Pages 29-49;

"Ate cold beans they'd cooked days ago"-(page 29) Telescoping through time.
"Late in the year"-(page 29) Telescoping through time.
"Where once he'd watched trout swaying in the current"- (page 30) References to time before (flashbacks)
"They set out again in the morning"-(page 30) Passage of time.
"He woke towards the morning"- (page 31) Passage of time.
"A few miles each day" (page 32) Telescoping through time.
"Dark of the invisible moon"-(page 32) Time expands.
"Within a year"- (page 33) Telescoping through time.
"Tomorrow came and went" (page 33) Telescoping through time.
"And then one evening he stopped and looked all about..."- (page 33) Time expands.
"Where he stood once with his own father in a winter long ago"-(page 34) References to a time before (flashbacks).
"In the morning they pressed on" -(page 34) Passage of time.
"They slogged all day..."- (page 35) Telescoping through time.
"It took four more days to come down from the snow..."-(page 37) Telescoping through time.
"Then it returned" -(page 38) Time expanding/a more abstract reference to time.
"They were all day reaching the river"-(page 38) Telescoping through time.
"It's getting colder every day"-(page 42) Time expanding.
"The tree had been there for years"-(page 45). More abstract reference to time.

Passage of the days:
"In the evening" pg 92
"In the morning" pg 93
"He woke in the morning" pg 95
"In the afternoon" pg 98
"Eternal blackness" pg 101
"Blackness... darkness..." pg 102
"When day broke" pg 103
"Within the hour" pg 110


Markers in the year:
"It could be November" pg 93
"Snow" - winter - pg 100


Telescoped time:
"In the evening... tomorrow... dark of night" pg 92 - all in one paragraph

"They might have covered three miles" pg 107
"They'd had no food and little sleep in five days" pg 111



Time expands:
 
Before (flash backs):
"He'd had this feeling before" pg 93
"He'd seen it all before" pg 94


Suspended time:
"The snow fell nor did it cease to fall" pg 101

abstract references:

Other:
"In time to wink out forever" pg 93
"It takes a long time" pg 106
"In the early dawn at latest. Running the road in the night" pg 108
"We probably don't have much time" pg 109

Handling of time - Pg 113-133
Passage of days
‘In the night’ – p121
‘it was almost light enough to see’ – 123
‘The boy wouldn’t wake for hours’ – p124
‘He lay there a long time’ – p129
‘They spent the afternoon’ – p131
‘He wondered if it was even midnight’ – 133
‘By evening’ – p133
Telescoped time
‘...rose and set out.
He came across the barn...’ – p124
‘Afternoon... evening...light draw down over the world’ – in one paragraph p131
‘He was gone longer than he’d meant to be’ – gives an indication of time flying p130
Expanded narrative time
‘It was as long night as he could remember out of a great plenty of such nights...dawn was a long time coming...after a while it was day’ – gives a sense of expanded time p132
Before and flashbacks
‘Lingering odour of cows... and he realized they were extinct’ – p127
‘nothing in his memory anywhere of anything so good’ – p130
Abstract references
‘When the time comes? When the time comes there will be no time. Now is the time.’ – p120
‘Phantoms not heard from in a thousand years rousing from their sleep’ – p122
Other
‘He would have ample time later to think about that’ – shows there are no deadlines/rushing p113
‘No time to look’ – contrasts to above quote, shows how we perceive time differs depending on our situation p117
‘stopping to rest each fifty counted steps’ – shows a new way of making references to time; whereas we might say every 5 minutes, the man uses steps as an indication of passing time p123

Pages 155-175

'He followed the man back and forth across the lawn' (Page 155) - Time is being expanded
'It took a long time' (Page 155) - Passage of time
'While the boy slept' (Page 156) - Passage of time
'The town had been abandoned years ago' (Page 157) - References to the past.
'In the night he was wakened by the muted patter of rain' (Page 162) - Passage of time
'They spent the day eating and sleeping' (Page 164) - Telescoping through time
'Impossible to tell what time of the day he was looking at' (Page 164) - Abstract reference to time
'The day was brief, hardly a day at all' (Page 164) - Telescoping through time.
'By dark the rain had ceased' (Page 164) - Passage of time
'They sat for a long time' (Page 167) - Expanding time
'In the long gray dusk' (Page 169) - Passage of time
'They followed him for a while' (Page 171) - Expanding time
Handling of Time (Page 176-196)
‘When did you eat last?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘You don’t remember.’
This shows the reader that there is no reason for people on the road to remember when they have eaten as they have no reason to plan meals. We only plan meals today because our day follows a set routine and we eat to keep up with this. On the road however, day and night have almost become one due to the ash and dust that falls, blocking out the sun. They have no concept of time and no reason for it so all they can really distinguish between is day and night so it is easy to imagine how a person could lose track of the days as they are all the same; as long as they are alive, they have no reason to remember when or what they eat.
‘How old are you?’
Similarly to the food, the old man is unable to truthfully recall his age as there is no reason for him to know it and no reminder of the date. Time and day are hypothetical things created by humans to gain a routine in life. However, mankind is dying out and everybody lives in the moment and has no cause to plan ahead, unless people meticulously count each day then it would be impossible to tell precisely when a year has passed and even if someone did work it out, what would be the point? It’s hardly like they’re going to celebrate. McCarthy uses the old man as an example to show that in the novel, the reader can never be certain as to how much time has passed, as the characters have no idea either.
‘How long have you been on the road?’ ‘I’ve always been on the road.’
Once again, in this section, McCarthy uses the dialogue between two characters to make the reader question the necessity of time; the fact that the man can’t actually remember how long he has been on the road for suggests that time is insignificant. The way that the man says he has always been on the road would suggest that time is standing still for these people. McCarthy handles time simply by putting a halt to it to show that it is just another thing on the road which is dying.
‘People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn’t believe in that. Tomorrow wasnt getting ready for them.’
This quote is suggesting that for all the care we take over time, it doesn’t care about us. It is telling the reader that all the worry we have over keeping to a schedule is ridiculous because time is a made up thing and isn’t going to alter itself to suit us. All the people who worried and invested plans in the future, ironically, weren’t actually as prepared for the next day as they could have been where as those who take each day as it comes are surviving still as they had no expectations and don’t need time to rule their lives.
‘In the morning the stood in the road’
McCarthy gives the reader absolutely no idea what time in the morning they are talking about to once again highlight the lack of importance time holds for people on the road. All they have to go by is the road; they walk along it when it is light enough and sleep when it isn’t, to them it is completely irrelevant what time it is as they have no goals in life other than to get to the sea as quickly as possible with no real aim when they get there, meaning that they can take as long as they need to.
‘In the early afternoon’McCarthy uses slightly more detail in this section. This could be because this is the first time phrase used since they left the old man alone in the road so the man and they boy are paying more attention to time as they are feeling guilty, wondering where the old man is and how long he has been left on his own for.
‘In the night he woke in the cold dark’
McCarthy uses this phrase to lead onto ‘coughing and he coughed till his chest was raw’ to fit in with the image that cold dark night quite often symbolise death, something that we know is imminent for the man but the way the author associates it with time suggests that his time is running out quickly.
‘You said it would last a few weeks’ ‘I know.’ ‘But it’s just been a few days.’
This back up the previous quote in suggesting that time is speeding up and things are going a lot quicker than the man and the boy expected them to.
‘He’d slept little in weeks.’
This shows McCarthy skipping through time to move the novel on but also showing the rapid declination of the man’s health, he gets several weeks worse in the few seconds it takes the reader to read it, to emphasize the point.


Pages 197-217
References to the passage of the day:
'Early the day following'

Markers in the year:
'Three days. Four.'

Passages in which narrative time is telescoped:
'The following day'

Points at which narrative time expands:
P.g. 197- 'When three men stepped from behind a truck'- time expands because there is suddenly a lot more detail than the narrator usually gives; this is because it's a tense, potentially dangerous situation but also could be because it's a break from their monotonous daily lives, so every moment is taken in.

References to before:
P.g. 199- The man dreams of the past in which he visited a half destoyed library.

Points at which time is suspended:
During the mans dreams on p.g. 199.

Abstract references to time:
'They had not gone far'- The novel's characters use distance instead of time as a way to measure their progress, since time is now meaningless but their journey is vital to their survival.


Handling of time pg 218-238

Page 226: 'They stayed in the house for four days eating and sleeping'. Time is contracted into a short paragraph.
Page 229: 'Long days.' Time has suddenly moved on, we cannot tell whether it is days or weeks.
Page 230: 'An hour later...' Chronological order.
Page 233: 'With dark they built a fire.' Shows the turning of day to night.
Page 235: 'In the morning...' Chronological order.
Page 219-224: Several pages devoted to a short time, less than half an hour. Every little detail is told.
Page 228-229: Time goes very fast, one second they are at the abandoned house and in the next paragraph they are standing in a supermarket. Then it skips to 'Long days' and we cannot tell whether is has been days or weeks or months.
Page 234: Flashback, 'he remembered walking once on such a night...' he is comparing his old beach memories to his experiences on the beach now. He is remembering a better time. This is significant because flashbacks occur throughout the novel as a running theme.
Time- Pages 260-280

References to the passage of Time...

1) "He fixed dinner" could suggest evening time p. 261
2) "He loaded the flarepistol and as soon as it was dark" p.262
3) "In the morning" p.263
4) "He held him all night" p.265
5) "In the evening he opened a can of soup" p. 266
6) "...the fire had died down almost to ash and it was a black night" p.266
7) "The boy slept all day" p.267
8) "He tried to stay awake all night" p.267
9) "It rained briefly in the night" p. 268
10) "When he woke again" "Grey daylight" p.268
11) "In two days time" p.270
12) "They went on. It was already late in the day and it wa another hour and deep into the long dusk" P. 273
13) " ...stood there in the cold and gathering dark" p. 278
14) "In the morning" p.279
15) "he woke that night" p.279
16) "In three days" p.280

Markers in the year...

1) "The wintery dawn was coming" p. 266- This suggests that the months are later in the year. We depend on hints like the weather and how McCarthy describes the sceneary to establish/ estimate what time of the year it is.

2) "The earth itself contracting with the cold" p.279 This tells us that it is winter time or maybe the Earths condidtion is just becoming even worse so it is getting colder. Either suggestion could tell us that the novel has moved to the winter months of the year.

3) "What time of year?" p.279 This contradicts the hints of what time of year it is, because the man and the boy do not even know, so it is impossible to be certain what time of year it is.

Narrative time is telescoped...

1) "In three days they came to a small port town"- This passage of time has no mention of what may have happened within those three days,which creates confusion as the reader wonders why this passage of time has gone quicker than others as McCarthy often describes the days/nights events.

2) "In two days' time they were walking the beach as far as the headland and back"- Again time has passed quickly as we do not get any description of what has happened within those two days.

Points at which Narrative time expands...

The shooting of the Road Rat and the stealing of their possessions is an example of Narrative time expanding. This is too build up the tension of what The man will do to him. Also the narrative time could be expanded to show the true character of The man, and how The boy reacts to his fathers actions. The event goes for seven pages. McCarthy may have done this to show the raw emotions of the boy and how his fathers action have shaped and changed his view of him.

Points at which time seems to be suspended...

When The boy and The man are looking for their stolen cart, time seems to be suspended "They went on. It was already late in the day and it was another hour into the long dusk" the words "Another" and "long" create a sense of time going slowly. This creates tension as the reader wonders if they will find their cart as time seems to be running out for them before it starts to get dark. McCarthy suspends time here to build up tension, "They went on." makes it seem like they have been searching of their cart for a long time. This suspends time because we as the readers want them to get their belongings back, but it appears to be taking a while to find the thief so we start to doubt id they will find it.

When the boy becomes ill, time seems susupended. ""You have to stay near, he said. You have to be quick. So you can be with him. Hold him close. Last day of the earth" Time appears to be suspended becasue the we can sense that the man is worried for the boy, and it seems like he is getting worse so time has slowed down and is hanging on to this tense moment. The mans speech also creates suspended time as it appears like he is trying to prepare himself for the worst, which creates more tension.
Pages 302-307
Reference to before-'Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains' page 306
Time seems to be suspended and more abstract view of time- 'On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming' page 307
Time is telescoped 'He cried for a long time' page 306
Time seems suspended 'You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow' page 307

Question 27.
McCarthy tells the story between pages 56-81 of the road using an omniscient third person narrator, he uses a free indirect style in novel form.The first paragraph introduces the post apocalyptic style through the phrase 'birth in grief and ashes' this implies death, destruction and tragedy.McCarthy then goes on to talk about time within this section, he says 'there is no later. this is later' which implies ideas that time posses no significance now. As the reader could have implied that it is non-existent within the two character's lives. Time has effectively disappeared in the same way the world did.McCarthy opens with a reference to the mans wife, 'will you tell him goodbye' this let the reader know there is a flashback and a corrupt sense of time. We know it's a flashback as his wife is mentioned and as the section goes on further she isn't in their lives anymore. When the woman is gone the boy simply says 'she's gone isn't she?', it's as if he never cared for her much in the first place, he doesn't seem hurt by the news. Therefore the novel is known as being non-oedipal as the boy has no desire to still be with his mother when she leaves them. As the mother is not in the present we get the impression McCarthy used her death to symbolise the loss of hope within the world. McCarthy uses non-linear flashback's for example when the boy is born, this flashback is important as it is one of the only times McCarthy state's the boy as the man's 'son'.
Throughout the section McCarthy writes in a post modern effect, 'Her cries meant nothing to him. Beyond the window just the gathering cold, the fires on the horizon'. McCarthy deliberately uses short, simple sentences, by doing this he elevates the post modern style.The lack of punctuation gives an unsettling read, it is as if the lack of punctuation represents the lack of order within the world, everything is corrupt. McCarthy proceeds into a conversation between the man and the boy, 'did you have friends?' yes. i did.' He again uses the post modern style as the reader has to infer who is talking, we don't know for sure.He also has a low cultured style and makes references to the seventies zombie horror with 'were the walking dead in a horror film' this links to the classic horror film dawn of the dead.

As the road rat is introduced McCarthy expands their conversations and describing him to the reader. This shows the tension within the section as McCarthy uses long sentences and short sentences within different orders for example , 'he let go of the belt and it fell in the roadway with the gear hanging from it. A canteen'.. This may introduce a theme of horror and tension. The road rat is a key part within the novel  as we see the man go up against him and he becomes the hero within the novel. However we now see the man in a different way. We see a contrast within the mans character he becomes violent and dangerous, which could make the reader wonder how different the man is to the 'bad men'.We question his intentions does he just kill and hurt others to protect the boy or does he do it because now, he can?
At the end of this section there is a mention of 'the good guys' this shows a social divide even though there is no existence of society as we know it. However as we are still under the impression that there is 'good guys' and bad guys' it gives the reader the impression that there is still a society within the world, maybe it is not totally destroyed.

Other Symbols and Metaphors in the Novel Monday's starter.

Other Symbols and Metaphors in the Novel Monday's starter.

 -Water, cleaning and washing - This is a luxury to the man and the boy not an necessity, They only wash when they can. During the novel their journey begins to get more dangerous. They can stop less and wash. Therefore when they can wash they appreciate it alot more. The two only really wash when it is really needed, 'i wash dead man's brains out of his hair' . This is when it is a necessity as he cant keep a murdered man's brains in his sons hair. Water becomes more important during the novel as they need it to survive. There is irony used at the end of the novel as they are on the setting of a beach with a water surrounding them however they cant drink it as it is grey and salty. They want it but they cant have it.                                 The meaning of water stays the same throughout the novel as there is a constant struggle to find the water and keep themselves hydrated.

-The mountain - In my opinion the meaning stays the same. 

 -The sea - At the start of the novel the sea symbolises hope and serenity. It represents their happiness. Although when they reach the beach it shows disappointment and symbolises their journey being over and pointless. The beach was meant to be their saviour however it was just another disappointment.

-The colour grey  Ash- The grey colour represents the dull days. The meaning of the grey ash stays the same throughout the novel. Hopelessness and an unforgettable destroyed world. 

-Fire - 'we carry the fire'  In a way i think the fire represents a hope for a new world, they are carrying the fire to the new world. If they ever find it. I personally think the man came up with this rouse to make the boy believe that they will be happy eventually again and they wont have to run anymore. The fire is like a childish way for the man and the boy to forgot about the horrid world outside of their bleak life.                             'you have to carry the fire' - this gives the boy hope for his life without the man. 

-Sight/sightlessness - Sight could symbolises sadness. Why would anybody want to see the horror's of the dark damp world.

-Seeds -  Seeds show hope for new life. 

-Music/musical instruments - The music within the novel could show happiness, remind them of the old life when there was joy like music. 

-Animal imagery -

-The coca-cola can - Sharing the coca-cola can that the two find is a big moment for the man and the boy. It shows their bond between each other. This is the boys first fizzy drink. The can shows how deprived the world is now. We take coke for granted however now this could be the last coke left in the world for all we know?

Symbolism in the Novel.

1. The road or journey has often been used as a metaphor for life itself – the journey from birth to death.

The road may represent life as the man lives and dies on the road. It could be argued that the man is walking to his death. The two grow on the road, they change and mold into the people they are.The boy grows in to a positive and moral character. All the boy has ever know is the road, he has been brought up travelling along in the dark of night and the foggy days, his life began on the journey and may possibly finish on the same path however we don't find out as the boy is left walking along the road with the mysterious new family. Although the man is close to death we still see how he has changed throughout the novel and his journey along the dreary road, 'you have my whole heart. You always did' as the man is dieing we finally see the emotion between the man and the boy. It is as if the dark and long journey down the road has changed the man, he has grown to show the boy that it is okay to love something or someone. The man hid his emotion for so long i think this could be because his wife wanted him to hate her before her death. She hurt him. The man has never got over her death so he is never really open to his son until now. This shows the change throughout his life. The journey along the road represents the change within the mans life and how he dies happier now he has let out all of his feelings. I agree with this metaphor as many people live and die on that same road.  
  
2. In American culture, the road is an important symbol. America is a large country and crossing the continent has been seen symbolically as representing a pioneering spirit – striking out into the unknown – or searching for oneself. Many classic American novels (and films) make a journey by road the focus for the narrative, for instance John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath, Jack Kerouac’s On The Road or the film Thelma and Louise.

I agree that it could be argued that the man has a pioneering spirit. He is symbolised as a head- strong character that knows what he needs. This could be because of his past life? Maybe he was a soldier? Or a spy. He understand the world now, its as if he was trained for the end of the world, this is why he has a leading spirit. In my opinion McCarthy uses the road to present an adventurous narrative within the novel. It is a journey that represents hope. Where will it lead? Happiness or just more sadness? The reader follows the road as if they were there with the man and the boy. Although the man and the boy could be presented as having a pioneering personality, they  have this kind of  pioneering spirit because they have to. They have to keep following the road to survive. They don't want to give up because they don't want to die.The two are determined, they are determined to make it to the south to be safe. Therefore the road shows determination within the book, it shows hope. The road is an endless path. The road is symbolised as a endless path of sorrow, that no one knows if it will lead to happiness.

3. The epic journey has a much longer literary and cultural history. Going back to Greek literature, in Homer’s The Odyssey, Ulysses goes on a long journey and encounters many tests and trials, both physical and mental, before returning to his homeland. The epic work The Divine Comedy by the Italian medieval poet Dante shows the poet on a journey in the afterlife, to Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, shows the pilgrim Christian leaving his home in this world and travelling to the ‘Celestial City’. Gulliver’s Travels is a fantastical journey to other worlds, in which the main character discovers more about his own world by contrast with the societies he encounters.

I agree the journey shows tests for the man and the boy. The man is tested, 'just help him papa, help him' the boy is testing his father. Will he show morals and help a man who has wronged? Will he give a man a second chance in life, or will he take no pitty on the weak. 
There are mental challenges for the man, challenges he can not overcome, 'i cant hold my son dead in my arms. i thought i could but i cant'. This is the constant challenge presented to the man throughout the whole of the novel however in the end we understand this challenge is just to hard for the man. He is distraught at the thought of this mental and physical challenge. The man is shown as a strong character and nothing can knock him down although towards the end of the novel we see his character deteriorate, we see he is not as unyielding as we once thought. In my opinion the road finally cracks the man's hard exterior. It gradually breaks his spirits, once he See's there is no hope left at the beach, he cannot keep going down the dark and gloomy road that never seems to end.

4. The journey as a structure for a novel implies a particular kind of pattern, where there are episodes along the way. The journey involves meeting new challenges and dangers, the chance of luck to bring fortune or difficulties, and is often structured around a struggle for survival, away from the routine and security of a home environment.

The journey along the road is split up into sections as if they were chapters. The road has so many challenges along the way that it could be presented  and symbolised as hopelessness. Eventually everyone along the road will have to give up as there will always be a new challenge around every dingy corner. One day it will be a challenge that they can not defeat. There is a on-going struggle for survival as the man and the boy are always searching for food. They are always hiding from the 'bad men'. The only routine the man and the boy have is the constant mention of breakfast and dinner. This shows the man wants to keep an inch of routine in the boys life, this will show the boy some normality.

- I was a little un-sure on this task.

The end.
Part 2- more reading homework.

'knowing that some hope can be found for humanity in the form of the harmless young boy provides a glimpse of optimism in an otherwise completely depressing setting'

amazon reader view.
- hope can be found
-will the boy find happiness eventually?
-will the world be saved whilst he is alive?
It shows that the ending of the book, could be construed as happiness and hope for the boys life and the world being re-built.

'uplifting ending for about 5 minutes and then i thought 'hang on a bit , why do we think this guy is good guy when we haven't come across any good guys in the whole book!'

-Makes the reader question the ending and re consider what they have read.
- I disagree with this response as Ii personally think the ending should be taken on a positive note so that the reader may believe that their still good in the world and their will be happiness for the boy in his life with the strangers.

1.  How feminist critics would look at the novel.
2. Death symbolises hope for the boy as he would join his mother and father.
3. He is attracted to female personalities as at the end of the book he wants to spend everyday with the woman. (the boy)
4. When the man dies the mood alters it is more relaxed and hopeful.
5. McCarthy uses 3rd person free indirect style, where the reader feels that they are feeling the events from the characters prospective.
  

>critical

>symbolism

>hope

>relaxed                                                  -Protection.

                                        

 

McCarthy in his own words.
-McCarthy doesn't plot his stories, he expects the ideas to come to him naturally.
-wrote it in a few weeks - like it came natural to him.

-McCarthy took a trip to his son and imagined the town they were staying in 100 years down the line, 'fires up on the hill and everything being laid to waste' -The ideas for the actual book came from that night in the hotel when he wrote 2 pages and realised that the ideas were good enough to become a book. He realised that the book was 'about the man and the boy'.

- 'I had no idea where it was going to end'  - This could be the reason he added deus ex machina. Why people may think the ending is a little plain. Maybe McCarthy didn't finish it the way he should.

-'simple straight forward story' - why he uses simple sentences and punctuation. He hides the devices he uses within the sentences so the reader doesn't notice them until they properly Analise the novel.

-Alot of thing that the kid says are things that john said' - The boys character was based on his son, his son gave him inspiration for the boys character. 'papa, what would you do if i died'. Their conversations are like the man and the boys.

-Its more important to be good than it is to be smart'. This links to the boy as he is the good one in the book. He shows morals, it could be suggested he is a good omen in the book.

He received the same letter from a few people around the world that said the same thing, 'i got up and went upstairs and got my kids up and i just sat there in the bed and just held them' -Its as if he wrote the novel to be sad and heartbreaking because he wants to make the reader appreciate what they have.

-'If you write properly you shouldn't have to punctuate' -Thins he is good enough writer to make the book simple and hardly punctuate.He wants to prove you don't have to use alot of punctuation to make a great story.

- [is this a love story to your son?] -'in a way i suppose it is' -Having a son affected his life dramatically and gave him the inspiration to write the novel.- The novel is about the man and the boys relationship and how it is affected by the dangers on the road. It could be argued that it is a love story to his son as although there are bumps along the road in their life they will always love each other unconditionally.

Voice and Point of view.
122...
Had no idea...he slept.

-Begins with the narrator.
-The man begins - 'in what direction did lost men veer?'
He questions himself, (rhetorical question)
-They've been following a map.
-Just escaped the house of cannibals now the mood is panicked and disorientated.

At the begining of the paragraph on page 122 it starts with the voice of the omniscient narrator. However it then changes to  3rd person point of veiw of the man as he asks himself a rhetorical question, 'in what direction did lost men veer?' , The voice only changes to the man for this one question this gives us a disorientated feeling. The man doesnt know where he is going and he is questioning his life as he know's it. He does not understand his life anymore and if it even has a purpose.
It is not signalled when the narrative ends and the dialogue begins. -Leaves the reader confused and lead to make up their own assumptions.

McCarthy uses 3rd person free indirect style -'he woke in the dark woods in the leaves shivering violently' The reader fells the mans feelings at this point they feel involved. As the readers we want the man and the boy to make it out alive. We want them to survive so we become emotionally attatched to their characters and their life throughout the novel.

'phantoms not heard from in a thousand years' - dream sequences related.
We enter a luminal state. The mood is dark and weary.
Confusing, is it the mans thought or is it his dream.
unattributed thoughts?
'thousand years' - he's bringing up the past. The man rembers what he wants to forget. His feelings haunt him.They control the way he acts and his personality now. - Makes the reader wonder what the 'phantoms' could be? has he done something in his past life that he regrets?
Is it his wife he is thinking of? - Controling him even in death.
His past life has destroyed his future, he cannot conrtol his feelings. He cant imagine the happy thought as the bad out weighs the good. He may struggle with certain things now, Like the bad memories have cursed him and that is why his life is pointless. He cant imagine a happy ending for himself.

Exploratory analysis of the woman,

5,8,2,1,7,4,3,6.

 Five
'The woman has a powerful and ambiguous symbolic function in the novel: she represents both the giving of life and the temptation of death' 
-symbol of hope.
-She kills herself - symbolicof hope for the young boy? 'just take me with you, please'
                                                     He wants to die so he can be with his mother and father. -Happiness 
                                                                                                                                           -Peace.
 Could she be seen as selfish for killing herself?
-She killed herself slowly, painfully. 
-Maybe to punish herself for leaving her son and husband alone.
                    -She had the option to take the bullet but she chose to let them have the bullets to save themselves eventually 

'Wake himself from just such siren worlds'
-symbolis that the woman can control him even in death.

'Cradling her belly in one hand'
- symbolises hope, she is giving life.
- woman represent a light at the end of the tunnle?
Could be misread as selfishnes, she is bringing a new life into a world that is over.
 

BfG

She woke in the bleak night.
She crept along the dark wooden floor boards of the orphanage.
The night was dark beyond darkness as she starred out of her open window.
The sky became bright for a second and there was a loud crash of thunder outside.
She looked out of her window once more, only this time she noticed a giant dark outline at the end of the road.
She froze still, trying not to be heard, she took a deep breath and watched the figure's grey shadow.

The giant pulled a rusty gold pipe from his satchel and then from an already opened jar he took a handful of sparkling dust and he blew the dust through the pipe and into an open window.
She was astonished. Her face was empty, she didn't know how to react to her discovery and then she made a slight shriek.
The giant starred right at her.
He was wearing a long cape and his feet were huge and on his feet he wore leather brown sandals.
His face wasn't very visible although from what could be seen he looked quite old. After seeing his face she ran back to her bed. The old floor boards began to creak, yet still nobody woke.
She leaped onto her bed and pulled her greyish cover tight over her head to hide herself away from all the nightmares outside, she felt invisible when hiding under that ugly quilt.
She peaked through the cover and a light from the street lamp shined onto her face.
Again she buried her head in her hands and returned to the sanctuary of her covers. Whimpering, she tried to stop breathing so heavily.
Once more she lifted just her eyes over the covers to see if he was still there. A dark shadow reflected into  the room and a hand twice the size of her came rushing towards her. The hand grabbed hold of the covers she was wrapped up inside. She was too scared to scream.The hand pulled her out of the window and then  carried her into the dismal night.

He ran across fields. He ran across bridges. He ran through towns and villages.
He eventually made it to a cliff, he ran straight up and leaped off the edge, part of the cliff broke off as he huge feet pushed off of the ground. He floated into the vague night sky and up toward the illuminated moon.

The giant landed back down on the other side of the moon. Only here the world was bumpy and everywhere was full of mountainous rocks, all dull and murky. The giant hopped from rock to rock, he did it with ease.
The giant eventually landed on solid ground.He began to creep like someone was following him and kept checking behind himself looking from left to right.
He heard groans so he hid for a minute behind one of the rocks but he quickly began to run again down the long, thin valley.
He finally arrived at a cave, you couldn't see the end of the cave as it went down for miles. All that could be seen was blackness.
The giant began walking into the misty cave, his hood was still over his head and covering most of his face, the girl was hidden in his pocket.
When they had made it deep into the cave they reached a dead end. The giant took the girl from his pocket and placed her down on a bumpy rock beside him, He then lunged and opened a big stone door. It slowly creaked open.
 The dust cleared.

He picked her up and carried her inside and then layed her on his kitchen table.
She quickly pulled the cover away from her face and the giant did the same with his cape.
The giants ear's were bigger than his head and he had fluffy white hair and bushy eyebrows. His skin was pale like a porcelain doll and she could tell he was old as his skin was wrinkly . His eye's were like piercing crystal's, a deep blue colour.
The giant peered right down into her face and sniggered and said what has us got here?
He spoke again, i is hungry.
oh please don't eat me!
I spots what you is thinking, he said as he tapped his big nose and then chuckled.
Because i is a giant, you thinks i is going to gobbles you up and crunch your bones!
oh please, she cried out.
There's ingredient book's wheres giants is eating up little girls for supper and snacks!
yes don't they?
oh yes, this is what giants is doing, all the giants in giant country. They is guzzling up human beings every night.
Human beings? 
yes. Human beings like you is.
Bone crunching giant he likes turkey best.
Oh turkey, that's not human beings, its a bird. She was reassured.She smiled and looking innocent she let out a slight giggle.
The giant smiled back.
He shook his head and sighed.
Me? Eating peoples? Oh all the others yes. But not me, oh no i is a nice giant, theres not another giant like me in all the giants country. I is the big friendly giant.
He opened his arms out as if he was offering her a hug, he had a huge smile on his face as he announced, the BFG. He let out a chuckle and  pointed to himself , thats me!
The giant stood up with a grin on his face,
well now is you liking some supper?  She stuttered ,You're really not going to eat me?
Ha of course i is not eating you, he laughed as he took a few steps to a tub in the corner of his dreary cave.
The giant pulled a dusty lid off the tub and pulled out a long oval shaped object with circular bumps all over it. The shape was black and it had dark red stripes all the way around it.
She had never seen anything like it before.
Still holding the strange object he placed the lid back on the jar and turned around and said i eats snozzcumbers.

The Opening

- we learn the characters are a man and a boy.
'he'd reach out to touch the childsleeping beside him'
- he fears losing the child.
-he fears losing him so we get the imporession it could be his child.
-he cares for him alot wants him to be safe.
-emotionally attatched.

Dramatic opening, we understand the post-apocalyptic style.

'night dark beyond darkness.'
McCarthy uses a limited linguistic pallete -
'more gray each one'
Uses dark colours like grey and black to describe what the world is like now. So we get the impression  something has defiantly happened to it.
It could represent a loss of hope. As the days get darker more hope dissapears.
'tollinmg in the silence the minutes of the earth' - time stands still. There is nothing to hope for nothing to look forward to. -emptyness -lost -desolate -post-apocalyptic.
'there'd be no survivng another winter here' , the reality of their life.
-panic -desperation -empty souls, wandering on without a cause now everything is lost.
'this was not a safe place' - we get the impression  no where is safe now. There life is a constant struggle.
fear of the unknown? They dont know what they fear but they do know that nothing is safe now.
'barren, silent, godless' there life is empty. What is there to live for? each other?
'glaucoma' -dull.

Change of mood..
-'when he got back the boy was still asleep' . There is a relief the boy is still there.
Doesnt trust anything or anyone.
Never rest's as he is always alert and ready to protect the boy.

 'we have to go back' -intense, raises questions. why? Builds tension.

As the man talks about his dream..

'and on the far shore a creature' 'crouching there pale and naked translucent' 'pulsed in a dull glass bell'

-luminal state.

-supernatural

-dull

-gloomy

-meaningless

- His dreams are empty and bleak exactly the same as his life now.  Could be like a nightmare? He is living in a nightmare? 

 Back on the road. Desperatly searching for food. Their days are always the same.-constant struggle.
-slowly giving up throughout the novel.
Always looking back in his mirrors.Always looking through the binoculars 'he got the binoculars'
-Somebody watching them?
-Can't protect themselves anymore?
-Always on edge.
-Doesnt trust anyone.

Structure and Time
86
Time-'the darkening town' - the night is drawing in.
'they slept in a parked car' -evidence It is night.
Time over night is contracted. We never learn much about what happens around them when they rest.

• markers in the year-'shivering', could show its winter.

'in the morning' -signals it is time for them to move again soon. They are never in one place for too long.
127
Time-'he held it up to the light' - daytime now. Light is unusual as it is meant to be dull in the world now. everything is cold.
Time is expanded as McCarthy describes the barn scene.
The man stops to think
'he stood thinking of cows'
'lingering odour of cows.'
'stood listening to the wind'
He takes time to reflect on  their life now.
Emptiness.
There life is now leading to nothing.
208
'long night away' -night.
Thew nights are getting slower. As if even trying to rest is a chore to him now. He cant sleep because he always has to be alert. This is why time passes slower.

• McCarthy mentions breakfast and dinner constantly throughout the book. It is like he wants to keep routine to their life. As if they still have structure to their day.

'with their plates and some cornmeal cakes' 3     Breakfast and dinner shows normality in day to day life. It could show that the man wants to try and keep the boys life as normal as possible. He doesn't want to fall out of a routine as it keeps them sane.
'they ate a sumptuous meal by candle light'   162 -this is a treat for them?  'a meal' normally their food is just described as can goods. (dinner)

5+5=1

• Not edapal as the mother is completly removed.
• No names shows distance between the man and the boy.
• Sibilance is used to mimic the river.
• We learn hardly anything about the man and the boy. There is nothing special about them as the world has ended nothing matters now.
• Time is expanded and contracted over events that are important.

-Distance
-Tension
-lonliness
-Un-natural

-Hopeless

Ending..
When does the end begin, in my opinion...
-When they reach the beach. (230)
'He could see the disappointment in his face'
'im sorry it's not blue, he said' - They were hoping that when they reached the south there would be a little joy for them seeing colour. They were searching for that little bit of hope.
'out their was the grey beach' - limited linguistic pallate.
desolation of some alien sea breaking on the shores'
'vast and cold and shifting'
Links
Loss of hope: It links to when the mother commits suicide. There is a loss of hope as the world cannot carry on without women reproducing.
There is also Loss of hope because she gave up on them. She couldn't handle living in a world of fear and darkness.
Themes
- Hopeless
-Disappointment
-Danger
-Anger
-Depressing
-lonliness
McCarthy bring the novel to a close by raising further question's in the mind of the reader.
For example..
-Is he safe with this new family?
-Are they going to try to kill and eat him.
-Can they be trusted?
-Do they simply just want to protect and care for him?
-Will they rape him?
Why i chose the beach as the beginning of the end...
Throughout the whole of the book, they are trying to get to the south.They finally make it when they arrive at the beach. It is the anti-climax of the novel. The beach is where they were always trying to get too.
The beach is the man and the boys final destination together. The time they have together there is important as it is their last before the man will die. It is the most key setting as it is where the book ends.
The man says 'im sorry it's not blue', he has promised his son that they will be happy when they reach the south but it is just the same again. As if they are searching for colour, it is like there search for hope. The colour would have been something nice to look at instead of the same bleak world.
There are dead fish washed up on the shore. This shows that now the world is hopeless as everything is destroyed. It could also represent no hope being left for them. When they reach the beach all hope vanishes. This was their last chance.
Now the man knows their is no hope he doesn't care about the journey .He never manages to fulfil his duties that have been building up throughout the novel.His duties have been haunting him throughout the book and before he dies he can't even manage to go through with the killing of his son.It is too hard for him and it shows the first part of emotion in the novel.

I find the ending disappointing as i thought we would have a more definite look on the man and the boys life now.We are involved as the reader  so we hope for a happy ending.
I find it disappointing as the man just dies. We don't know what from he just slowly dies in his sleep. The boy then just leaves with a family he has just met. Nobody knows what happens. We are left to decide. It could be argued that McCarthy uses a Dues ex machine as the family at the end just fix everything for the boy and he isn't alone anymore. However this creates disappointment as we don't know what happens when the boy leaves with them...

Pages  1-6

During the first six pages we establish the setting of the novel 'There'd be no surviving another winter here' this tells the reader that the winters are becoming more dangerous. It shows there is a constant struggle to survive during theses hard times, they cant settle as they need to keep going. McCarthy uses dark colours to make the world seem dull and desolate ' days more Gray each one than what had gone before'.
We are introduced to the father and his son, we learn about the man and his mannerisms 'When it was light enough to use the binoculars he glassed the valley below' his character is nervous in his surrounding as he is constantly checking around him. It also shows he doesn't trust anyone; he is always alert as his life is a constant struggle to survive.
There is a release of tension when he See's his son is safe after he returns 'When he got back the boy was still asleep' this is the when the man can be calm for a little while before they have to start moving again. He doesn't have to protect his son for a short while he can rest and be at peace.
The boy still calls his father 'Papa' this could be a lighter moment in the novel it shows the young boy is still holding on to reality of their old life when they were a family. This part of the novel could also tell the reader that the boy still wants to get his father's attention where as the man is trying to keep the distance between them. However i  think it is a lighter moment in the book as it shows they are still close after everything they have been through probably because they only have each other left.Therefore it is a happier and lighter moment during the introduction.
The introduction to the novel is very descriptive 'deep stone flues where the water dripped and sang' i think McCarthy makes it descriptive so that we can establish the setting and understand that the book is a dark and depressing horror.
The introduction is a key pert of the novel as it introduces the two characters and shows the world as it is now.

Pages 50-53

This could be classed as a key part of the novel as they encounter an injured man. As the man is still trying to show the boy that they are good people it is interesting to see how he will react around the stranger and if he will show the boy that there are no good guys now.
The boy asks his father who the injured man is, his father responds with 'Who is anybody?' the man is trying to show that no body can be trusted now the world has ended. It also could represent nobody having any significance. Nothing is important any more apart from staying alive. The world is lost, there are no rules and everybody has taken the world into their own hands.This line also shows the distance the man is trying to keep between his son and himself. He wants to implant the fact you can trust nobody in his sons mind so that if they are ever separated his son may be able to try and survive for a while.
The boy still has a naive mind as he hasn't fully learnt about the world 'can't we help him papa?'  he doesn't understand that everybody is out for themselves now. The man wants to teach him to not trust anybody but he can't fully because he still wants the boy to have a little bit of happiness in his life.
There is an increase in tension as they pass the man that has been struck by lightning 'as they passed they looked down'  the tension is increased at this point as we feel sympathy for the man and we want the two to help him but we know they can't. There is also tension as we don't know if the injured man will react to the two or if he will just sit there. We don't know if there will be any conflict.
McCarthy uses simple sentences when the man and his son are talking. There is hardly any punctuation either, 'im talking to you know.' 'are you sure?' 'yes.'  i think he uses hardly any punctuation because he wants to show that it is post modern. You can never tell who is speaking you are left to work it out for yourself this shows that McCarthy is trying to elevate the low culture style of novels.

Pages 62-69

From the start of this section we witness a change of mood from the start as this section is covered in danger as the tension slowly rises. Page 62 has a certain rise of tension. It is the first scene when the man is really un easy 'he looked down at the boy and when he looked back toward the road the first of them were already coming into view' this is the first real danger the man and boy witness. I think the reader would become emotionally attached to the man and his son and as the novel progresses they will strive for their safety, i think McCarthy did this purposely though to make us sympathise with the two more.This will keep them interested.
Although the man tries to keep a distant relationship with the boy throughout the novel he constantly reassures him like a father would 'Its alright he said.Come on' so we are reminded that they are the only ones that each other have and even if the man tries to fight that he can't because they have a natural bond that will always be there.
This is the first scene within the novel when we witness the evil in the world and the reason why they never settle ' i think you're chickin shit.' strangers approaching them is dangerous as they could have back up anywhere in this case the man did.This is why the man is always alert. However now this first big event has happened I now think the story will begin to unravel.
From here we are left to believe that the book is going to become more dangerous maybe the worst is yet to come...

Page 112-121

Although the man and the boy seem to have a distant relationship the boy is always looking on to him for guidance maybe like they would before the end of the world ' The boy clung to him as they climbed the steps' this shows that the boy is comforted by his father, its like he is always trying to grab his fathers attention. There relationship is then seen in a different light when the man shows him affection ' he held the boy's hand' we see the affection between the two, like they are all each other has and even if the man tries to keep the distance i don't think he wants to because he knows neither could survive without each other.However the man gradually gets more fed up with the young boy, the man wants him to be brave and understand that they need to survive 'just stop it. we're starving. do you understand?' he is agitated by the company he has had for the last however many years. There is never any change within their life and he cant handle that he has to deal with the struggle of keeping his son safe and convince him that they will be okay. Every single day. I see this part of the novel as the main horror. Throughout this section there is a build up of tension, then we are introduced to the room of mutilated people.Before McCarthy describes the people he talks about the cold cupboard they are in, it is described as 'cold and damp' as you would expect in a room full of half sliced up humans.The cold atmosphere makes the scene seem eerie and this makes the build up bigger to when the people are introduced.
We see how the world has returned into savagery, now there are no rules people feel as if they can do what they want and they are taking everything into their own hands. Everybody's out to save themselves.
The bad men are the evil within the novel it could be argued that they represent the corruption in the world. Although the world it broken they are digging it a deeper hole that it cannot recover from.
The mood changes once the man has seen the mutilated people. There is a tension will they make it out or wont they?
This part of the novel is expanded, there are nine pages devoted to the finding of the mutilated people. I think this part is expanded because it is such a harsh reality to the man and his son. We know it will affect the boy alot more than the man because he doesn't have as much of a hard exterior whereas the man has adapted to the world he has learnt that no body is what they seem.
On page 120 there is a reckoning for the man. McCarthy asks the man if he could kill his son when the time comes. It is a key line in the book McCarthy say 'when the time comes?' like he is expecting it to happen, it is like a fake foreshadowing. Us the reader, want the man and the boy to make it to the end and survive the whole way through but there is constant foreshadowing that one will die; The man keeps one bullet in the gun so he can kill the boy if he needs to. He has trained his son to kill himself if he is in too much danger. The novel is a pathway to their death.We have to expect it.

Pages 210-215

At the start of this section we get the impression that it is evening as there is a fire 'it's just a small fire'.The sentences are simple with a lack of commas. McCarthy makes the sentences short so that it is a build up of tension, there is the odd long sentence.This gives us the idea of a theme of scary music. The sentences speed up and then slow down.
The man knows somebody has ran from them. He thinks it's because they have a gun, 'They saw we had a gun.'. The sentence comes to a sudden stop, when read aloud the word gun at the end makes the sentence sound like it finishes with a bang.
Unlike most of the novel this section is not that repetitive.The simple sentences get straight to the point.I think this is because it is so serious, it is the main horror within the novel.
As we are told about the infant the part of the novel is contracted. There is only two lines describing the body. The young boy is very unsettled by the infant's body, 'He didn't know if he'd ever speak again' i think the boy reacts this way because he knows that it could be himself  if he was caught by other men. I also think this could show the boy how bad the dieing world is now as i think up until now he was very naive about the world still.I think the infants body could make the father ans son's relationship drift further apart as he made the son go and see what was on the fire with him. The son may blame the man for what he saw, this could affect their lives as the boy may never trust the man again.
We are know it is night time now, 'they camped'. The man and the boy are next to a river, McCarthy uses sibilance to mimic the sound of the running river. This section could remind the reader of a poetic feel, the river is loud and continuously flowing like in the poem "The Ancient Mariner" when the story is based on the sea.This part of the section is expanded as McCarthy talks just about the two being next to a river and the man planning a path on his map in ten lines. There is a lack of commas throughout the paragraph. The sentences are long like lists. It is as if the sentences are like chores to the man. McCarthy lists the sentences with 'He' at the start of most of them. This could show that the man does everything for the two, as if he is annoyed that he has to do everything, this could link back to the man losing his wife. He could have built up anger because she left him to deal with there son, maybe he could think she was a little selfish?
We now know it's daytime as McCarthy says 'the following day'.
When the man and the boy are talking we are left to decide our selves who is talking at which time. As they talk there sentences are short and all finish with either full stops or question marks. This is a key point as they may be short because they have been with each other for how ever many years just those two, they have only had each other to speak to, they could be bored of each other or they could have ran out of things to say. Being with one person for all that time non-stop they must know every single detail about each other and that could be frustrating for them both.They never have any of there own time alone.
At the bottom of page 215 we find out that McCarthy has skipped two days without us knowing 'they'd not eaten in two day' this could represent how their days are full of emptiness and sadness. They never have anything to look forward to. Their days are constantly the same, they are repetitive just like the sentences in the book 'and' 'and' 'and'. It is as if the days that have passed don't matter, that is why we skipped them without knowing.

Page 227-230

McCarthy uses 'and' in this section this is important as it makes the life they live sound constant and repetitive. It is always the same to them.
This section of the book is expanded McCarthy adds so much detail to the man's discoveries. The man discovers a wheelbarrow, 'He found a wheelbarrow and pulled it out' , it could be argued that it is expanded because the man is relieved, maybe he could even have the slightest bit of happiness.So he wants to emphasis the tiny bit of relief the man has for a small time, then it is gone.
McCarthy again skips ahead two days without us knowing as he says 'When they left two days later'.As the plot progresses we get the impression that their days are becoming more continuous. Like nothing is changing for them, not getting better or worse.
Although the world has ended the man still cares about breakfast and dinner, 'they ate well'. The man still cares about routine. He thinks it is important to keep the boys life steady and stable.Maybe he thinks one day in the future the boy will need stability to survive on his own.
We are shown the man relaxing for one of the few times in the novel, 'At night, he woke coughing'  however even his one chance he gets to sleep he cant, it's like he is cursed maybe from his past life. He is damaged from what he has seen and how he has to live now.
The days are now described by McCarthy 'long days' this could represent how the man is feeling now, he could be in agony from his never-ending journey. From his son always nagging him or his constant struggle along the road. The 'long days' shows a mundane and depressing feel.
The two finally make it to the beach This is a big destination for them as they have been travelling south for so long.
They are then sitting down on the beach ' An hour later'. Everything on the beach is dark and dingy, 'Black sea' this is a disappointment for both of them as they hoped once they got to the south they would be happier and warmer. However everything still seems the same.Once again nothing has changed for them. McCarthy uses one word sentences, they are sharp, 'desolate. Birdless' . The word's express the emptiness on the beach this contrasts with our normal ideas of beach's ,We imagine them with children running around, the sun shining, and the crystal blue ocean washing up on the shore. I think McCarthy does this on purpose to show us how much the world has changed and dissolved into this dark damp hole.
This is a key section as they reach their final destination.

Page 270-278

We are first told that this section begins in the evening, 'They sat that evening by the fire'.
The man is not a selfish character he cares about the boys life way more than his own 'the boy drank hot soup and the man turned his steaming clothes on the sticks and sat watching him'. The man seems to be watching the boy to ensure that he eats all he can. He wants the boy to be strong enough so that if the man dies he can survive for a while if he cannot find food alone. The man could also be fixated on the boy eating because he is longing for food himself.
McCarthy passes two days by pretty much over night.They are passing without us knowing,  As if they don't matter, it could represent the man knowing their journey together is coming to an end. Or McCarthy could be contracting the days so he can get to a more important part of the novel.
The man and the boy are suddenly in danger. I say suddenly because they are 'trudging'  along the beach looking for anything of interest and as soon as they come back the man notices danger. There is never a moment of rest and calm for the man. We know that something bad is about to happen as the man See's 'bootprints in the sand' this will leave the man on edge as when he looks around at first he See's nothing.
This adds suspense to the section. We don't know who is there, why they are there of if they are in serious danger. The tension is built as the sentences start long and get shorter, 'Oh Christ, he said. Oh Christ.' The man curses god, this shows he has lost all beliefs. He has given up with thinking anybody will help them.
Once they discover their stuff is gone the sentences are short and precise. When read aloud in my opinion it should be read slowly.This would show the sorrow the man is feeling, 'Their blankets.' The sentences are short that it is as if it is final for them, they cannot survive without that cart, it holds their life together. He is feeling guilty that he left the cart, 'you stupid-ass, he said. You stupid ass.' He knows that they cant survive without that cart it has everything they need. This section has a sense of panic and the tension build as we don't know how the plot will progress. Will they get their stuff back and keep going on their journey? Or will this be it for them, will the bullet be needed?
They go off to look for their stuff 'they set off down the black top in opposite directions' this may represent them slowly separating. The distance is getting bigger between them, they are splitting up to find their stuff alone. This is the first time the boy will see what it is like to wander the road alone.
Then there is the first sign of the man becoming ill, ' leaning over and coughing'. This foreshadows something bad is going to happen as we know without the man carrying on, the boy cant carry on either.
We now know it is night, ' deep into dusk'.
The man is always prepared to kill. We get the impression that killing someone now doesn't affect him 'I'll kill you where you stand'. It could lead the reader to believe that the man has been trained to kill. Maybe he could have been in the army before the end of the world. However he has a weakness, he doesn't want to kill his son. who would? But he knows he has to therefore this haunts him throughout the novel and now we see a ferocious side to him. He is angry and he wants to kill.
The boy's naive mind is once again shown as he shows sympathy for the thief 'oh papa, he sobbed.' He calls him papa and it shows the innocence of his age. He doesn't understand why the man wants to make the thief suffer. The reader may get the impression that the boy is scared, scared that his father is becoming a 'bad guy'.
The man goes on to state 'you're not the one who has to worry about everything' for one of the only times we witness the man being afraid. He is scared of running out of food. He is scared of being cold. He is scared of death. He has removed his hard exterior and now it is as if he is having a break down and showing the boy that he is struggling to be brave for the both of them.
It is now dangerous for the man and the boy as they are left on the road at night 'up the road and stood there in the cold and the gathering dark.
Although the world has ended and the man has no idea of the date or time he still cares about routine to their day, 'he sorted out cans for their supper', this tells us that he is trying to stick to normality maybe to keep them both sane.
The boy is so angry with the man in the next section that there is an anxiety that we don't know if their relationship will be damaged for the rest of their time together?
could this affect how long they go on for now?
The boy is angry with the man at the end of this section. He is disappointed with his father 'but we did kill him' the boy now realises that no one can survive. In my opinion i think that the boy thinks his father is selfish.
When read aloud the last section should be read slowly however the longer sentences should be read as if they are dragging, the 'and' keeps them together like the tasks they are both doing are pointless.
The boys last statement is like the difinative answer, 'but we did kill him.' it should be read in a blunt way. Like nothing matters any more. This will show the boys disappointment and his sorrow for the man.
The last line leaves us in suspense as we a wait to see if the boy will ever forgive the man. Or if he will ever trust him again.

5+5=1

What I've learnt about The road..

It is known as a road story..

It takes the characters on a journey but they stick to the same path. They meet unusual and new character along the journey. Road storys are mainly american.

It is a low cultured book..

It is known as being low cultured because it is disposable, it is quick to read and trys to elevate the low culture.

It is a post modern novel..

The novel is diliberatly contradictive. We are made to believe it is not real as the world has ended.The novel ignores ignores regular conventions. It is short and simple and most of the time we are left to guess who is speaking in the novel.

McCarthy took idea for the bookk from 'Dawn of the dead' and ' Texas chain saw masacre'.

For example when the man and his son enter the house of cannibals the idea was taken from 'Texas chain saw masacre'.

The novel is a Post apocolyptic Story.

-The world has ended and there is a world of death (deathscape)

-Journey.

The Road, Cormac McCarthy...

'This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man's brainsout of his hair. That is my job'

This quote from The Road tells the reader that there is a father and a son. He calls his son 'child' instead of his name or son this shows the distance between them. The father does'nt want to get to close to him. He is washing his sons hair because it has 'dead man's' brains in it. This could tell the audience that the novel is a horror as someone has been shot the same way zombie's are killed, in the head. Somebody has been shot and his father is only just washing the hair out of his sons heads which shows that it is more imprtant to get away from the dead man rather than stand around and wash themselves.The short sentences get staright to the point this could show the man is ashamed of himsef and doesnt want the reader to know what he has done.

'yes i am, he said. I am the one'

The man is stating he is 'the one' this could be contsrued as arrogance from him.When we think back to the novel he is the main character in the story and he controls all of the actions.He makes sure his son is taken care or and he protects them both and will do anything to keep them alive.Although the things he does like stealing food and killing men could be misread as him being mean and selfish to ther people in the book really he is showing heroism as he is protecting his son, if he didnt have this kind of persona he and his son would defiantly be dead by now.

'tamatoes,peaches,beans,apricots.Canned hams.Corned beef'

This quote from the novel just lists types of food. At first reading this line the reader would think nothing of it just a simple list of food however to the father and son this simple list of food is their lifeline.Which makes the food is important to the story. We now get the impression that the characters dont have much food and they rely on the simple food they do get.This simple list shows imagery of vivid colours and happiness this contrasts with the rest of the story as the snow is grey and slushy and the weather is wet and miserable.

'Are we still the good guys, he said'

The novel shows a theme of good and evil. The quote  is more of a statment from the young boy it shows that the characters are still hoping there is good in the world and they are still good. I get the impression that the character could be very innocent as they want to remain pure and good.We get the impression that the character saying this may not trust the others actions.There maybe no trust in their relationship but they have to stick together. From this quote we could imagine that the novel may be a story where good triumphs bad.

 'We should go, papa, he said. Yes the man said. But he didnt'

The son  tries to steer away from danger, throughout the whole of the novel. I get the impression that the son thinks he knows best and he wasnts his father to listen to what he has to say. However the fact that he doesnt argue with his father at this point could show that he trusts his father and knows that he would never purposley let him get hurt physically or mentally. The father is called 'papa' in the novel this shows that the soon wants to be close to his father. It could also show that he is a young boy and he has'nt grown up fully yet to understand the things his father does. The father's character is called 'the man' this shows the distance between the two and how the father doesnt want to get to close to his son. We get an idea of the story during this quote as the son seems to be scared and wants to leave however his father seems to be entised by something and he wants to stay and maybe check what ever is fixating him.

'The snow fell nor did it cease to fall'

Pathetic fallacy is used in this quote to show that the book could have a cold and sad feeling to it. The snow is a never ending nightmare throughout the novel it is repetative in the past of the book and the present.  This shows imagery of the snow pouring fast and heavy and trapping the father and son so that they cant leave the cruel part of the world they are in.

'Okay? Okay.'

The first okay is a question like the boy needs reassurance from his father.I get the impression that he doesnt understand what has happened to the world and he wants his father to explain everything to him however that would corupt his mind and maybe he wouldnt want to keep trying to survive with his father.The full stop at the end shows that the man is confdent about his final answer and he is using a full stop so that the boy knows not to ask again. The full stop could symbolise how the world has suddenly ended, although we dont know how it ended it has an abrupt ending and the full stop is representive of that as it shows that the simple sentence has ended quickly.

 'They sat on the edge of the tub and pulled their shoes on and them he handed the boy the pan and soap and he took the stove and the little bottle of gas and the pistol and wrapped in their blankets and they went back across the yard to the bunker.'

This must be the longest sentece McCarthy writes throughout the novel.This shows its improtance to the story.the word and is repeated eight times this shows the reader that the actions the man and his son are undertaking could be very repetative like it is a daily routine for them. It is like they have done it so much now the young boy doesnt even need to question why or what they are going to do next.

'Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth'

Tolling makes the sentence seem longer than it is as when it is read aloud so it draws out the chilling and simple sentence.It makes time seem like its everlasting, its just standing still.The world is described as silent, this is a dark thought as the world will never be silent with people living on it. Clearly the world has been wiped out so now it is reality for the son and his father, they now live in silence.This sentence again expresses the main theme of the book, horror. We get the impression that now the world is silent you would have to keep an out at every where. No one would be trusted, its every man for himself.

'She was gone and the silence of it was her final gift'

Coldness is described as a gift in this sentence. But how can sorrow be a gift? The man clearly has no sense of happiness left, we can see that now he feels nothing. All he does everyday is try and attempt to survive. The final gift  is the coldness she left behind, i think that the man needed this coldness to let go of his past life. He needed closure to forget about what he used to have and now focus on what he does have. His son. The man didnt ask for this gift so it was sprung on him and now he has to deal with it and help his boy get through this difficult situation.Throughout the book we realise that neither the father or his son ever have any happiness they are filled with this cold spirit they were left with.