How does the form of the language in this gulling scene differ from that used in the scene with Benedick? Why the difference?
What are three elements found in common in the gulling of both Benedick and Beatrice? What is unusual about the form of the language of last ten lines in this scene? Why does Shakespeare have Beatrice speak like this?
'Our talk must only be of Benedick'
'To wish him wrestly with affection and never to let Beatrice know it'
The girls blame Beatrice for the two not being together like the men do also.
'As she is prized to have ,as to refuse so rare a gentlemen as signor Benedick' - they think Benedick is to good for Beatrice, as if she doesn't deserve him.
Benedick thought Beatrice didn't love him -'Misprising what they look on'
We learn the truth about Benedick and Beatrice in the women's scene - 'she cannot love, nor take no shape nor project of affection. - She hurt him in the past , as she was constantly witty therefore she confused him, he didn't know whether to believe she loved him or hated him.
-They are scared of loving each other
-Fear of rejection
-Afraid of what the other may think
-Incapable
Beatrice's final monologue (last 10 lines) is a sonnet. -Showing her true love for Benedick?
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Act 2 Sc3
Is “Come hither, Leonato” meant for Benedick’s ears, or is it meant as a signal to begin the gulling?
I think 'come hither Leonato' is meant to represent the signal that the gulling of Beatrice is about to begin . As the others Don Pedro, Leaonato, Claudio and Balthasar are meant to believe that Benedick is not around to listen to their conversation even though the audience know he is there.
'What was it you told me of to-day, that your niece Beatrice is in love with signor Benedick?'
Does Benedick react to this? if so how, and how large is his reaction?
Benedick seems shocked at the statement. He has a slight reaction, 'is't possible. Sits the wind in the corner?'. Benedick does not react too much as he does not want the others to hear him, however as he says 'Is't possible' he seems to be surprised by the information and happy. Although his reaction is dulled down this also may have been done to show that eventhough he is happy about the information he still wants to remain within the persona that he dislikes Beatrice.
Benedick Is't possible? Sits the wind in that corner? Is this a moment for audience contact? If so, where does Benedick need to be in order to make that contact? Does he need to move during the previous lines, from one hiding space to another?
Benedick would most likely be sitting at the front of the stage in the corner so he is visible to the audience however it looks as though he is in a different place to the other men as they could be upper stage to the opposite side as him. As he says 'Is't possible? Sits the wind in that corner?' he would look out towards the audience and question them.
As he moves on to his next line in the play i imagine he would have got down from the stage and be weaving within the audience member's looking as though he is sneaking. As he says 'I should think this a gull, but that the white bearded fellow speaks it', he could be questioning an audience member as if he was having a conversation with them.
He then [emerges] on top the stage. When the others leave i imagine him to slowly make his way back to the stage and as they leave he would enter back on to the stage for his monologue.
What are eight “graces” which Benedick believes a hypothetical woman must have before he would consider marrying her? What one quality is he flexible upon?
She should be 'wise', 'Virtuous' , 'Fair , 'Mild' , 'Noble' , 'Angel' , 'Musician'.
He is flexible on the colour of her hair, ' Her hair shall be of what colour it please God.
What one element of the “gulling scene” seems to convince Benedick that it is no trick?
He seems to change his mind on the affection of Beatrice when he See's the 'white-bearded fellow speaks it'. This seems to change his mind and he becomes more interested in their conversation.
What effect does the news of Beatrice’s possible suicide have on Benedick?
What is Beatrice’s meaning in the message she delivers to Benedick between lines 243 – 252? What does Benedick think she means?
Benedick thinks that Beatrice is excited to come to dinner as earlier Claudio tells the men to let Beatrice 'wear it out with good counsel, This leads Benedick to believe Beatrice is nasty to him because she likes him and cannot admit to her feelings.
Is “Come hither, Leonato” meant for Benedick’s ears, or is it meant as a signal to begin the gulling?
I think 'come hither Leonato' is meant to represent the signal that the gulling of Beatrice is about to begin . As the others Don Pedro, Leaonato, Claudio and Balthasar are meant to believe that Benedick is not around to listen to their conversation even though the audience know he is there.
'What was it you told me of to-day, that your niece Beatrice is in love with signor Benedick?'
Does Benedick react to this? if so how, and how large is his reaction?
Benedick seems shocked at the statement. He has a slight reaction, 'is't possible. Sits the wind in the corner?'. Benedick does not react too much as he does not want the others to hear him, however as he says 'Is't possible' he seems to be surprised by the information and happy. Although his reaction is dulled down this also may have been done to show that eventhough he is happy about the information he still wants to remain within the persona that he dislikes Beatrice.
Benedick Is't possible? Sits the wind in that corner? Is this a moment for audience contact? If so, where does Benedick need to be in order to make that contact? Does he need to move during the previous lines, from one hiding space to another?
Benedick would most likely be sitting at the front of the stage in the corner so he is visible to the audience however it looks as though he is in a different place to the other men as they could be upper stage to the opposite side as him. As he says 'Is't possible? Sits the wind in that corner?' he would look out towards the audience and question them.
As he moves on to his next line in the play i imagine he would have got down from the stage and be weaving within the audience member's looking as though he is sneaking. As he says 'I should think this a gull, but that the white bearded fellow speaks it', he could be questioning an audience member as if he was having a conversation with them.
He then [emerges] on top the stage. When the others leave i imagine him to slowly make his way back to the stage and as they leave he would enter back on to the stage for his monologue.
What are eight “graces” which Benedick believes a hypothetical woman must have before he would consider marrying her? What one quality is he flexible upon?
She should be 'wise', 'Virtuous' , 'Fair , 'Mild' , 'Noble' , 'Angel' , 'Musician'.
He is flexible on the colour of her hair, ' Her hair shall be of what colour it please God.
What one element of the “gulling scene” seems to convince Benedick that it is no trick?
He seems to change his mind on the affection of Beatrice when he See's the 'white-bearded fellow speaks it'. This seems to change his mind and he becomes more interested in their conversation.
What effect does the news of Beatrice’s possible suicide have on Benedick?
What is Beatrice’s meaning in the message she delivers to Benedick between lines 243 – 252? What does Benedick think she means?
Benedick thinks that Beatrice is excited to come to dinner as earlier Claudio tells the men to let Beatrice 'wear it out with good counsel, This leads Benedick to believe Beatrice is nasty to him because she likes him and cannot admit to her feelings.
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Deborched behaviour- Behaved in a sexual nature.
To lead- To have sexual intercourse with.
MASKED BALL.
The theatre audience is denied direct access to the pivotal moments in Don Pedro and Claudio's courtship of Hero.
Line 26- 'Lord i could not endure a husband with a beard on his face' -Benidick may have a beard? -making reference to his looks, once again telling us how she despises him and could never imagine being with him. - Trying to fool the audience.
Line 56- Purposely misunderstanding the bible
150- 'I heard him swear his affection' -Don John deceiving Claudio as as he tells him that Don Pedro is woowing Hero for himself.
Hero's maid (Margret) - kind hearted prostitute
Yet more nothing
Noting- paying attention to something or someone.
Nothing
Noting- musicality and tunes.
Don John- 'you, are both sure and will assist me?' - Rhetorical question? , he expects the others to help him. This shows his power, as everybody will just do exactly what he wants. (176)
'I am trusted with a muzzle' -Lack of power as the 'muzzle' shows his inability to not be able to be loud and sing. He can also not give commands as he is silenced. (174)
'Therefore i have a decreed not to sing'
-Noting in a musical way as he cant sing.
-Denied power? This could turn him into a villain. (174)
'Can you make no use of your discontent'
-Noting
-Conrade, trying to understand Don John. (174)
'I cannot hide what i am'
-He cannot speak properly, make him individual, he likes being different. He is proud and accept his difference which shows his confidence. This is why he, himself doesn't doubt his power.
'If i had my mouth i would bite'
- If he could speak properly he would be vicious and cruel.
-His confidence within himself, shows that he is powerful as he looks down on others as if he is better than everyone. (174)
Noting- paying attention to something or someone.
Nothing
Noting- musicality and tunes.
Don John- 'you, are both sure and will assist me?' - Rhetorical question? , he expects the others to help him. This shows his power, as everybody will just do exactly what he wants. (176)
'I am trusted with a muzzle' -Lack of power as the 'muzzle' shows his inability to not be able to be loud and sing. He can also not give commands as he is silenced. (174)
'Therefore i have a decreed not to sing'
-Noting in a musical way as he cant sing.
-Denied power? This could turn him into a villain. (174)
'Can you make no use of your discontent'
-Noting
-Conrade, trying to understand Don John. (174)
'I cannot hide what i am'
-He cannot speak properly, make him individual, he likes being different. He is proud and accept his difference which shows his confidence. This is why he, himself doesn't doubt his power.
'If i had my mouth i would bite'
- If he could speak properly he would be vicious and cruel.
-His confidence within himself, shows that he is powerful as he looks down on others as if he is better than everyone. (174)
Sunday, 20 January 2013
COMEDY
Comedy was first recognised during the old BC time period.
This style of comedy was called old comedy.
During comedy BC, the humour was bawdy. This means it was seen
as a rude or a dark humour that some didn’t understand. The first types of
comedy also included scatological humour. This means the humour could be seen
as not sophisticated as it mostly revolved around genitals and bodily
functions.
A new style of comedy was founded again in BC however it
wasn’t as old as the last style. This type of comedy was called new style.
A typical play that involved new style comedy would be witty,
this means each character would be quick to reply and with a rude comment.
The comedy would be commonly fast paced with a classic Greek
style. A comedy play would not typically be funny for the audience. The comedy is
always romantic and end with characters reuniting with either each other of
maybe an object or a place. The comedies do not only end with a happy ending
they also have a straight forward set out plot.
New comedy style always has classic characters set out within
the play. For example there is always a love struck young man, a cunning yet
cowardly slave who is always scheming. This could be so he is recognised as
having more power, or just so he is noticed. There is an angry father, he is
mostly angry as he doesn’t want to give away his daughter; A bragging soldier and
finally a kind hearted prostitute, who most would fall for within the play.
Shakespeare then created his own comedy from 1580 onwards.
Shakespeare’s comedies showed that comedies don’t have to be funny. He used the
ideas that marriage solved everything and young lovers could conquer all. He
used bawdy peasants within his plays, these characters used slapstick to create
humour with the more serious and educated characters in the plays. Shakespeare
used suspension of disbelief this tells the audience that the play isn’t real.
To create humour comedy uses aspects like sexual undertones,
foolish characters, stereotypes and stock characters and domestic or everyday
life.
There are many common themes throughout comedies as a genre.
For example class, comedies revolving around class could be upper class and
lower class interacting maybe a poor son (love struck young man) from a lower
class family falling for an upper class young lady (kind hearted young
prostitute). Another classic example could be a theme of love, courtship,
marriage, this theme relates to plays like much ‘ado about nothing’. It also
involves all of the characters that would be in a classic comedy. A few other
common themes are status and power, sexual politics, comedy itself and
religion.
A typical plot within a comedy could be a kind hearted young
man falling in love with a kind hearted young prostitute. Her father then may
struggle with accepting their love and become angry about giving up his
daughter to another man. There is normally then a bragging young soldier maybe
he would be in love with the kind hearted young prostitute and he would be
jealous of the kind hearted young man. Also there is a cunning slave who could
be plotting against the family. This kind of classic comedy could link to the
play Romeo and Juliet.
Thursday, 20 December 2012
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
"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
Monday, 10 December 2012
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.
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.
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