The novel begins with a man and his sleeping son (both unnamed) in the woods. The man wakes up to the dark and desolate world around him, and tries to interpret the dream he had during the recent night. “With the first gray light,” the man leaves the boy to analyze the roads and decides it would be better to move south because where it would be easier to survive the harsh winter. The man returns to his son and they quickly eat their breakfast and head down south with their cart; the cart has all their belongings, but they also keep individual knapsacks in case they have to urgently run away. The man navigates the path and keeps track of their location with a tattered and torn map, which is a like a puzzle each time they use it. As the two move …show more content…
toward the south, they come across deserted cities and towns, which frequently reminds the man of the “old world” and his wife, who presumably killed herself to escape the “new world.” Passage: “He looked at his father and then tilted the [Coca-Cola] can and drank.
He sat there thinking about it...You have some, Papa.” (Cormac 23). This quote is one of the recurring symbolisms for the boy’s innocence throughout the novel. It emphasizes the boy’s innocence in how he is willing to share a coke can with his father, despite being in an apocalyptic setting. In addition to the symbolism, the passage also shows that father-son bonds still exist in the new world, just like how it was in the old world. The main reason I chose to analyze this quote was because I thought the boy’s action was adorable. I’m a sucker for cute things, and this touchy moment was no …show more content…
exception. Original Summary: As the story progresses, the boy stays close his father because he fears that “bad guys” will find them and torture him. A few days later, as they are walking along the road, a truck filled with “roadrat” (bad guys) drive by. When going on a restroom break, one of the truckers stumbles upon the man and boy and manages to take the boy as hostage. The man quickly shoots him with his pistol (which now has one bullet), alarming the other bad guys of their location. The man picks up the boy and barely escapes into the woods; they later come back to pick up their cart. Starving and exhausted, the characters proceed their journey and find a grand house along their way. Passage: “‘We should go get him, Papa. We could get him and take him with us. We could take him and we could take the dog’...‘We can’t.’ ‘And I’d give that little boy half of my food’...‘Stop it we can’t.’” (Cormac 86). This quote is another excellent display of the boy’s innocence throughout the novel.
In the novel, the boy notices another little boy and a dog and wanted to give them some of his food because he was genuinely worried about them. However, the man did not let the boy give them any food because he knows that they were going to need it later. Regarding this, the passage also shows the contrast between the boy’s and the man’s mindset; the man is more concerned for their well-being, while the boy is concerned for everyone. I decided to analyze this quote because I felt that it was an important aspect to cover. I thought it was important because it introduces a recurring event, which is that they (the man and boy) should be helping others they see, rather than just letting them
die. Original Summary: At the grand house, the man finds suspicious items, such as a bell tied to a string and piles of clothes, shoes, belts, coats, sleeping bags and blankets. The boy urges the man to leave the house, however the man wants to go inside a locked room in the house; in the room, the man and boy find naked people, who are being kept alive as a food supply. The boy notifies the man that there are people outside the house and they flee into the woods. That night, the man was worried that he might have to kill his son so that roadagents can’t get him, but they go unfound. They continue their journey, on the brink of death from hunger, but are able to find two houses; one with apples and water, and another with canned food, water, and sleeping cots. The second house becomes a sanctuary for the characters where they restock on goods and settle down for several days. Passage: “‘We’ll find something to eat. We always do’...He was beginning to think that death was finally upon them and that they should find some place to hide where they would not be found. There were times when he sat watching the boy sleep that he would begin to sob uncontrollably but it wasn’t about death...it was about beauty or goodness” (Cormac 128-129). The man and boy are starving because they haven’t found any food for three days. As a result, the man begins to think about death because he knows that if they don’t find any food soon, they will starve to death. He sobs uncontrollably and comes to realize that the boy is the “beauty or goodness” of the desolate world. The fact that the man can see the “goodness” of the boy emphasizes the boy’s symbol of innocence. I chose to analyze this quote because I believe that it was one of the most important events throughout the novel. To clarify, it was one of the most important events throughout the novel because of the man’s revelation. Original Summary: Before leaving the house for good, the man whittles a tree and makes fake bullets, so when they are in danger, it will look like the man has a fully-loaded pistol. As the two continue to head south, they meet a traveler named Ely; the man doesn’t trust Ely, but the boy convinces him to let Ely stay with them for a night. Later that night, the man and Ely talk about the old world, God (a recurring theme in the book), and the future. In the morning, Ely part way with them and they continue to head south, running into the remnants of the old world (empty towns and landscapes and the bones of animals and humans) along the way. The man catches a bad cough, which causes them to stay in the woods for four days. Eventually, the characters make an anticlimactic arrival at the coast and set up camp at the beach. Passage: “He stood naked, clutching himself and dancing. The he went running down the beach. So white. Knobby spine-bones. The razorous shoulder blades sawing under the pale skin. Running naked and leaping and screaming into the slow roll of the surf” (Cormac 218). The man, despite being in a very weak state, decides to swim in the cold waters. He does this to show the boy that he is still “healthy” and to make the boy laugh. However, his actions were very ironic because the boy cries knowing that his father is in pain (regarding the “razorous shoulder blades”). I decided to analyze this quote because I found the scene somewhat bittersweet. It was meant to be a comedic relief in how the man is screaming, while running naked into the water, but ends it up depressing because it shows that the man is in pain. The other reason I chose to analyze the quote was the imagery of the man’s body; it helped me visualize how strenuous the journey has been for the man. Original Summary: As the days go by, they decide to leave their camp and reduce their food supply to keep their cart manageable. When they return, they realized their belongings are missing because a thief stole them. After that incident, they walk through another barren town where the man gets shot in the leg by an arrow. The man stitches up the wound, but slowly dies as a result of the wound and his sickness. The boy stays with the man’s body for three days and is eventually found by a man with a shotgun (who had been following the boy and the man for awhile). At the end of the novel, the boy is taken into a new family and the faith of humanity is left unknown. Passage: “He tried to talk to God but the best thing was to talk to his father and he did talk to him and he didnt forget. The woman said that was all right. She said that the breath of God was his breath yet though it pass from man to man through all of time” (Cormac 286). The boy has just been embraced by a new family and he tries to talk to the woman (mother figure in the new family) about God. The passage deals with the theme of trust and faith in the novel; both religiously and in general. The boy transforms the trust in his father into a somewhat new religious faith. This is shown when he talks (prays) to God and says he has an easier time praying to his father. My main reason for analyzing this quote was because trust and faith were important aspects throughout the novel that I didn’t get to explain them in the other analyses. In addition, I found the passage heartwarming because the boy shows an everlasting love for his father, as he still “talks” to him in death.
He always wants to help someone else in need before himself, whereas the father is only concerned about their own personal wellbeings. He “is the one” who worries about their ethical choices and wants to help a stranger in any way he can (259). McCarthy proves the importance of the boy’s spirit of love for other people when his dad dies and he must take the leap of faith to continue along the road with a new family. Despite all the corrupted people they encountered beforehand, the boy meets someone who is “carrying the fire” (129). This mantra by the father and son, symbolizes hope and humanity. The qualities Steinbeck labels for a writer to create in his writings can be summed up in “carrying the fire” since the two never did give up. It is the greatness of the heart and spirit Steinbeck notes that is “inside [them]. [And] [i]t [is] always there” (279). It is noteworthy that even in the midst of death and ashes, the two are able to hold onto their relationship and sanity. The “good guys” can continue to carry meaning and structure in their lives, even in a time where society turned into a battle to survive on the remnants of
In Cormac McCarthy’s book The Road, the two main characters struggle to keep moving forward. Their motivation to push onward is found in the bottom levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs; which are physiological, safety, and emotional. Each of the levels are equally important in order for the man to reach self-actualization. In order to reach the top level, however, the man must fulfill the bottom levels first.
Mark Twain best described courage when he said that, “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear” (Twain). Both in The One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey and Watership Down by Richard Adams, the authors deal with the topic of courage and each share a similar view on it as this quote. Indeed, both authors suggest that courage is not accumulated simply by acts of heroism, but rather by overcoming fears and speaking one’s mind as well. These books are very similar in the way that bravery is displayed through the characters in an uncommon way. Firstly, an example of bravery
When the man and boy meet people on the road, the boy has sympathy for them, but his father is more concerned with keeping them both alive. The boy is able to get his father to show kindness to the strangers (McCarthy), however reluctantly the kindness is given. The boy’s main concern is to be a good guy. Being the good guy is one of the major reasons the boy has for continuing down the road with his father. He does not see there is much of a point to life if he is not helping other people. The boy wants to be sure he and his father help people and continue to carry the fire. The boy is the man’s strength and therefore courage, but the man does not know how the boy worries about him how the boy’s will to live depends so much on his
The setting of these two stories emphasize, on visually showing us how the main characters are based around trying to find freedom despite the physical, mental and emotional effects of living in confinement. While on the other hand, dealing with Psychology’s ugly present day behavior showing dystopia of societies views of women during the time period they lived.
“[He] looked across at his father and wondered just how he was going to tell him. It was a very serious thing.” This point of view demonstrates how nervous the boy is to tell his father that a close friend, Bill Harper, was arriving the next day to fish with him. The boy sits next to the fire and parries the idea of divulging his innocent plan. He knows that things are changing in his life and that eventually he must leave his father and create a new life with new social requirements, demonstrated by this quote: “He knew it was something that had to happen sometime. Yet he also knew that it was the end of something.” The boy goes on the wonder, “It was an ending to a beginning and he wondered just how he should tell his father about it.” The boy’s thoughtful attitude exhibits a bond between father and son and a relationship of respect. The boy wonders if it is also a relationship of
Although finding food was a struggle for them, the man always put the boy’s health before his. The man made sure the boys thirst and hunger was always gone and that he had food to eat and drinks to drink. “He took the can and sipped it and handed it back. You drink it, he said. Let's just sit here.” (Page 27). In this quote, the man gave the boy the last of the soda but the boy got upset that the man didn’t take any, so the man took a sip and proceeded to give it to the boy. This is important because the father knows that he’s thirsty and could kill for a drink, but he knows that this is the first and last soda the boy would ever get. “He'd found a last half packet of cocoa and he fixed it for the boy and then poured his own cup with hot water and sat blowing at the rim.” (Page 18). This quote shows us too that the man always made sure that the boy got the better part of the deal. The boy got to drink cocoa but the man just drank hot water. The father does this because he got to live through his childhood without this apocalyptic world but the boy only lived a few years that he really doesn’t remember. These quotes show paternal love because they explain how the father always puts the son before him. Through all of the actions the father takes, it shows us how much he really cares about the son, and that his son is his only hope and his fire for
Imagine a world where everything is black and covered in layers of ash, where dead bodies are scattered throughout the streets and food is scarce. When earth, once green and alive, turns dark and deadly. A story about a man, his son and their will to survive. Within the novel Cormac McCarthy shows how people turn to animalistic and hasty characteristics during a post-apocalyptic time. Their need to survive tops all other circumstances, no matter the consequences. The hardships they face will forever be imprinted in their mind. In the novel, The Road, author Cormac McCarthy utilizes morbid diction and visual imagery to portray a desperate tone when discussing the loss of humanity, proving that desperate times can lead a person to act in careless ways.
"The Yellow Wallpaper" and "The Story of an Hour" are two very similar stories. Both deal with middle-aged women who long to attain their freedom. They share the same theme, but convey the message differently in terms of style and quality. The two stories are about women who are fighting for freedom, happiness, and the ability to be truly expressive in any way possible.
He learned over some time, that it is possible for one to retain separateness but keep individuality, and one can be a public person as well as a private person. He says that at first he wanted to be like everyone else (fit in), and only when he could think of himself as American it was than okay to be an individual in public society. He speaks of a man from Mexico who held on to Spanish: "For as long as he holds on to words, he can ignore how much else has changed his life" (35). The message is to not take words for granted and not to misuse words because they certainly do have meaning. For example, `brother' and `sister' is becoming a public repetition of words. The meaning will become lifeless. Words mean something when the voice takes control "the heart cannot contain!" (39). It forms an intimate sound.
The man and the boy are always in search of food, and the lack of it in the winter times eventually leads to the man's death, since he sacrifices almost everything he can find for the wellness of his son.
(Gilbert pg. 44) The first level are the physiological needs such as food and water. This is one of the man and the boy’s most consistent conflicts. In The Road, basic resources are extremely hard to come by, as seen when the man said, “We have to find something to eat. We have no choice.” (McCarthy pg. 220) To stay alive, a huge emphasis is placed on their dependence in finding those basic needs. Nearly all of the decisions the man and the boy made were related to finding food or conserving food for basic survival.
...he thought it was beauty or about goodness.” Things that he’d no longer any way to think about at all.” (McCarthy 129,130). “The man” still shows acts of kindness towards strangers here and there in hopes that the boy will not follow in his footsteps and give up fate as well; he wants “the boy,” as McCarthy states it, to continue “to carry the fire.”
In literature, women are often depicted as weak, compliant, and inferior to men. The nineteenth century was a time period where women were repressed and controlled by their husband and other male figures. Charlotte Gilman, wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper," showing her disagreement with the limitations that society placed on women during the nineteenth century. According to Edsitement, the story is based on an event in Gilman’s life. Gilman suffered from depression, and she went to see a physician name, Silas Weir Mitchell. He prescribed the rest cure, which then drove her into insanity. She then rebelled against his advice, and moved to California to continue writing. She then wrote “The Yellow Wallpaper,” which is inflated version of her experience. In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the main character is going through depression and she is being oppressed by her husband and she represents the oppression that many women in society face. Gilman illustrates this effect through the use of symbols such as the yellow wallpaper, the nursery room, and the barred windows.
At first the relationship between a father and his son can be perceived as a simple companionship. However, this bond can potentially evolve into more of a dynamic fitting relationship. In The Road The Man and his son have to depend on one another because they each hold a piece of each other. The Man holds his sons sense of adulthood while the son posses his father’s innocence. This reliance between the father and son create a relationship where they need each other in order to stay alive. “The boy was all that stood between him and death.” (McCarthy 29) It is evident that without a reason to live, in this case his son, The Man has no motivation to continue living his life. It essentially proves how the boy needs his father to love and protect him, while the father needs the boy to fuel ...