Handling of Time

Handling of Time

References to the passage of the days-

·         Waking in the cold dawn it all turned to ash instantly. (Page 20)

·         He woke toward the morning with the fire down to coals and walked out onto the road. Everything was alight (Page 31)

·         He woke whimpering in the night and the man held him. (Page 34)

·         At evening a dull sulphur light from the fires. (Page 52)

·         With the final onset of dark the iron cold locked down and the boy by now was shuddering violently. No moon rose beyond the murk and there was nowhere to go. (Page 70)

·         In the morning the cold rain was falling (Page 87)

·         They slept through the night in their exhaustion and in the morning the fire was dead and black on the ground (Page 93)

·         They were on the road all day, such day as there was. Such few hours. They might have covered three miles. (Page 107)

·         All through the long dusk and into the dark. Cold and starless. Blessed. He began to believe they had a chance. We just have to wait, he whispered. So cold. (Page 121)

·         It was a long night as he could remember out a great such plenty of nights .(Page 132)

·         Crawled into the other bunk under the clean blankets and gazed one more time at this tiny paradise trembling in the orange light from the heater and then he fell asleep. (Page 158)

·         Impossible to tell what time of the day he was looking at…The day was brief, hardly a day at all. (Page 164)

·         In the morning sometimes he’d return with binoculars and glass the countryside for any sign of smoke but he never saw any. (Page 200)

·         He waded ashore in the last of the light…they hurried down the beach against the light. (Page 246-247)

·         The dark did catch them. By the time they reached the headland path it was too dark to see anything. (Page 249)

·         He held him all night, dozing off and waking in terror feeling for the boy’s heart. In the morning he was no better. (Page 265)

·         He woke in the darkness coughing softly. He lay listening. (Page 299)

·         He slept close to his father that night and held him but when he woke in the morning his father was cold and stiff. He sat there along time weeping. (Page 300)

Markers in the year-

·         He thought that the month was October but he wasn’t sure.  (Page 2)

·         Late in the year. He hardly knew the month. (Page 29)

·         The day seemed almost warm. (Page 62)

·         The unseen sun cast no shadow. (Page 71)

·         The snow fell nor did it cease to fall. (Page 103)

·         There were days when ashen overcast thinned and now the standing trees along the road made the faintest shadows over the snow. (Page 106)

·         The snow was largely melted on the macadam and in the south facing field and woods. They stood there. The plastic bags over their feet had long since worn through and their feet were wet and cold. (Page 111)

·         It had rained recently and the earth was soft underfoot. (Page 217)

·         Winter was already upon them. (Page 294)

Passages in which narrative time is telescoped-

·         They bore on South in days and weeks to follow. (Page 12)

·         Perhaps tomorrow. Tomorrow came and went. (Page 33)

·         It took four more days to come down out of the snow. (Page 35)

·         The dog that he remembers followed us for two days…That is the dog he remembers. He doesn’t remember any little boys. (Page 91)

·         Two more days. Then three. They were starving right enough (Page 136)

·         Three days. Four. He slept poorly. The racking cough woke him. I’m sorry. (Page 200)

·         They slept more and more. More than once they woke sprawled in the road like traffic victims. The sleep of death. (Page 216)

·         They stayed at the house for four days eating and sleeping. (Page 226)

·         Long days. Open country with ash blowing over the road…he had the names of the towns and he measured their progress daily. (Page 229)

·         They ate more sparingly. They’d almost nothing left. (Page 229)

·         In three days they came to a small pot town and they hid the cart in the garage. (Page 280)

·         The days sloughed past uncounted and uncalendered (Page 292)

·         In two days when they came out up to a road when they came out upon a road and he sat bent over with his arms crossed at his chest and coughed till he could cough no more. (Page 296)

·         He stayed three days and then he walked out to the road and he looked down the road and he looked back the way they had come. (Page 301)

Points at which the narrative time expands-

·         He withdrew his hand slowly and sat looking at the Coca Cola (Page 22)

·         We’re survivors he told her across the lamp…wrapped his son in a towel. (Page 57-61)

·         Just keep coming…mute as a stone. (Page 65-69)

·         The boy was sitting on the steps when he saw something move at the rear of the house across the road. A face was looking at him…What about the little boy? (Page 88-90)

·         He took the pistol…I’m so scared. Shh. (Page 112-120)

·         They went out and crossed the yard…kissed the child on the forehead. (Page 114-146)

·         He untied the tarp and folded it back…Nothing. Let’s go. (Page 173- 178)

·         The cabin was low with a vaulted roof… and dropped into the gray and freezing sea. (Page 239-246)

References to “before” and flashbacks-

·         He could remember everything of her, save her scent. (Page 18)

·         In those first years the road was people with refuges shrouded up in their clothing. (Page 28)

·         People sitting on the sidewalk in the dawn half immolate and smoking in their clothes. Like failed sectarian suicides. Others would come to help them. Within a year there were fires on the ridges and deranged chanting. The screams of the murdered. By day the dead impaled on spikes along the road. What had they done? (Page 33)

·         The clocks stopped at 1.17. (Page 54)

·         It had burned long ago (Page 94)

·         Memory of her crossing the lawn toward the house in the early morning in a thin rose gown that clung to her breasts. (Page 139)

·         He thought of his life. So long ago. A gray day in a foreign city where he stood in a window and watched the street below. (Page 199)

·         Things abandoned long ago by pilgrims enroute to their several and collective deaths. (Page 213)

·         Even a year ago the boy might sometimes pick up something and carry it with him for a while but he didn’t do that anymore. (Page 213)

Points at which time seems to be suspended-

·         Like the great pendulum in its rotunda scribing through the lond day movements of the universe of which you say it knows nothing and et know it must (Page 14)

·         Everything about them so still (Page 82)

·         He stopped and looked across the fields. Win in the east. The soft ash moving in the furrows. Stopping. Moving again. He’d seen it all before. (Page 94)

·         What is this place Papa? Shh. Let’s just stand here and listen. There was nothing. The wind rustline the dead roadside bracken. A distant creaking. Door or shutter. (Page 112)

·         Lying in wait and ringing the bell in their house for their companions to come. He dozed and woke. (Page 121)

·         When he looked back the old man had set out with his cane, tapping his way. Dwindling slowly to the road behind them like some story-book peddler from an antique time, dark and bent and spider thin and soon to vanish forever. (Page 185)  

·         Then he stopped. Where’s the pistol? He said. The boy froze. He looked terrified. (Page 247)

More abstract references to time

·         The days were more gray each one than what had gone before. (Page 1)

·         It was the first time that he’d seen the boy smile in a long time. (Page 18)

·         In that long ago somewhere very near this place he’d watched a falcon fall...still autumn air. (Page 19)

·         Ever’s a long time. Okay, the boy said. (Page 23)

·         Look around you...Ever’s a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all. (Page 28)

·         A formless music for the age to come. (Page 71)

·         Drawing down like something trying to preserve head. In time wink out forever. (Page 93)

·         He’d dropped the lighter. No time to look. He pushed the boy up the stairs. Help us, they called. (Page 117)

·         They lay listening. Can you do it? When the time comes? When the time comes there will be no time... Hold him in your arms...Just so. The soul is quick. Pull him toward you. Kiss him. Quickly. (Page 118)

·         He walked out in gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of teh interstate earth. Darkness implacable. (page 138)

·         Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it. (Page 138)

·         The boy stood watching him. How many days to death? Ten? Not so many more than that. (Page 141)

·         If you’re on the lookout all the time does that mean that you’re scared all the time? Well. I suppose you have to be scared enough to be on lookout in the first place. To be cautious. Watchful. But the rest of the time you’re not scared? The rest of the time. Yeah. (Page 160)

·         People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn’t believe in that. Tomorrow wasn’t getting ready for them. It didn’t even know they were there. (Page 179) 

·         I’ve not seen a fire in a long time, that’s all. I like an animal . (Page 183)

·         Has it been here a long time? Yes. I think so. A pretty long time. (Page 191)

·         Every day is a lie, he said. But you are dying. That is not a lie. (Page 254)

·         So you can be with him. Hold him close. Last day of earth. (Page 294)

·         There is no prophet in the earth’s long chronicle who’s not honoured here today. (Page 297)

·         This has been a long time coming. (Page 267)

·         She said that the breath of God was his breath yet through it passes form man to man through all time. (Page 306)

·         In the deep glens where there lived all things were older than man and the hummed of mystery. (Page 307)

How do writers use repetition to create meanings in their texts? (42 marks)

How do writers use repetition to create meanings in their texts?In your answer, refer to the work of the three writers you have studied.

(42 marks)

Within the following three texts I have studied The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, they use repetition to create different meanings both reflecting the atmosphere contextually and metaphorically.

In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald repeatedly distinguishes between the two places “West Egg” and “East Egg” throughout his novel which creates a separation both in the atmosphere of the two settings and the characters that belong in these societies.  Contextually, Fitzgerald set his novel in New York City and put it at the centre of American business to colonise the idea of the American Dream. However his main purpose focused towards changing the background of where he was already living from 1922 to 1924 in Long Island and the names of the two places of Great Neck and Manhasset Neck.  Using these two locations, Manhasset neck was full of the fashionable and on the surface, respectfully wealthy people (East Egg) and Great Neck was home to those who had acquired their fortunes within their own businesses or trades and were successful through their own adventure (West Egg). This cultural divide is a constant underlying thought that not only creates an impressionable backdrop of the urban America story but also how we should expect certain characters to behave when analysing their background and social class.

 Using Nick as his narrator, Nick begins the novel by explaining why he chose to move to West Egg, stating that he felt that, “life was beginning all over again” which echoes the idea to the reference of the explorers such as Christopher Columbus who discovered America and was the only one who found the way although others had tried.  We are told that both West Egg and East Egg look identical and it is revealed that as Nick is an observer from “both within and out” the reader will be taken into both communities.  Later on within the novel, when Nick meets characters from East Egg, they contrast deeply to Mr Gatsby from West Egg, who (although an unreliable narrator) Nick particularly warms to more than any other character. Tom and Daisy’s mannerisms repeatedly remind the reader of their position of obtaining their wealth and status through family name. Daisy talks to her friend Jordan in a complacent way, both making only a polite effort to entertain or be entertained; they waste away the day lying down idly, “the only completely stationary object in the room was an enormous couch on which two young woman were buoyed up as though upon an anchored balloon.  They were both in white and their dresses were rippling and fluttering as if they had just been blown back in after a short flight around the house…Tom Buchanan shut the rear windows and the caught wind died about the room, and the curtains and the rugs and the two young women ballooned slowly to the floor.” Also, only Daisy makes “an attempt to rise” as Jordan complains, “I’m stiff…I’ve been lying on that sofa for as long as I can remember”.  Nick remarks on this contrast to Midwest and how people were “continually disappointed” or spent the whole evening dreading the moment it would come to an end.  Finally, at the end of the novel, Fitzgerald draws in a piece of imagery which describes West Egg, the place of opportunity. Nick thinks, “And as the moon rose higher the inessential houses began to melt away until gradually I became aware of the old island here that flowered once for Dutch sailors’ eyes — a fresh, green breast of the new world”. This reference to when the Dutch sailors first arrived fuses the dreams of the explorers with Gatsby’s dream of Daisy on the dock and how although the West promised the world to everyone, the American Dream was unattainable to people such as Gatsby and would inevitably lead to his own destruction.  

Cormac McCarthy in The Road uses repetition as a technique to invoke his interpretation of a post-apocalyptic world.  To convey a bleak, lifeless world in which his characters of the Man and the Boy struggle to survive in, he repeats the word, “back” which is the most frequent word, may infer that they always strive to be able to refer back to the past and the “reality” that they are familiar with.  However, “down”, the second most frequent word, could link to the idea of a journey into hell of which they plunge into without choice.  Water is also mentioned which is a significant symbolisation of something from their previous lives that was once clean and now, contaminated and difficult to gain.  It is also, interestingly, something that our society takes for granted as a basic necessity which ironically is not often within their grasp.  The word “blanket” is often said, an object that is also taken for granted within society, and personally, I feel that it conveys the lack of stability and comfort that the boy has. He is only able to cling onto blankets for a glimpse of warmth in a world that has been destroyed. The idea of items with low importance being used, such as the trolley and the can of coke is a theme that is constantly referred to which connotes the idea that they have lost everything and they must cling on these things in order to keep clinging onto this past world. For example, we see that when the thief steals their belongings they value the things that they have left more almost as much as they value each other, “They took everything. Come on. The boy looked up. The boy was beginning to cry”.   

 McCarthy also repeatedly refers to the relationship between the man and the boy and portrays a deeper meaning that although their fragile world is crumbling around them, they manage to strive through this and stay strong. The word “okay” is frequently repeated between the father and the son, “Okay? Okay” which although on the surface displays a lack of emotion and communication it pragmatically displays a meaning to their hidden emotional connection.  Both characters are registered to the fact that words have become meaningless; there is nothing that either could say to one another that would provide comfort or make their situation any different.  They both only appreciate each other, nothing else around them and these words become words of reassurance.  They are all each other have and there is a clear attachment between them, although hidden, as words do not have to be said, for the father and son to still have a bond between them of trust and hope. This deeper meaning is something that never fades for the two characters and through these repeated words; it pushes the boundaries of love and commitment in a dying world.  

Samuel Taylor Coleridge conveys the supernatural theme repeatedly throughout his poem, The Rime of The Ancient Mariner to accentuate the difference between the supernatural and reality. For example, within the first part of this lyrical ballad, Coleridge uses the Ancient Mariner and The Wedding Guest, “He holds him with his glittering eye- The wedding – guest stood still, And listens like a three-years child: The Mariner hath his will”. The word “glittering” creates a sense of ambiguity from this omniscient third person narrative which contrasts to the natural world that society lives in and draws the reader towards the words of the Mariner as he is conveyed as someone deeply important.  Other examples throughout the poem relate to the supernatural behaviour of nature and the atmosphere upon the Mariners travels, “And some in dreams assured were Of the spirit that plagued us so; Nine fathom deep he had followed us from the land of mist and snow”. This refers to the water around them filling with colours and a “spirit” haunting their ship through a land of “mist and snow” which, by referring to meteorology, involves a sense of mystery for the reader and we see the impact upon the Wedding Guest, “I fear the Ancient Mariner!”

When the Mariner and his shipmates meet the skeleton boat that is holding life-in-death and death it could entail evidence contextually of Coleridge’s wild imagination which is impacted by the Greek and Roman myths that he was particularly interested in. The description of this moment, “ Alas! (Thought I, and my heart beat loud) How fast she nears and nears Are those her sails that glance in the sun, like restless gossamers?...Are those her ribs through which the sun did peer, as through a grate? And is that woman all he crew? Is that a Death? And are there two? They appear to carry the penance that the Mariner must serve for his disrespect to nature and immoral actions which draw us towards the overall moral of the story that Coleridge intended to convey.  By using the Mariner as a narrative perspective who has learnt from experience to love Gods creations, it could reflect on the feelings that Coleridge felt that society lacked this emotive perspective towards Earth. His constant reference to the supernatural, provoked the character of the Wedding Guest to become relatable to us which further makes the reader question and reflect on their attitude towards nature and change their ways, as the Wedding Guest does at the end, “He went like one that hath been stunned, and is of sense forlorn; a sadder and wiser man; he rose the morrow morn.”

 

How far would you agree that The Patriot and The Pied Piper are heroes?

How far would you agree that The Patriot and The Pied Piper are heroes?

It is questioned whether the poems of The Pied Piper and The Patriot present  characters who although both allegedly are offenders who commit a “serious” crime , could also be interpreted as heroes as their actions seem to be performed for the benefit of others, whether it is in the purpose of a moral lesson or good intentions. 

In the Pied Piper, Browning presents us with a rather secret and underestimated character who remains true to his word whether it is one or warning or of promise unlike the cooperation. For example, his words are similar to a saviour’s, “chiefly use my charm on creatures that do people harm” and he is earnest in what he says although there is an air of ambiguity when he uses the word “chiefly” as it implies that he may harm others as a rest of their wrong doings. He also, by listing that he has aided in their time of need, “Cham” and the “Nizam” adds a reassurance that he is capable and brave.

The Patriot, by definition, is a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against enemies or detractors  which is represented in his attitude at the beginning of the poem. For example, “It was roses, roses all the way” he is willing to fight for his country and as he is showered in rose petals, the repetition reinforces his patriotic attitude and how appreciated he was within this moment of time when he is going off to fight for his country. We could also describe him as saint-like from the reaction of the people around him when he asks for the sun, “They had answered, “And afterward, what else?” The religious reference of the “church spires” could also signify that God is accepting him and is on his side which also references to the end when he refuses to believe that he is sinful until God has told him so, “God might question; now instead”.

Contrastingly, it could also be argued that both characters are not heroic. Their actions (especially the Pied piper) can be classed as morally unjust and within today’s society they would not be permitted; they deserve retribution for their wrong doings.

 However, when revealing a greater depth to the meanings of their actions and their responses, the reaction to the Patriots, which were questionably to help the good of the people and provide for them, is negative and they turn him away from their doors. Also, as his name is purely “the patriot” and not a specific name, it suggests that this is an old story and has been repeated over and over again where society has turned their back and forgotten someone who has tried to do their country justice and have pride. It may be argued that it is our reaction, is to make the Patriot a villain and that we often see past any good actions and focus on the errors within the people of society by accusing them of their mistakes. It has to be asked whether it is our reaction to the Patriot which is what makes it feel as though he has committed a horrible crime rather than the reaction of the Patriot to his death as he feels as though he is being released from this world and will be praised by God in another life, “Tis God shall repay: I am safer so.”

Similarly, in the Pied Piper, it is the reaction of the corrupt corporation who immorally and selfishly refuse to pay him, even though they agreed in a bargain that drives the Pied Piper into committing the following actions of taking away the children from the town.  It is suggested that the corporation and the mayor may, through their language which effectively demoralises the Pied Piper, force him into teaching them this moral lesson of retribution.  If the money that had been promised was paid then this effectively never would have happen which highlights the pure corruptness and irony that the Mayor faces when he searched for the Piper and offers him anything to have the children back , “Silver and gold to his heart’s content” but he never returns.  Although, as readers, we initially would class the Pied Piper as a villain all young children but one (who is lame) away forever and their families never see them again, we often fail to notice that Browning may be implying that they needed to learn the moral lesson themselves of always keeping a promise. Evidence for this is also when the whole town forget about the Pied Piper as they busy themselves fixing up the town, “You should have heard the Hamelin people, ringing the bells till they rocked the steeped...poke out the nests and block up the holes...When suddenly, up the face of the Piper perked in the market place”  their arrogance lead them to displaying an apathy to the man who deserved a reward for his “heroic” actions.

In  conclusion, although on a shallow analysis both characters seem to be closer to a villain rather than a hero in our interpretations, upon closer reading they are heroic as they both leave a place of corruption and immorality and reveal and reflect the hypocrisy of the society around them.

The Roadrat Analysis

The Roadrat Analysis

What element of foreshadowing is employed in this section and why? (pg 62)

McCarthy creates a calm and controlled atmosphere in juxtaposition to the climactic scene that occurs afterwards.  The boy, “took his truck from the pack and shaped roads in the ash with a stick. The truck tooled along slowly. He made truck noises. The day seemed to almost warm and they slept in the leaves with their packs under their heads” Through his actions, the boy displays a childlike innocence and it becomes more evident how young he actually is compared to the maturity that he develops which provokes the reader to become more attached to the vulnerability of his character.  On the surface, this scene is one which gives the reader hope towards the characters safety with the weather described as “almost warm” and is, in an aspect, a sad yet happy scene as the boy is able to play and act himself, without the worrying of their continuous fight to survive. However, on deeper analysis, this foreshadows what is about to happen and lures both the readers and the boy and man into a false sense of security. The truck noises, upon reflection, relate to the “diesel engine running out on the road, running on God knows what” which brings together the idea of something innocent being used for destruction.  The boys actions, we realise, are significant and depict the difference within the new generation (the boys innocence) and the old generation (focusing on immorality) and how they join together. Has all good in the world been demolished?  When the boy draws the shape of the road with a stick, it could symbolise that their journey is a fragile one which is cracking and as it is man-made, humans are the cause to their own downfall.

What does the description of the men teach us about them? (Characterisation pg 62-3)

The contrast between the two characters we are most familiar with (the boy and the man) to the men that McCarthy introduces immediately provides a distinction by referring to the group as “them” which separates the reader and the boy and the man from the others.  We learn that this is our first encounter with those who impose a violent threat to their survival that the man has forewarned both the boy and the reader; a definition  “the bad guys” is revealed.  The mans reaction to their arrival, “God, he whispered” turns the atmosphere into one of vulnerability and panic, we know that they could be a threat to their already small chance of survival.  McCarthy’s detail of how they “came shuffling through the ash” creates an impression by using the word “ash” repeatedly throughout that they bring with them a hellish world that is contaminated and burning around them. The group by “casting their hooded heads from side to side” and their weapons, “Slouching along with clubs in their hands, lengths of pipe” enforce that they are intimidating, superior and powerful and to some extent represent the fear of the unknown for the boy; he has never experienced them before.  They are aware of the destruction around them, with the impression and sense that death is a normality to them when McCarthy describes their clothing, “Some of them wearing canister masks. One in a biohazard suit.” They don't seem to have a sense of identity and although they are “protected” from the decaying atmosphere, to some extent they are still contaminated as they are described as “stained and filthy”. By giving the impression that they are ill, “coughing”indicates that they are desperate for any necessities in order to survive and will go to any lengths to get help.

McCarthy uses a simile when describing the truck 'Lumbering and creaking like a ship'. Why does he do this?

McCarthy could portray a reverse of the religious allegory of Noah’s ark by describing the truck as “Lumbering and creaking like a ship”.  The biblical reference is in paradox to the reality within this book and represents many different interpretations. In the bible, Noah built an ark with a purpose of saving animals from a storm to salvation and contributing to the greater good, by contrast humanity creates modern transport (as represented within the image of the truck) and lead themselves to their own destruction in this post-apocolyptic world. They journey, as McCarthy uses the word “ creaking” could imply that it is cracked and that there is a struggle if we use the idea that (as the ark was the good) the truck represents the good and the “bad guys” display the immorality. It displays how the bad is taking over the good and there is only a small minority of good things that are still alive, which causes the good characters to treat them with importance.  Also, it is ironic how, in the tale of Noah’ s ark, they are in search of dry land,with the symbolism of the “dove” and how the boy and the man are travelling towards the sea and when they arrive it is “birdless”.

Why does McCarthy describe the Road Rat in such detail? (Characterisation pg 65)

McCarthy, by naming this character, the “roadrat” gives the reader the impression that he is similar to a scavenger and as a “rat” could carry diseases and perhaps is contaminated with the immoral behaviour that the man tries to keep the boy away from.  Describing the roadrat in such detail enables McCarthy to make the theme of “good versus evil” prominent, displaying that good people are rare to find in this world of violence, being the minority of society. This man is the epitome of this devastated society and as we see the man’s interpretation of the roadrat (it is his perspective) he isn’t regarded as a person, but more as a figure who is a threat to their survival.  Further shown within the reference to an animal, “like an animal inside a skull looking out of the eyeholes” it is implied that this character has lost all humanity and all that is left is a hunger and desperation to survive with a capability to kill (The cannibalism).  The vivid imagery of his “eyes collared in cups of grime and deeply sunk” when put with sentences such as “lean, wiry, rachitic”, “He wore a beard that had been cut square across the bottom with shears” and “Dressed in a pair of filthy blue coveralls and a black billcap” add to the impression that he has no identity and is wasting away into the road itself. Interestingly, the description of how he had “a tattoo of a bird on his neck done by someone with an illformed notion of their appearance” may relate back to the biblical story of Noah; the dove within this story being a source of guidance to Noah. These men are looking for guidance but fail to notice that throughout they are, themselves, their only possible hope to leading them to salvation.

Why is the Road Rats character so explicit whilst the man is so implicit?

McCarthy creates a divergence between the two characters of the roadrat and the man as both are subjectively his definition of the moral and the immoral within society (good and bad).  By the roadrat being explicit, it is implied that he represents that they aren’t educated and have a harsh background with the slang and the swearing, “I aint goin’ nowhere”, “chickenshit”.  This simple mind of the roadrat could link to their lack of knowledge which misleads them into crimes against human nature.  This character is both hostile and aggressive towards the man but in doing this, reveals his personality and actions for the man to use at his advantage. He doesn’t recognise his potential, not even seeing the man as a threat; he has to fight for his survival all the time and perhaps has been brought up purely surrounded in the morally corrupt society without any person to guide him (the boy to the man).   By contrast, the man implicitly takes on the role of the higher educated, which leads us to think that this is why the boy is able to trust him and he is understood to be the boys protection.  The man doesn’t use many words and his language is simple and instructive “No you can’t. If you look at him again.  I’ll shoot you” which imposes much more of threat.  The man creates a sense of mystery as he doesn’t present any identity, “I’m not anything” which McCarthy may use to portray that if he had an identity he would consider himself weaker and vulnerable; it is easier to be cold and emotionless in order to not be thought of as a target.

What do we learn about the man through his exchanges with the Road Rat? (Pg 68. Consider the Man's impressive medical knowledge, look at the description of the grabbing of the boy and the shooting of the Road Rat)

Until this scene, the reader knows little of the man apart from that he is protecting his son from the outside world and aiding him to survive.  Before, he was simply (using the previous idea) a character who didn’t want to appear with any identity, he was portrayed as intrinsic. Although the roadrat initially seems to be a threat to the boy and the man, there is a reassurance as we learn of the man’s impressive medical and military knowledge which essentially saves them.  The man indirectly forewarns the roadrat when talking of how the bullet will hit him if he shoots. The jargon lexis such as, “frontal lobe”, “colliculus”, “temporal gyrus” reinforces he is intelligent and there is also the underlying threat that he may have more knowledge that someone like the roadrat would never be able to understand or acquire. We learn that the man is truly willing to go to any extent to save his child which we see that when the boy is at knife point, “the man had already dropped to the ground” as though it is his instinct. The description of how he killed the man, “he swung with him and levelled the pistol and fired from a two-handed position balanced on both knees at a distance of six feet” is very accurate and exact, suggesting that he has done with before although as the reaction from his son is, “mute as a stone” we have an impression that he has never acted this way in front of him.  It is a quick death, “the man fell back instantly and lay with bloody bubbling from the whole in his forehead” which reiterates that the the man cannot think of this action as immoral as he was protecting and saving the one thing he loves the most.  

"A single round left in the revolver. You will not face the truth. You will not" Who is the man echoing here? How do you believe these words are uttered?

McCarthy uses this moment to invoke the past words of the woman who is the man’s ultimate weakness as she is the one who lures him away from the boy and towards death, “you will not face the truth. You will not” which links to “they are going to rape us and kill us and eat us and you won’t face it.” Throughout he repeats the words of her to himself, which is a reminder to the control that she holds over him and the fact that she has doubt in his chance with the boy of survival.  Repeating the haunting words of, “you will not”  he is talking to himself and in an aspect, tormenting his mind that this very act has caused there to only be “a single round left in the revolver” which provokes a guilt that he is allowing his son to stay alive in a dead world. The theme of insanity is prominent within this as the man is talking to himself and this makes the role of the boy all the more important as he is the one thing that is able to drive the man away from this.  The man is unable to accept that death is their own escape from this harsh reality and no matter how far he tries to run away, they are only getting closer.   The significance of only having one bullet is both positive and negative. This is the point of realisation for the man that although he has given himself, the reader and the boy (on the surface) more hope in their chance of survival, he has just secured a nastier death for both of them.  This also foreshadows the ending of the novel with how he is unable to kill his son and the word “single” relates to the fact that only one of them will survive.

Why don't the other men chase after the boy and the man following the shooting? (there are clues on pg 73-4).

McCarthy chooses to create an image upon the man and boys return to where the murder took place to reflect the horrific notion of cannibalism and desperation which will be revisited at other points during the novel (the cellar scene and the baby on the spit).  When the father and son find that everything has been “plundered” it reinforces the name that the father gave to the man ,” roadrat” and that they are more like animals and scavengers than humans.  The relief of tension that they didn’t chase after them is initially almost comforting to the reader however, this scene highlights a bigger threat as when they arrive “there was nothing there”. The inhumanity of their actions which the man finds, “Coming back he found the bones and the skin piled together with rocks over them. A pool of guts. He pushed at the bones with the toe of his shoe.  They looked to have been boiled. No pieces of clothing” echoes their pure sense of desperation, they even ate their friend who they had been walking with. This adds to the idea of none of them having a sense of identity or importance, it is a “survival of the fittest” which will inevitably lead to their own destruction and we learn that the roadrat was being sincere when he said that they eat “whatever we can find” reflecting their greedy nature.  The notion that they don't even cover up what they have done implies that they are not ashamed of their actions. Cannibalism is their normality; the horrific nature of the act echoes this new, harsh society that McCarthy portrays.

It is not until page 77 that the man finally cleans the "gore" and "dead mans brains" from the boys face. Why? (Be aware that in the intervening pages he has kept him warm with blankets, fed him etc yet not cleaned his face)

Within today’s society, if this event were to take place, the man would naturally and instantly clean the “gore” and “dead mans brains” from the boys face however McCarthy chooses to put this action after the man feeding the boy and looking after him.  Although on the surface this is extremely shocking to the reader as what was left of the child’s innocence is effectively ruined, it is revealed that he fails to clean his face as it is not a priority; survival is their only priority.  He provides the boys basic necessities by wrapping him in blankets and feeding for him which indicates that the father has evolved and his own priority is to ensure that the boy is safe.  Choosing not to wipe away the gore first highlights the role that the father feels he must take on as being cold and practical and this particularly plays on the fact that if the boy did have a motherly figure within his life, then this scene would be entirely different.  The father has to push through and not linger on past events which highlights the pure extremity of their situation; feeding his son and keeping him warm is more important than the fact that the boy is covered in another man’s remains. He cannot undo his actions, he is only able to continue with their journey to survive, and this is his instinct throughout the novel.

My Analytical Statement

My Analytical Statement

We are given both the perspective of the atmosphere in this post-apocalyptic world and the account of the emotions of the surviving main characters (The man and the boy). By doing this, it highlights the struggle of the characters in this dead world and provokes us to focus on their relationship.

Examples

“It’s because I won’t ever get to drink another one isn’t it? Evers a long time. Okay, the boy said. By dusk of the day following they were at the city. The long concrete sweets of the interstate exchanges like the ruins of a vast funhouse against the distant murk”.

“I don’t know. But it’s okay now. I’m going to put some wood on the fire. You go to sleep. The boy didn’t answer. Then he said: The winder wasn’t turning. It took four more days to come down out of the snow and even then there were patches of snow in certain bends of the road and the road was black and wet from the upcountry runoff even beyond that.”

“The boy stood looking down. He nodded his head. Then they went on and he didn’t look back again. At evening dull sulphur lit from the fires. The standing water in the roadside ditches black with the runoff”.

“The filth dried in his hair and his face streaked with it. Talk to me, he said, but he would not. They moved on east through the standing dead trees. They passed an old frame house and crossed a dirt road. A cleared plot of ground perhaps once a truck garden”.

“That’s right. Because we’re carrying the fire. Yes. Because we’re carrying the fire. In the morning a cold rain was falling. It gusted over the car even under the overpass and it danced in the road beyond.”

“I always believe you. I don’t think so. Yes I do. I have to. They hiked back down the highway through the mud. Smell of earth and wet ash in the rain. Dark water in the roadside ditch.”

“Why don’t you ride for a while? I don’t want to. It’s okay. Slow water in the flat country. The sloughs by the roadside motionless and gray. The coastal plain river s in leaden serpentine across the wasted farmland”.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you. He looked up. That okay, Papa. Let’s start over. Okay. Ian the morning it was raining and a hard wind was rattling the glass at the rear of the building.”

“Is that all right? Yes. I thought you didn’t want to talk? I don’t. They left two days later, the man limping along behind the cart and the boy keeping close to his side until they cleared the outskirts of the town.  The road ran along the flat gray coast and there were drifts of sand in the road and the winds had left there.”

“No.  Don’t listen to me. Come on, let’s go.  In the evening the murky shape of another coastal city, the cluster of tall buildings vaguely askew.”

“She said that the breath of God was his breath yet through it pass from man to man through all of time. Once there was a brook trout in the streams in the mountains.”T

Moments of Rich Lyricism

Moments of Rich Lyricism

Examples

“Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the inward parts of some granitic beast”

“Cold Glaucoma dimming away the world”

“Crouching there pale and naked and translucent, its alabaster boons cast up in shadow on the rocks behind it. Its bowels, its beating heart. The brain that pulsed in a dull glass bell.”

“Lying there in the dark with the uncanny taste of a peach from some phantom orchard fading in his mouth”

“Creedless shells of men tottering down the causeways like migrants in a feverland”

“Like a great pendulum in its rotunda scribing through the long day movements of the universe of which you say it knows nothing and yet know it must”

"And the dreams so rich in color. How else would death call you? Waking in the cold dawn it all turned to ash instantly. Like certain ancient frescoes entombed for centuries suddenly exposed to the day."

“You could see them standing in the chamber current where the white edged of their fins wimpled softly into he flow. They smelled of moss in your hand.  Polished and muscular and tensional. On their backs were vermiculite patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming.”