The Opening...

The opening...(Page 1-28)

Narrative Perspective	The narrative perspective is established as an omniscient third person narrator however is focused through the character of The Man as we see his thoughts, memories and perceptions.  Although at moments, there is also a feeling of a cold detachment from the perspective which mitigates the tragedy of horrific moments, “A corpse in a doorway dried to leather.”  It is a linear narrative, all chronological, which suggests the character of the man to be resourceful and with a motive to survive.  Despite the fact that at points there is an indirect voice, at other moments, the narrative slows down and immerses the reader in the time and place for example (p7), “the shape of the city stood in the grayness like a charcoal drawing sketched across the waste. Nothing to see.”
Layout and Sentence Structure	The layout that McCarthy distinguishes at the beginning continually references chronologically. For example, within this first section of the book, (p15) “It took two days”, (p16) “In the morning they went on”, (p22) “by dusk of the following day”. There seems to be a flow of sequences that are unable to be escaped or broken, linking to the theme of a loss of control.  The story begins in a media rez, “when he woke in the woods in the dark” which exemplifies the man and boys struggle to survive as it is the idea that they have endured this post-apocalyptic world for a long period of time.  The sentence structures, as the commas fade within the beginning and the repetition of “and” not only display the never ending journey with everything all merging together, but also the disintegration and decay of society, “  ...he’d seen a running ledge of rock and they sat under the rock overhang and watched the gray sheets of rain...”.  The short declarative sentences, although abrupt, pragmatically could reveal (as the narration is through The Man’s perspective) that he is trying to hide the true horrors from the boy and therefore he doesn't describe the full ruin of scenes and there is a lack of emotion, “the bones of a small animal, dismembered and placed in a pile”.
Tone	McCarthy portrays a tone with a distinct idea of representing the post-apocalyptic world as a wasteland and something lost and almost forgotten.  The quote, “nights beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world,” creates an idea of a saturation of life. “Glaucoma”, an eye condition where sight is clouded, could link to the idea of the clouding of humanity and morality.
Characterisation and Relationship between the Man and the Boy	The father and the son seem to provide a paradox of characterisation, the man consistently detaches himself from humanity in order to survive, whilst the son symbolises the fundamental nature of humanity.  The element of trust between these two characters as “each the others world entire” strains the insecurities that they both have towards their lack of control, “nameless dark come to enshroud them” and there is the idea they are being swallowed up by nature.  Through the narrative, we see that the father’s character is driven towards protecting his son and regards him as his “warrant”; his only purpose in life.  Although he is the stronger of the two within this first section, we see his inner vulnerability when they find his old house, he stops suddenly and there is a sudden familiarity and desperation to find someone there for him which relates to the phone call he makes to his father.   When the son asks the father if they can go, the father agrees but “he didn’t” which implies that he suddenly feels the loss that he is experienced and there are no words to describe it The boy’s character is more direct in the sense of displaying vulnerability. As a child, he wants his father to “read him a story” yet there is also a sense of maturity and growing responsibility. When the father works, “the boy sat watching everything” perhaps he knows that he will have to take on this role one day and as “the father left the boy standing in the road holding a pistol” he understands the trust that the father has within him.  The boy respects his father which is reflected in his language choice because earlier on in the novel the father says “take a look” which the son then repeats later when he is reassuring him. The theme of love is driven through these characters; the description at the beginning of the child sleeping harmoniously and the father watching over him immediately gives the idea of security and safety.  The father also longs to see the boy happy and we see this within a lighter part of the novel, “the first time he’d seen the boy smile in a long time” and when he gives him the can of coke, there is a tragedy within this as the boy is in a state of realisation. He won’t ever get to drink another one. The memory the father refers to when talking of the day on his uncles farm and the relationship he describes on the perfect day they had where “neither of them had spoken a word” could reflect onto the relationship between the boy and the man as although few words are uttered, through their use of the words such as “okay” there is the emotional attachment that they hold.
Religious imagery	There is a Christian allegory within this of the child leading the father by the hand on a pilgrimage to his death; which could signify an interpretation to the journey that they are making.  The religious reference to the boy, “if he is not the word of God God never spoke” conveys the father finds that his son is his only hope and guidance similar to the reference of how God sent Jesus to Earth to save human kind. This would mean that there is a purpose to protecting the boy and making it his motivation to survive.  Although the father and the son seek their spirituality and some form of saviour, it is often ironic as their world is repeatedly being alluded to the perhaps inevitable that there is no God to save them.  Often, the father doubts that they have any guidance, “are you there”, “dam you eternally have you a soul” as nothing will end his suffering and torture which implies the reason why he names many places as “godless” such as where they find the mutilated people. The reference to a past memory in his house of Christmas and “the pinholes from tacks that had held the stockings forty years ago” links to the idea of a religious celebration where everyone unites.
Imagery of Surroundings and Use of Language	The haunting imagery of something “without cease” on the road displays the control that nature holds over the vulnerable characters of the man and the boy.  McCarthy's details on his setting imagery paint a realistic image that is somewhat harrowing and threatening and represents the idea of something decaying without importance.  From the beginning, there is an element of uncertainty within the “murk”, “standing smoke” and “rolled away in the gritty fog” as if something is being concealed from the reader as we await the true horrors that lie on the road.  The reference to “dead trees” visage a world without oxygen and resources to be able to breath and creates the idea of suffocation and death, “blackened lightpole whining thinly in the wind”.  The word “barren” is frequently repeated within this first section, implying the isolation and the destruction society has caused through their demand for an artificial world.  The sense of industrialisation within the post-modern world is conveyed when the father is telling the boy of how the dam was built to “generate electricity” and the “concrete” which implies something permanent and irremovable. Which he then relates to another past memory of a falcon falling to its death there, symbolising the destruction of nature.  The word “tottering” described their lack of stability which leads to the lack of light and guidance that they have; they are constantly searching for a “sign of fire or a lamp” and to keep them close to hope, “the grey shape of the city vanished in the nights onset, like an apparition and he lit the little lamp and set it back out of the wind”.  Carrying this light with them, there is an irony when they reach his old house as his mother used to like the light in the house as “yellow as they day” yet there is none now and when they sleep, “putting it between them” signifies how they are struggling in this word that is “cold and growing colder” in the devastation.  The rhythm that builds up within the sentence, “carried forth and scattered and carried fourth again” displays their repetitive life within a world that is described as “dead to the root”.   Within the language, there is also an element of foreshadowing, “ratty. Wisp of a tail” which may link to the roadrat and the idea of constantly being threatened; when the father describes the darkness as “impenetrable” it reiterates how they are unable to escape and their desperation to hide.
Themes and Genre	As a genre of horror, the description at the beginning of the “alabaster bones cast up in the shadows on the rocks behind it “ suggests a supernaturalistic and ambiguous style which contrasts to the previous description of the vulnerability of the two characters. The themes that are prominent within this section are; death, hope and danger.  They are lost and always striving to find a sense of direction, “guiding the cart” but the father displays how they have no escape from anything as he is constantly watching the road behind them. This element of threat, impacts the hope that we rarely see from the characters which links to the pistol they use; their only source of protection.  When the man talks of the conditions they will be able to survive in and if they change they will “probably die” the matter of fact behavior displayed epitomises the lack of concern for life within humanity. It is also interesting how, although death is a theme, it is almost given the status of a character as it carries a large amount of power and therefore threat (illness, murder, starvation...).
Dreams	There is a constant reference to the man’s dreams which he regards as a threat.  The dreams are regarded as being his sense of weakness, containing memories and things he remembers of his past-world which he will never experience again. The quote, “and he dreams so rick in colour. How else would death call you? Could be interpreted as the dreams being something to lure him into death and once the “flowering wood” and the “phantom wood” become relatable, they are almost taunting him which means that he doesn’t sleep often as he doesn’t want to face them. However, these nightmares are referred to each other as dreams; the word dreams connotes something that wants to be attained and achieved. The father may want to achieve his dream of being relieved from living in this world however he cannot leave his son; his son becomes the one being who holds him in a state of security and stops him being driven insane from these dreams. We are left to question that when he dies, is he fulfilling his dream?
Time	There is a sense that time has been merged together as the characters seem to have no sense of day or month , “he thought it was October...wasn’t sure”,  only day and night, “he woke up at dawn and watched the grey day break”. The language seems to change when considering time phases; at night, dawn or dusk the language seems to be more poetic and events have less clarity (McCarthy is significantly more descriptive in his imagery). By contrast, during the day, the narrative perspective appears to be practical and logically detailed.  The idea that he cannot pinpoint a time in the past, “in that long ago” conveys that they have been without a sense of time and security for a long while and it has become natural to them.  However, when the scenery is described as “motionless” it could give the image of everything frozen in time, which links to when the father “freezes the frame” we are unsure what is a dream and what becomes a reality.