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.