They walked into the little clearing, the boy clutching his hand. They'd taken everything with them except whatever black thing was skewered over the coals. He was standing there checking the perimeter when the boy turned and buried his face against him. He looked quickly to see what had happened. What is it? he said. What is it? The boy shook his head. Oh Papa, he said. He turned and looked again. What the boy had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit. He bent and picked the boy up and started for the road with him, holding him close. I'm sorry, he whispered. I'm sorry. (276.1)
This is a passage in The Road that shows how violent the world becomes and how it really is. The Man and The Boy happen to come upon a campfire with a spit. On the spit there's the charred body of an infant. This is probably the most horrifying image in the book, but it's worth shifting our gaze to The Man's response. He picks up The Boy and carries him to the road. Then he apologizes to The Boy. They apologize both for how terrible the world can be and that they let down their guard, somehow allowing the kid to see the world at its worst.
Tuesday, 8 November 2011
last section
The food lasts for a while until, once again, they're starving. The Man gets really sick and feverish. The Boy spots a house off in the distance it seems to be another big discovery. They stay there for a while and then decide to leave.
All along, our heroes have been traveling south and east. The Man thinks if they can just reach the sea, they'll be all right. It's no small feat, since they have to cross the mountains. When they do get to the sea, it's a big disappointment. However, The Man spies a wrecked ship a few hundred yards out. It's full of food and useful stuff, like a flare gun and batteries. once again they have pleanty to eat for a while.
Then their luck turns bad again. The Boy gets sick. The Man is beside himself trying to keep The Boy alive. He recovers, in the mean time someone tries to run off with their cart and supplies. They have to chase the thief down. They get their food back, but it's a big scare, and The Boy isn't too happy with how The Man treats the thief.
They head farther south through a coastal city, and more bad luck strikes. As they are walking through, The Man is shot with in arrow from the window of what they thought was an abandoned building.
They travel inland. Finally, in a pine forest, The Man can't go any farther. We're not sure if he dies from the arrow wound or the respiratory illness he's had all along, but he dies with The Boy beside him. Much of the book has been leading up to this event, and The Man's interactions with The Boy can be seen as an attempt to prepare The Boy to live in the world on his own.
Almost immediately, though, another family appears on the road, and they take in The Boy. This is a little surprising, because nowhere else in the novel do our heroes meet any good, upstanding travelers. The novel ends on a note of hope: perhaps these small enclaves of compassionate people can survive and eventually rebuild a tolerable world.
All along, our heroes have been traveling south and east. The Man thinks if they can just reach the sea, they'll be all right. It's no small feat, since they have to cross the mountains. When they do get to the sea, it's a big disappointment. However, The Man spies a wrecked ship a few hundred yards out. It's full of food and useful stuff, like a flare gun and batteries. once again they have pleanty to eat for a while.
Then their luck turns bad again. The Boy gets sick. The Man is beside himself trying to keep The Boy alive. He recovers, in the mean time someone tries to run off with their cart and supplies. They have to chase the thief down. They get their food back, but it's a big scare, and The Boy isn't too happy with how The Man treats the thief.
They head farther south through a coastal city, and more bad luck strikes. As they are walking through, The Man is shot with in arrow from the window of what they thought was an abandoned building.
They travel inland. Finally, in a pine forest, The Man can't go any farther. We're not sure if he dies from the arrow wound or the respiratory illness he's had all along, but he dies with The Boy beside him. Much of the book has been leading up to this event, and The Man's interactions with The Boy can be seen as an attempt to prepare The Boy to live in the world on his own.
Almost immediately, though, another family appears on the road, and they take in The Boy. This is a little surprising, because nowhere else in the novel do our heroes meet any good, upstanding travelers. The novel ends on a note of hope: perhaps these small enclaves of compassionate people can survive and eventually rebuild a tolerable world.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
What is the fire?
The man always tells the boy that they are some of the only good people left in the world, and that they carry the fire. But the boy starts to question this, because as time goes on they start doing more heinous things such as shooting people, not helping people, and taking from people. To the boy it seems like they are doing the same things that everyone else is doing, but every time he thinks that, the father reassures him that they are good and that they carry the fire.
The fire is something that the man says is real and that the boy has had it all along. There can be many different interpretations of the fire, and it can be taken literally or symbolically. The literal interpretation is that they carry a lighter that can light fires. It is mentioned by Ely that it has been along time since he has seen a fire, so it is implied that it is a rare thing in that world. The man could be saying that they hold a very important element that nobody else has.
Another interpretation is that the fire is the will to survive. Those who are without the fire live and die quickly, but those with the fire will live on. You can also have an uncontrollable fire, or a weak and flickering flame. When the man is dying, he symbolically passes to the boy when he says that he must now carry on the fire, if this interpretation is used, then it means that he is passing on life and survival to the boy, and saying that the boy must go on and survive.
The next interpretation is that the fire is a symbol for the spark of life. Fire is essential for life; it cooks food, produces heat, and provides light. This would fit into the theme of the road best, because the book is somewhat scientific and is based on the renewal of life. Also, just as you pass on life to the next generation when you grow old and die, the man passed on the fire.
The last interpretation I will mention is that the fire is a symbol for human kindness and love. The others survivors do not have the fire, and they are evil and cruel. However, the boy and the man do have the fire, and they are the kindest people we read about in The Road. Also, the man keeps acting less kind as he starts losing the fire.
So Far...
The Road begins after some unknown apocalyptic event has happened. The first few pages of the novel begin to explain the landscape: ash, isolation, and a long road to travel. You could say the novel alternates between two settings: the road and it ventures away from the road into houses or other possible food sources. Although The Boy and The Man suffer from exposure to the elements and starvation, they don't encounter too much danger early on.
That changes about a quarter of the way into the book. A group of people the characters refer to as "bad guys" wake up The Man one morning. The Man tries to get The Boy and himself out of sight but they run into one of these "bad guys" who wandered off from the main group. The "bad guy" tries to take The Boy hostage (or kill him) but The Man, takes action and shoots the "bad guy" in the forehead saving his son. They escape unharmed, but a little scared.
Another really frightening event happens soon after. The Boy and The Man have run out of food and need to find some supplies. They start searching around houses they normally wouldn't explore. And they end up seeing something horrifying: a basement full of human captives being held as livestock. Whoever is living in this house is eating their way through a store of human that they had locked up in the cellar. The Man and The Boy quickly leave the house and almost get caught by the gang that lives in the house.
Not to long after our heroes have a string of good luck. Even though they nearly starve sickness begins to set in, they don't have any run-ins with evil people. Right when they're both on the verge of starvation, The Man finds an apple orchard and a well, this fed and hydrated them for awhile.
As seems to always happen, though, their food supply quickly runs out and they find themselves hungry once again. This leads to their major discovery: a bomb shelter full of canned goods and supplies. They spend a couple days here eating. But because they're sitting ducks if anyone happens to come along, they leave.
That changes about a quarter of the way into the book. A group of people the characters refer to as "bad guys" wake up The Man one morning. The Man tries to get The Boy and himself out of sight but they run into one of these "bad guys" who wandered off from the main group. The "bad guy" tries to take The Boy hostage (or kill him) but The Man, takes action and shoots the "bad guy" in the forehead saving his son. They escape unharmed, but a little scared.
Another really frightening event happens soon after. The Boy and The Man have run out of food and need to find some supplies. They start searching around houses they normally wouldn't explore. And they end up seeing something horrifying: a basement full of human captives being held as livestock. Whoever is living in this house is eating their way through a store of human that they had locked up in the cellar. The Man and The Boy quickly leave the house and almost get caught by the gang that lives in the house.
Not to long after our heroes have a string of good luck. Even though they nearly starve sickness begins to set in, they don't have any run-ins with evil people. Right when they're both on the verge of starvation, The Man finds an apple orchard and a well, this fed and hydrated them for awhile.
As seems to always happen, though, their food supply quickly runs out and they find themselves hungry once again. This leads to their major discovery: a bomb shelter full of canned goods and supplies. They spend a couple days here eating. But because they're sitting ducks if anyone happens to come along, they leave.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Favourite Quote
My favourite qoute so far in the novel is actually rather early in the novel, it was filled with emotion and compassion when I read it.
"Everything uncoupled from its shortening. Unsupported in the ashen air.Sustained by a breath, trembling and brief. If only my heart were stone." (McCarthy 11.2)
The reason that this quotation is my favourite is because it goes to show that even in the times of hardship people still care for others, and they begin to question what is right. They stop wishing they cared so much but know that no matter what they wont be able too. I believe that the term "heart of stone" is meant to be taken metaphorically, because if the character wanted there heart to be stone he would be giving up everything, and wouldnt be able to take care of his son anymore. He is grieving over the loss of his wife, and wishing she did not pass away, and wishing that he could stop caring for their son. But he cant because his son is all he has left and the only reason he has to live.
"Everything uncoupled from its shortening. Unsupported in the ashen air.Sustained by a breath, trembling and brief. If only my heart were stone." (McCarthy 11.2)
The reason that this quotation is my favourite is because it goes to show that even in the times of hardship people still care for others, and they begin to question what is right. They stop wishing they cared so much but know that no matter what they wont be able too. I believe that the term "heart of stone" is meant to be taken metaphorically, because if the character wanted there heart to be stone he would be giving up everything, and wouldnt be able to take care of his son anymore. He is grieving over the loss of his wife, and wishing she did not pass away, and wishing that he could stop caring for their son. But he cant because his son is all he has left and the only reason he has to live.
Who can be trusted?
One of the main characters, is the Man. I do not trust him or his health. The Man seems rather aggressive and paraniod that everyone is following him and his son, as they are trying to survive the barron wasteland that they now call the world. As they travel they come across other people that are just trying to find supplies and eat. The Man begins to agressively question them as to how long they had been following him and his son, and why. This leaves me with reason to believe that he may become untrusting of his son aswell. My reasoning for not trusting his health is because he continuously speaks to god about meeting him at last, and asks him if he has a heart or soul. I believe he asks these things because he is very ill and wants to know how much time he has left with his son before the sickness finally takes his life.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
Powerful Quotes
He pushed away the plastic tarpaulin and raised himself in the stinking robes and blankets and looked toward the east for any light but there was none. In the dream from which he'd wakened he had wandered in a cave where the child led him by the hand. Their light playing over the wet flowstone walls. Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the inward parts of some granitic beast. (McCarthy 1.1)
I believe that this quote refers to the story of Jonah and the Whale. Jonah was a good man, as well as a prophet. He was supposed to travel to Nineveh and inform the people that they need to repent. He ended up being swallowed by the whale because he failed to inform the people. In my mind the man and the boy are like Jonah and the world has become the belly of the whale. They wander the world of desperate hunger, a world so terrible it would discourage anyone, but they do not give in.
"When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him." (McCarthy 1.1)
Based on what I have read thus far, The Road is extremely violent. McCarthy begins the book very tenderly by showing the love between the father and son. Writers say that it should take the entire first paragraph to present the entire novel. McCarthy explains the book in the first line. To sum it up: Its dark, cold, and bitter outside, but no matter the conditions, no matter the hardship the characters still love each other.
I believe that this quote refers to the story of Jonah and the Whale. Jonah was a good man, as well as a prophet. He was supposed to travel to Nineveh and inform the people that they need to repent. He ended up being swallowed by the whale because he failed to inform the people. In my mind the man and the boy are like Jonah and the world has become the belly of the whale. They wander the world of desperate hunger, a world so terrible it would discourage anyone, but they do not give in.
"When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him." (McCarthy 1.1)
Based on what I have read thus far, The Road is extremely violent. McCarthy begins the book very tenderly by showing the love between the father and son. Writers say that it should take the entire first paragraph to present the entire novel. McCarthy explains the book in the first line. To sum it up: Its dark, cold, and bitter outside, but no matter the conditions, no matter the hardship the characters still love each other.
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
What Road? The Road!!
In this blog I will be talking about the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy. This book was originally published in 2006 at 287 pages. The Road recieve 2 awards with in a year of each other, the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 2006 and Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2007.
My reasoning for reading this novel is because it takes place in a postapocolyptic evironment as well as the fact that there is a movie based off the novel. Atleast once I finish the novel I will be in for alittle treat.
My reasoning for reading this novel is because it takes place in a postapocolyptic evironment as well as the fact that there is a movie based off the novel. Atleast once I finish the novel I will be in for alittle treat.
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