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.