(pp. 270-278)
This episode involves the possessions of the man and boy being stolen by, we suspect the 'bad guys'. This episode impacted on me through the devastation it leaves the man and boy in as they are the 'good guys' and have done nothing to deserve this. It made me feel angry and upset because as a reader you have travelled and got to know the characters and now they have been stolen of their hope of survival. This unfortunate event leads to the downfall of their survival and eventually the death of the man.
McCarthy, to evoke this response, firstly uses a panicked tone as the man discovers what is missing 'Their blankets. Their water bottle and their campsite store of food.' through listing the items he can build pace and tension. McCarthy also uses short sentences again to reinstate what is missing and by doing this he states its importance in their survival and allows the reader to absorb the effect this will have on the man and boy. 'The boy looked up. He was beginning to cry.' This portrays the boy's innocent character who is naive enough to believe no one would do that to them. The boy realises how much this will effect them and feels betrayed by people in society for having no humanity.
As the father and son find the thief with the cart, McCarthy describes him as 'Scrawny,sullen,bearded,filthy' This description gives us a portrait of a man who is deprived of these sort of materials and so is desperate to survive. In survival some people do turn bad, just to keep living, which sometimes is seen as a selfish thing to do, for example the boy sees it as a selfish thing to do. The boy also asks 'Are we going to kill them?' which shows he has grown up through the novel and now realises what they have to do to survive and can sense his fathers anger. The fact he uses 'we' shows the theme of a team and in order to work together to survive.
The father takes the clothes of the thief and takes the cart. The boy is very upset by this which angain demonstrates his innocent and naive outlook on their journey 'Just help him, Papa.Just help him.' The boy is desperate to save the life of this man even though he is considered a 'bad guy'. This is maybe because he has very little contact with society and so clings on to other people as he has a fear of being alone if anything happened to his father. This is very common throughout the book and shows that the boy holds on to his humanity whilst the father begins to loose it.
The boy says 'I am the one' when the father accuses him of not having to worry about everything. At this point we know as a reader that the boy nows he will eventually be alone and that is why he holds onto any human contact. We almost feel sorry for the boy, however we know he will strive to stay a 'good guy'.
The boy is a symbol of humanity and innocence in the novel as sees a vulnerable outlook on everything and is very sensitive to the care of others.
From this episode, we know that the father is dying and so this can only make things worse. They have now reached their destination and so we know they cannot travel any further.
The language in this episode is in keeping with the rest of the novel although there is a lot more emotion between the characters as they become tired and exhausted.
The relationship between the father and son grows in some sense but also distances. The boy realises that his father is dying and so is angry and tries to distance himself from him. He also angry at him for not helping the man and not remaining one of the 'good guys' and maintaining his humanity like the boy has done.
This episode is definitely a key episode because we discover the boy's desperate clinging to others in society still surviving. We also see the man really becoming a bit mean and losing his sanity as he is exhausted and tired. The boy and man differ in opinion here and that sets them apart in character.
McCarthy, to evoke this response, firstly uses a panicked tone as the man discovers what is missing 'Their blankets. Their water bottle and their campsite store of food.' through listing the items he can build pace and tension. McCarthy also uses short sentences again to reinstate what is missing and by doing this he states its importance in their survival and allows the reader to absorb the effect this will have on the man and boy. 'The boy looked up. He was beginning to cry.' This portrays the boy's innocent character who is naive enough to believe no one would do that to them. The boy realises how much this will effect them and feels betrayed by people in society for having no humanity.
As the father and son find the thief with the cart, McCarthy describes him as 'Scrawny,sullen,bearded,filthy' This description gives us a portrait of a man who is deprived of these sort of materials and so is desperate to survive. In survival some people do turn bad, just to keep living, which sometimes is seen as a selfish thing to do, for example the boy sees it as a selfish thing to do. The boy also asks 'Are we going to kill them?' which shows he has grown up through the novel and now realises what they have to do to survive and can sense his fathers anger. The fact he uses 'we' shows the theme of a team and in order to work together to survive.
The father takes the clothes of the thief and takes the cart. The boy is very upset by this which angain demonstrates his innocent and naive outlook on their journey 'Just help him, Papa.Just help him.' The boy is desperate to save the life of this man even though he is considered a 'bad guy'. This is maybe because he has very little contact with society and so clings on to other people as he has a fear of being alone if anything happened to his father. This is very common throughout the book and shows that the boy holds on to his humanity whilst the father begins to loose it.
The boy says 'I am the one' when the father accuses him of not having to worry about everything. At this point we know as a reader that the boy nows he will eventually be alone and that is why he holds onto any human contact. We almost feel sorry for the boy, however we know he will strive to stay a 'good guy'.
The boy is a symbol of humanity and innocence in the novel as sees a vulnerable outlook on everything and is very sensitive to the care of others.
From this episode, we know that the father is dying and so this can only make things worse. They have now reached their destination and so we know they cannot travel any further.
The language in this episode is in keeping with the rest of the novel although there is a lot more emotion between the characters as they become tired and exhausted. The relationship between the father and son grows in some sense but also distances. The boy realises that his father is dying and so is angry and tries to distance himself from him. He also angry at him for not helping the man and not remaining one of the 'good guys' and maintaining his humanity like the boy has done.
This episode is definitely a key episode because we discover the boy's desperate clinging to others in society still surviving. We also see the man really becoming a bit mean and losing his sanity as he is exhausted and tired. The boy and man differ in opinion here and that sets them apart in character.
An excellent series of posts. Well done Emma.
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