(pp. 112-121)
During this episode the father and son come across a cellar filled with naked male and female people along with people who had been mutilated. The father and boy have to hide otherwise they will have the same fate as the people in the cellar. This is a horrific episode and emphasises how desperate people are to survive would eat other humans, turn to cannibalism just so they can continue living in this hellish place, suggesting they have fear of death themselves. This episode impacted on me purely through the horror and inhumanity in it. The way that humans are treated and the loss of morals and sanity made me feel upset and angry at what the world has become. McCarthy uses lots of questions in this episode, mainly from the boy to evoke a sense of being unsure and anticipating what will happen next. He also uses vivd imagery to enhance the horror and devastation that has occurred here.
'On a mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt'
This indicates to the reader the violence which has taken place here and how people are holding them hostage for their survival. As a reader you feel deeply upset at this tragic loss of life. McCarthy also uses repetition of the word 'hurry' and 'God'. These are frequently used when they are in the house as they try to escape the bad guys creating a sense of panic and despair. They obviously have to move fast but the father cannot believe his eyes, what the world has come to and so keeps repeating 'God' to show his shock and maybe his plea for help. This creates an increase of tension in the cellar as the reader is also i anticipation to what will happen to the father and boy.
McCarthy maybe uses this episode as a symbol of complete loss for all humanity and the extremes people will go to, to keep themselves alive. The cellar could be a reference or a symbol of hell on Earth as there is such horrific images displayed in this episode.
The realisation of the true 'bad guys' in this episode dawns of the father to how much danger they could be in and how the world has changed and lost all morals.
Again, the pistol may be a symbol of the 'good guys' and protecting themselves from inhumanity. In the cellar, the father is 'holding on to it', holding on to his life and his sanity.
The father tries to save his son by distracting the 'bad guys'. He says if they try to get him 'You put it in your mouth and point up', the father tries so hard to protect his son that he doesn't want any harm to come to him and even goes as far as to tell him how to shoot himself. This demonstrates how the boy's innocence was protected at the beginning of the novel, to what he has witnessed along the road and so now he has little innocence as the father can no longer protect it. Also for the first time in the novel we see how much the boy is valued by the father as he says ' But I can't leave you'. The father does love his son and is afraid of being alone.
After this event of the cellar the reader knows their will be more horrors along the road. However we also begin to realise one of them wont make it to the end of the novel as they have had so many near death experiences so far.
The language in this episode is still very in keeping with the novel, however there are a lot more questions used to show their panic and despair and also desperation to survive. I feel there is more emotion used between the father and son as they are so close to entering the hell of the cellar. From this episode we see that the father and son rely on each other and in order to survive they need to be together to keep each other sane and human.
This episode stands out in the novel because its pure horror and awfulness sticks in your mind. Also we learn that the father and son work together in order to survive. The relationship between them is still strong and the father is almost educating the son on how to survive.
During this episode the father and son come across a cellar filled with naked male and female people along with people who had been mutilated. The father and boy have to hide otherwise they will have the same fate as the people in the cellar. This is a horrific episode and emphasises how desperate people are to survive would eat other humans, turn to cannibalism just so they can continue living in this hellish place, suggesting they have fear of death themselves. This episode impacted on me purely through the horror and inhumanity in it. The way that humans are treated and the loss of morals and sanity made me feel upset and angry at what the world has become. McCarthy uses lots of questions in this episode, mainly from the boy to evoke a sense of being unsure and anticipating what will happen next. He also uses vivd imagery to enhance the horror and devastation that has occurred here.
'On a mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt'
This indicates to the reader the violence which has taken place here and how people are holding them hostage for their survival. As a reader you feel deeply upset at this tragic loss of life. McCarthy also uses repetition of the word 'hurry' and 'God'. These are frequently used when they are in the house as they try to escape the bad guys creating a sense of panic and despair. They obviously have to move fast but the father cannot believe his eyes, what the world has come to and so keeps repeating 'God' to show his shock and maybe his plea for help. This creates an increase of tension in the cellar as the reader is also i anticipation to what will happen to the father and boy.
McCarthy maybe uses this episode as a symbol of complete loss for all humanity and the extremes people will go to, to keep themselves alive. The cellar could be a reference or a symbol of hell on Earth as there is such horrific images displayed in this episode.
The realisation of the true 'bad guys' in this episode dawns of the father to how much danger they could be in and how the world has changed and lost all morals.
Again, the pistol may be a symbol of the 'good guys' and protecting themselves from inhumanity. In the cellar, the father is 'holding on to it', holding on to his life and his sanity.
The father tries to save his son by distracting the 'bad guys'. He says if they try to get him 'You put it in your mouth and point up', the father tries so hard to protect his son that he doesn't want any harm to come to him and even goes as far as to tell him how to shoot himself. This demonstrates how the boy's innocence was protected at the beginning of the novel, to what he has witnessed along the road and so now he has little innocence as the father can no longer protect it. Also for the first time in the novel we see how much the boy is valued by the father as he says ' But I can't leave you'. The father does love his son and is afraid of being alone.
After this event of the cellar the reader knows their will be more horrors along the road. However we also begin to realise one of them wont make it to the end of the novel as they have had so many near death experiences so far.
The language in this episode is still very in keeping with the novel, however there are a lot more questions used to show their panic and despair and also desperation to survive. I feel there is more emotion used between the father and son as they are so close to entering the hell of the cellar. From this episode we see that the father and son rely on each other and in order to survive they need to be together to keep each other sane and human.
This episode stands out in the novel because its pure horror and awfulness sticks in your mind. Also we learn that the father and son work together in order to survive. The relationship between them is still strong and the father is almost educating the son on how to survive.
It is also the unexpected nature of this horrific event. As readers we are caught completely unaware by the finding of the people in the cellar. The burnt limbs are shocking because who ever has done this is clearly cauterising the wounds to keep these people alive in order to keep the meat fresh and edible.
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