1
. Plot:
“a long shear of light and then a series of low concussions” (45). A man and
his son are on the road in a post-apocalyptic world, a world that is gray and
burnt where you can barely see silhouettes in front of you due to the ash
floating in the air. They traveled with nothing but a cart and the knapsacks on
their back. On their journey they run into small armies, cannibals, and other
survivors; which results in them fleeing, killing a man, getting their supplies
stolen and, getting shot with an arrow. Their destination is the coast, and
after a long journey of scavenging through houses and getting lucky they get there,
only to lead to the boy getting a fatal illness and the man nearing death. Thanks
to scavenged first aid kit from their trips to the city the boy recovers, and
they head off on the road again with the supplies they got from a wrecked ship
in the sea, but even with that the man knows his time is nearing.
2. Theme:
I believe the theme is to keep your morals and persevere even when times are
tough. This is a frequently brought up theme in the novel and is referred to as
“carry the fire”.
3. Why
did you choose this book: I found out about this book through the movie,
which I thought was quite good, so when I saw it on the reading list I chose
it. This book appealed to me because I think books that are set in an alternate
reality, especially of the apocalyptic genre, are interesting. The stressful
moments, descriptive setting, and the emotional connection to the characters
was something that appealed to me while reading the book.
4. Did
you find the book to be realistic: I found this book to be very realistic,
the characters show a lot of depth and carry out real emotion, it’s quite
captivating. I feel like this could relate to me and my parents if we were
under the same circumstances.
5. Authors
Tone: the Authors tone is elegiac, and yet touching, for example:
·
“In those first years the roads were peopled
with refugees shrouded up in their clothing. Wearing masks and goggles, sitting
in their rags by the side of the road like ruined aviators. Their barrows
heaped with shoddy. Towing wagons or carts. Their eyes bright in their
skulls creedless shells of men tottering down the causeways like migrants in a
feverland. The frailty of everything revealed at last. Old and troubling issues
resolved into nothingness and night. The last instance of a thing takes the
class with it. Turns out the light and is gone. Look around you. Ever is a long
time. But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all.”(24)
·
”He sat the boy on the footlocker under the Gaslamp
and with a plastic comb and pair of scissors he set about cutting his hair. He
tried to do a good job and it took some time. When he was done he took the
towel from around the boy’s shoulders and he scooped the golden hair from the
floor and wiped the boy’s face and shoulders with a damp cloth and held a mirror
for him to see.
You did a good job, papa.
Good.
I
look really skinny.
You
are really skinny.
He
cut his own hair but it didn’t come out so good. He trimmed his beard with scissors while a pan of water heated and
then he shaved himself with a plastic safety
razor. The boy watched. When he was done he regarded himself in the mirror. He seemed to have no chin.
He turned to the boy. How do I look? The boy cocked
his head. I don’t know, he said. Will you be cold?”(128)
·
“The boy had put his hands on top of his head
and he was about to cry. I’m sorry he said. I’m really sorry.
He set down the tarp with
the canned goods. We have to go back
I’m sorry, papa.
It’s okay. It will still
be there.
The boy stood with his
shoulders slumped. He was beginning to sob. The man knelt and put his arms
around him. It’s all right, he said. I’m the one who’s supposed to make sure we
have the pistol and I didn’t do it. I forgot.
I’m sorry, papa.
Come on. We’re okay. Everything’s
okay. (195)
6. Literary
Elements/Techniques
·
Alliteration: “Nights dark beyond darkness and
the days grayer than the night before”(1)
·
Simile: Their light playing over the wet
flowstone walls. Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the
inward parts of some gigantic beast.”(1)
·
Personification: “Deep stone flues where the
water dripped and sang.”(1)
·
Simile: “…Light with eyes dead white and as
sightless as the eggs of spiders.”(1)
·
Imagery: “Crouching there pale and naked and
translucent, its alabaster bones cast up in shadow on the rocks behind it. Its
bowels, its beating heart. The brain the pulsed in a dull glass bell.”(1)
·
Allusion: “He knew only that the child was his
warrant. He said: if he is not the word of God God never spoke.”(2)
·
Simile: “The long concrete sweeps of the interstate
exchanges like the ruins of a vast funhouse against a distant murk”(20)
·
Simile: “Creedless shells of men tottering down
the causeways like migrants in a feverland.”(24)
·
Hyperbole: “But the Boy knew what he knew. That
ever is no time at all”
·
Imagery: “They crossed a river by a bridge where
skeins of ash and slurry moved slowly in the current”(43)
·
Symbolism: “Are you carrying the fire?”(238)
The fire represents perseverance
and morality.
·
Symbolism: “brook trout”(241)
The trout represent hope
for a new world/life.
As you can see there is five or more literary devices on the first page,
this book contains many literary devices which is great for a better
understanding of the story overall.
CHARACTERIZATION
1. Indirect/Direct
Characterization:
The man:
Direct-
The author states the man is light-hearted but under the circumstances of the apocalypse, he trusts no one but the boy.
Indirect-
Devoted to his son, his son is his “warrant” he’ll do anything for him or anything to protect him.
The boy:
Direct-
The author states the boy is curious.
Indirect-
According to his actions the boy caring, curious, ethical, mature, fearful, and sometimes difficult.
As you can see the author did not blatantly
put in direct characterization, but rather let the reader discover who the
characters really are. Speaking of characters this father-son duo didn’t even
feel like characters, they had such realistic like qualities that kept me
interested
2. Syntax/Diction:
On characters dialogue, the author writes in a neutral diction with short conversations,
for example:
“Can
I ask you something? He said
Yes.
Of course.
Are
we going to die?
Sometime.
Not now.
And
we’re still going south?
Yes.
So
we’ll be warm.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay
what?
Nothing.
Just okay.
Go
to sleep.
Okay.”(9)
3. Protagonist:
The protagonist, the man, is a dynamic character in the fact that he learns
from the boy to be more ethical. For example he invites an old man, Ely, to eat
with them. Also, when he gave the robber back the stuff that was rightfully his.
The man is also a round character; he is caring, brave, and selfless.
4. Did
you feel like you actually met the characters: After reading the book, not
only did I feel that I had met the characters but was alongside them on their
journey of survival. An example from the story that I felt immersed and shocked
in was on Page 167.”He turned and looked again. What the boy had seen was a
charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit.”
ENDURING MEMORY
An
idea that I will always remember is the idea of love between a family, in this
instance a father and a son. This book is based on their survival and their survival
is based on their love for each other. “And then later in the darkness: Can I ask
you something?
Yes.
Of course you can.
What
would you do if I died?
If
you died I would want to die too.
So
you could be with me?
Yes.
So I could be with you.”
It may be a post-apocalyptic world, but
love between a family survives in the midst.
