Literary Analysis #1: The Road by Cormac McCarthy

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.