Wednesday, November 20, 2013

The Road Pages 73-93

Parallel: Beards have started to play a role in The Roads plot since I have seen it describe the evil people of the story. In the last passage, the father and son are found by one of the bad guys. In the description of the bad guy, it states " He wore a beard that had been cut square across the bottom with shears..." (63). Then, on page 91, the father and son encounter an army of the evil mean, with the coining them with the description "Bearded, their breath smoking through their masks". I thought this was a parallel because of how both descriptions of the evil men include beards.

Contrast: Good Vs. Evil is starting to become a major contrast in the story since we are starting to be introduced to people who we presume are evil. On page 74, the dad is washing dead brains out of his child's hair when he said "This is my child...That is my job". I thought this showed that the dads first priority was his son and not killing anybody, unlike the man they encountered in the who was willing to kill an innocent child. 

Questions: How is the dad able to keep the mentality that they have to survive by themselves and not take in the dog and little boy that his son wants to care for. If I were the father, I would have taken in the dog and boy because I feel bad for them. 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

My creation of The Road

On the bottom of page 12 and on all of page 13, there is a flashback of when the father was at his uncles farm. I think this passage describes his life before the apocalypse. A day in a rowboat with his uncle. No talking, just silence. I think this scene needs to be like the setting of the Twilight series. In Twilight, the seen is very grey and cold looking, but because of the location being in Seattle and in a woodsy location, there was a calm, quietness to it. The scene needs to capture the passages quietness, and focus on the little details. I imagine extreme close ups of all little details. The straw hat, yellow leaves, trousers rolled to the knees. They would be in a collection of individual shots so you would be able to see exactly what made up this flashback and the memory. Though they talk about cold water and yellow leaves (suggesting autumn), I think the scene should be overcast but still very light. Because they are on a boat, I imagine fog surrounding them because I feel that also depicts a flashback, kind of like a foggy memory. Even though is sounds like a dull scene, it is one of his favorite memories from when he was younger and the setting doesn't always depict the outcome of events.  

Memory

Memory is an image being used frequently throughout the book because memory is all they have. After the apocalypse, nothing is the same. As far as the son and father know, they are a couple of the few people that survived out of millions. In all memories, they are told in detail. The setting is described in such detail that you are able to picture it exactly as described. The boy, on the other hand, does not have the memories like his father. He was born into the post apocalyptic world and his only memories are ones that you would like to forget. 

The world that McCarthy has made in The Road shows no evidence of the United States ever existing. In one passage, we do get a minor detail in location, Rock City, which is in Tennessee. Other than this location, their is no description of the setting. In every descriptive setting, everything is described to be covered in ash, cold and grey. "The City was mostly burned.No sign of life. Cars in the street caked with ash, everything covered with ash and dust. Fossil tracks in the dried sludge. A corpse in the doorway dried to leather" (12). I think this passage captures the scene most vividly because they now live in a world where this is the norm. if they saw a clean house or street, they may be worried to be there because that means somebody also struggling to survive is there. 

The dad grew up in a different world than his son. When his wife took her life, he easily could have taken his own. Instead, he created his own world revolving around his son. He is showing his son how to survive and never gives up and takes their lives.

The son grew up in a world of death, his mother took her own life and wants to be with her. Though the dad is trying to create a world of survival for them, all the son can think about is death.

Monday, November 18, 2013

The Road Pages 53-73

Parallel: My parallel is the connection between the son and his mom. Though she left him at a young age, she and the son both have thoughts of death. After the apocolypse, the wife/mother is having a conversation with her husband and how she wants to die and should have died. In the end, she kills herself with obsidian, which is a glass volcanic rock. After seeing his mothers death, all he wishes for is to die so he could be with his mom.

Contrast: "All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain"(54). The word provenance means "the orgin". The sentence talks about the things you hold special in your heart comes from pain. I thought this sentence was a contrast because the things that are special in your heart are usually things you enjoy or love. Having everything you enjoy come from pain gives the things you enjoy a dark background or meaning.

Questions:

I did not understand the part where they encounter the other man (62-66).

Is the boy dying? (69-72)

The Road pages 31-53

Parallel: In the last section that we read. The boy asked his dad if he can tell him stories sometimes. Our class then discussed what stories the dad would tell. we talked about stories that we knew from our childhood; Hanzel and Gretle, The Little Engine that Could, Peter Pan. In the middle paragraph on page 41, the dad talks about how he told his son stories "Old stories of courage and justice". 

Contrast: The first full line on page 42 I thought was a contrast because of the metaphor. "Reflecting back the sun deep in the darkness like a flash of knives in a cave". I thought that this sentence was a contrast because it starts off with what you would imagine something being bright and beautiful but ends with a darkness. I imagine a sun setting and how right before it sets completely, it is a deep orange; and I consider that beautiful to watch. With the sentence ending "like a flash of knives in a cave", I then think about death and how they claim you go towards the light when you are dying. 

Questions: 

I was wondering if we ever find out the boys age because on page 39, the son and father are in the water and the father has to carry him because he is to young to know how to swim (I am assuming). 

I was also wondering what the government/USA was like before the apocalypse. On page 43, the father and son have a conversation about state roads and how the state used to own them. They mention that there are no more states and they don't know what happened to them.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

The Road Pages 15-31

Parallel: In the first two pages on page 16, McCarthy is using dark colors in order to decribe different form of water. The terms "gray flake", "Gray slush", "Black water" and "grey sleet" are used to descibe water that is usually of a bluish or white color. I thought this showed the darkness of the world that he is living in and that there is no color or light anymore.

Contrast: On page 18, "He" (the father) is switching between paragraphs to descibe the area he is living in and the flashback he has of his old life with his wife (we presume). In the paragraphs baout his wife, he talks with color, descibing the setting with "Green and Leafy Canopy" and "Gold Scrollwork". He also describes his wife as "painted white" which reminds me of innocence. Like my parallel, there is no color in the world and the only color is from his dreams and flashbacks.

Questions:
I am wondering how long they have been in this postapocylyptic world. On page 17, He and the son find a ham and it is described as "Deep red and salty meat inside. Rich and good". It makes me believe that they have not been living in these conditions for that long because of the freshness of the meat.

Another question I have is if we ever find out what time period our setting is in. On page 23, the father finds a Coca Cola and gives it to his son but the son doesnt know what it is. We are also not sure of the age of the son but Coca Cola is a well known and recognized brand and I would assume that children know Coca.