moments of elaborate, expressive language are rare and therefore create a greater impact.

Arguing for a Statement

“The death of everything living – plants, trees, creatures, and most other human beings- is evoked through the bleakness and ‘deadness’ of the language” – 30 minutes

McCarthy’s simplistic language is compensated by his use of imagery and complex metaphors ‘Query: How does the never to be differ from what never was?’- the reader is regularly left to debate the meaning behind specific quotes, here for example McCarthy uses imagery to reflect humanity, and their unnecessary disappointment over something which was never to be, rather than bluntly stating this the complex description highlights the ‘living in a dead world’ reality through the novel, and could reflect trying to create interest and ‘excitement’ in a dead world.

When describing the corpses McCarthy is again blunt, highlighting the bleak reality, ‘people sitting on the sidewalk in the dawn half immolate and smoking in their clothes. Like failed sectarian suicides.’  Personifying the dead, and suggesting they were suicides further reinforces the frequent death of all things. The concept of time following this quote represents the unity of the remaining living eventually separating and resorting to death as a better option ‘within a year…by day the dead impaled on spikes along the road’. The frequent time change and yet slow monosyllabic language/pace reflects their lives passing by, wasted, whilst their never-ending journey along the road continues.

Dialogue and exposition between characters continues a similar theme of ‘the living in a dead world’ conversations between all characters is bleak, emotionless and non-naturalistic, highlighting the distance in all relationships. For example, the mother- when leaving- expresses no emotion, although this could be interpreted to make it easier for the father (evoking emotion on the reader) ‘you remember what you want to forget and forget what you want to remember’, her dis-concern contrasts the father’s pleading for her to stay ‘I don’t care. I don’t care if you cry. It doesn’t mean anything to me’. McCarthy creates a highly clichéd image of the women, and a traditional domestic scene, an attempt to create normality, as he continues religious themes also, ‘weaker sex’, ‘suicide being a sin’ etc.

The ‘dead’ language reflects the death of all surrounding the characters, McCarthy perhaps uses short separate sentences to isolate information, and reflect the father and son being entirely alone as; ‘ On this road are no God spoke men. They are gone and I am left.’  Their journey, and the mother is summarised in the first paragraph ‘some cold glaucoma dimming away the world’ the mother has physically lost her eyesight as a result of this world, and all the remaining living are slowly dying, an idea reflected through the deeper darkness we experience further into the novel, resulting in the father breaking his one promise- not to leave the boy- and following the corpses and his wife’s example to death.

Fiary Tale - Jack and the Bean Stalk

Jack and the Bean-Stalk

Once. Travelling the road, together.

The sun was beginning to rise, and a figure appeared ahead of them. Withered and feeble, with a wiry grey beard, bent over his crooked stick. He gave beans.

Beans for a cow.

A cow?

A cow.

For beans?

Magic beans.

Okay.

Okay. The boy turned, the boy returned home.

Furious. You returned with nothing, we will starve, get to bed now.

Now?

Yes.

Okay.

Okay.

No supper, the boy grew hungry.

It grew, Intertwining branches reached to the sky, the boy began to climb, higher, and higher.

Fee. fi. fo. fum

I smell blood.

live, or dead,

his bones will be ground to make my bread.

Back and forth, and again. He travelled. A sack of gold, a hen laying golden eggs, a magic harp, was enough to compensate for his mistake.

Gold?

Gold. You happy?

Very happy.

Good.

The boy went up for the final time. 

Fee. fi. fo. fum

I smell blood.

live, or dead,

his bones will be ground to make my bread.

The boy, spun round and faced the glaring eyes of the ogre staring back at him. He ran. The ogre followed.

Help, get an axe, quickly, the ogres coming.

An axe?

An axe.

Okay.

Okay.

The blade sawed back and forth, and back again. The trunk cracked, the stalk came down. The ogre fell with it, a deafening cry followed. The ogre died.

The Road Extract Analysis

‘Coming across the man who has been struck by lightning (pp. 50-53)’

The extract encouraged me to feel further distance from the characters, the characters expressed no emotion therefore there was no emotional attachment for me to connect to. The writers lack of punctuation helped this feeling to be achieved as the monosyllabic tone discourages any reflection of emotion and if read aloud, your voice could not express emotion either, for example, speech, and speaker is never indicated by speech marks.

It leaves no opening for a new storyline as the novel consists of many ‘events’ but no prime build up and climax, the extract simply reflects another difficult encounter the father and son must have, and allows us to reflect on and question their actions of leaving the man to die.

There is an increase in tension, as it is one of the first difficulties we see the father and son endure, the reader is allowed little time to feel attached to the injured man or build any anticipation of what they are to find as they have found and left him within the space of a few paragraphs.

It shows no development as such on either of the characters, we are, however shown the characters multiple reactions to finding the man. We sympathise the boys desperation to help him, however this is contrasted by the father’s cynical yet practical view. Keeping his son away, not only to keep on moving, but to save him from further trauma and to keep the little childhood he has left, as it is his duty to do so.

The layout of the father’s wallet contents, could symbolise him laying down and leaving his previous identity, the man he has had to become he despises, but is aware he must move away from the past in order to protect his son and himself, his detachment of emotion is a necessity to their survival, from others, himself and through their conversation it would seem his son also, growing too much of a bond would only make the break of it more difficult.

‘Shooting the 'road rat' (pp. 62-69)’

This extract is the first truly violent act we see, it is also impacting as the man who often describes himself and the boy as the ‘good guys’ is the cause of someone else’s death, contrasting to a typical ‘good guy’. McCarthy evokes this response by highlighting the fact the ‘road rat’ is – until his attack - harmless, his intentions may not be, however he is regularly offering them help, food and supplies, our confidents is built towards him until his sudden attack on the boy, we realise the extent of the father’s protection and his lack of trust towards anyone. Despite the father doing this to protect and save his son, due to the boy’s innocents and naivety it could result in the opposite effect, he wishes to believe his father is the good guy but fails to see how.

McCarthy continues to employ the same language techniques, the tensions are built again by the regular use of short sentences; ‘found it. That’s a lie. What are you eating? Whatever I can find.’, speech continues not to be identified, and I believe the short sentences are used to prevent any emotional attachment towards any characters, this allows us to relate to the father and son as they are no longer allowed to connect with any other human and we must experience the same, as before we know they are either gone, have betrayed us, or dead.

Symbolically, the quote ‘the boy lay clutching his forehead covered with gore and mute as a stone’   could be fore shadowing the road rat’s faith, as soon he will be dead, with a bullet through his brain, on the floor, dirty and silent.  

‘Finding the cellar of naked and mutilated people (pp. 112-121)’

I found this episode very distressing, a highly emotive extract with a huge increase in pace and tension, McCarthy’s repetition of key words, phrases helped evoke this response, such as; ‘help us, please help us… help us’, and ‘ Christ… Oh Christ… Christ’. ‘Help us’ because it showed the peoples desperation and helplessness, but also ironically the father and son need help also and are unable to help themselves let alone the other people, ‘oh Christ’ because, the man is not shown to be particularly religious and his desperation to not become attached or emotionally drawn to help these people means turning to Christ, despite after all that he and the boy have experienced he has probably lost any faith in a God to help them. The events are horrific and distressing, as they are un naturalistic and difficult to understand they are extreme and leave us with expectations for the rest of the novel.

I felt the extract subtly represented the WW2 holocaust, ‘piled was a great heap of clothing. Clothes. Shoes. Belts. Blankets…’ there were regular similarities and comparisons between the two events; this highlighted to the reader the extent of their situation.

‘he had to put his hand over his mouth, the boy was clutching it and wouldn’t let go… the other held his revolver’ this quote I feel highlighted the helpless situation the people he just found are in, the man after losing his legs has no way of escaping, and hiding himself from the men, and the father after losing the use of his arms to cover the sound of his coughing begins to panic they will be found and likely killed.

The extract stood out to me form the novel as the increased suspense lasts a lot longer than usual, the first mentioning of the boy having to take his life is mentioned provoking the readers conscience and emotions towards the boy.

‘The baby on the spit (pp. 210-215)’

Again I found the extract quite distressing, we feel sympathy for the boy and what he is having to experience and see, the extract is dark and pathetic fallacy is used also to contrast the emotions across the previous pages, page 109 ‘The leaves were crunchy, fell to powder…’ – here the setting is dry, perhaps because there is nothing happening and it is a reflection of the character’s personalities, their lives have been sucked and drained out of them, they no longer feel or express emotion and this is shown through the dry, dead leaves, as they may as well be. However, page 110 ‘the leaves were soggy from the recent rain’ the weather has changed; although it remains bleak and dull, as it is often describe by McCarthy as ‘grey’ we are aware that something is about to happen, the rain could symbolise the boys tears from the distress, as well as the blood from the diseased.

To begin the extract I noticed regular mentioning’s of ‘rotation, circles and cylinders’; ‘rounds in the cylinder’, ‘let’s circle around’ ‘they circled the fire’ this regular use of a theme could symbolise both the rotation of the baby on the spit, but also the circle the father and son are trapped in, they need help, can’t help others, others can’t help them.

The extract not only stands out due to the horrific idea of what they have seen but also because we learn the lengths these people will go to, to stay alive.

‘Getting to the shore (pp. 227 - 230)’

Despite the ocean not being exactly what the boy had hoped for or expected I felt the extract was quite uplifting and lighter. McCarthy explains how the two characters after finding new; blankets, food supply etc. have a more simplistic and lighter chapter, structurally this is portrayed by the paragraphs being both longer and more fluent, there is no sudden time changes and the sentences have become longer and less complex with simplistic language.

The extract is key to the novel as it is what the two characters have been searching for this whole time, the disappointment that the ocean is not what they had expected is compensated by the boy’s happiness and satisfaction that they have finally got to the shore.

‘Like a man waking from the grave… dead childhood’ this quote describes the lives the father and son live, perhaps their happiness is almost too good to be true it is really only a dream and the father is suddenly a dead man who is waking to the reality of his life, perhaps they have been isolated and drained for so long they are practically dead, and the dead childhood symbolises the child’s loss of his.

‘The theft of the man and boy's belongings (pp. 270-278)’

This extract is another distressing an awful part of the novel. Despite our sympathy towards the father and son especially for having their possessions stolen their inhumane attitude towards the man leads our sympathy over to him instead as he is left naked, cold an entirely alone, we see the extent of the fathers lack of trust towards anyone, clearly this man has nothing, and is just as desperate as they are and yet he still cannot trust and help him, I believe this is because he lost his wife and his father’s mother so their lives would be made ‘easier’ and after that loss he is un able to ‘replace’ her and make her sacrifice and gift go to waste, this is also shown by the fathers final quote ‘I am the one’, he has come to believe it and must make his son realise he is the only one there for him, and there can only be him.

I was unable to notice and foregrounded symbols portrayed during this extract and McCarthy’s language remained simplistic and the sentences between the characters conversation remained short and blunt, again showing distance, an attempt to avoid any connection and a lack of personality.

The Road Quote Analysis

This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man's brains out of his hair. That is my job.

The use of a possessive pronoun reflects how the father sees the child as a possession, something he must protect, out of ownership, responsibility and moral duty rather than a wish. The use of short sentences, shows bluntly, what their new ‘life’ consists of, he is aware of this and by referring to it as a ‘job’ indicates that is an everyday chore. The extreme contrast between ‘child’, and ‘dead man’s brains’ conjures a horrific image, the father is not just washing it out of his hair, but washing away his childhood, as any child, of course should not experience what he is having to, suggesting maybe the child would be better off the man who has just been killed.

Yes I am, he said. I am the one.

Again the father is blunt, through short brief sentences, the child needs to be aware that his father is the only person he can rely on now, and hence why the father finds it difficult to help others, such as the burnt man, as the offer may not have been returned, a hidden excuse. The repetition of ‘I am’ is reassurance to the boy, that his help is the one standing by his side.

Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned hams. Corned beef.

Cormac has listed, to what the father and son see as their luxuries. Allowing us to compare our lifestyles, yet with still no emotional attachment as he only lists food, rather than more ‘sympathising’ luxuries, such as; shelter, warmth, a family etc. the use of full stop for the final two items create a dramatic pause, as it emphasis’ how short their list has become, and what their lives have come down to, revolving around food and where their next meal will come from. Also, perhaps the punctuation isolates the final two as they are seen to them as even more luxurious as all the others are fruit and veg, they are treated with meat, keeping them separate shows their importance to the father and son.

Are we still the good guys, he said.

Referring to them-selves as ‘ the good guys’ infers a childish attitude towards the situation, the father perhaps is trying to cling on the son’s finally threads of childhood and is doing so by creating a ‘goody/bady’ status between them, and the cannibal’s. ‘Still’ shows doubt in the child’s mind, before he new but, perhaps after leaving so many to behind die, such as; the little boy and the burnt man, the child feels they are now ‘the bad guys’ showing a greater deal of knowledge and understanding the boy has than what we were aware of.  

We should go, Papa, he said. Yes, the man said. But he didn't.

There is many swaps between narrative, we begin as the boy, to the man, and then to the writer, we experience all views of the situation; the boy’s eagerness and maturity to move on and continue walking, and the fathers agreement, the father however, we are told does not move, we see a moment of weakness, the father must remain strong for the boy and tell him what to do, the roles have been reversed and we see some emotion and human feeling come from the father.

Okay? Okay.

The father and son regularly address one another un-naturalistically, ‘O.K.’ is repeated throughout the novel, creating irony as although the characters are often saying ‘O.K.’ their lives are not, they are in denial and trying to cover their fear to one another and to themselves. Their conversations are both brief and regularly one sided, for example here, a question is asked and the reply repeats it, reflecting perhaps a lack of energy, a lack of social communication, and a lack of effort.

They sat on the edge of the tub and pulled their shoes on and them he handed the boy the pan and soap and he took the stove and the little bottle of gas and the pistol and wrapped in their blankets and they went back across the yard to the bunker.

Irony is used to contrast the two actions performed during this extract, soap and shoes, later become ‘gas and pistol’, this could symbolise the change in the character’s lives they must leave what they remember and go back into the bunker for hiding.

Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth.

This extract is very unusual, a lack of punctuation lengthens the sentence, and the line is also un-naturalistic. It emphasises the length of time and the degree of isolation the father and son feel, by describing them having to ‘toll’ with the silence, again a childish reference to playing to keep them entertained, ‘minutes of the earth’ again emphasises there concept of time, they no longer have any and there time belongs to the earth now, nobody else is here to experience it and they are now just waiting to die.   

She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift.

Here the father is talking about the suicidal death of his wife, he refers to this act as a ‘gift’ this is because here presence at this time would have made their lives even more difficult than with her done completely, ‘coldness’ is used to describe her absence as perhaps the father feels the coldness of her spirit still with them, the chill and emptiness families feel after a loved one has passes and yet she did this for them. The lack of punctuation creates a complex sentence rather using a comer after ‘gone’ or ‘it’, this creates almost a lyrical sentence,  a softness, perhaps reflecting the mother’s personality.