How does McCarthy tell he story in pages 1-28?
McCarthy begins the novel as he continues it throughout, with little punctuation and speech marks indicating the sparseness of the post-apocalyptic world they are living/surviving in, and writing with a typical American style of writing, where McCarthy uses words such as 'blacktop'. The lacking commas and long sentences in his prose, which represents the barrenness of the landscapes they're travelling on. The man and the boy, who are never named at all in the novel, travel on a desolate road without coming into contact with any other person or being, this continues for the entirety of the introduction pages, 1-28.
Cormac opens the novel with the man waking from a dream about wandering into a cave, being led by his son, 'Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the inward parts of some granitic beast'. The first thing the man did was to feel if his son was still alive, 'his hand rose and fell softly with each precious breath'. This is portraying the fact that life was being precious, and the boy was very important to him,the fact that the two protagonists are 'each others worlds entire', but the darkness as ever looming over them, 'nights dark beyond darkness'. The characters are all alone in this, 'Barran, silent, godless', world, and was even unsure of the month they were in, representing the time scale in which they had been travelling and that there was no real importance of time in their world. All of this is an integral way to McCarthy telling the story because he is showing the reader the importance of the boy to him, the life the boy still has left, the importance of the man protecting him and also the extreme dystopian world the protagonist are living in. Colour imagery is lacking, 'alabaster' and the positivity in the world and from the man is almost drained, 'if he is not the word of God God never spoke'.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph god is referenced in the beginning 28 pages, and religious imagery has an important role in telling the story,'oh God he whispered, oh God', and like Jesus in the bible who dies in order to save the human race, the boy is used as a religious allegory. As the story progresses we realise that the man has lost all real belief in God and being saved and his only real hope and belief is in the boy, who always is positive and looks after him throughout the novel. The boy is the mans 'warrant'.
Another particular theme which is important and arises more than once is the idea of death, which looms over both of their heads because they know who this world can and has consumed so many people, including the mans wife and the boys mother. Both characters miss the women, who is also never named, and the man reminisces about her throughout the 28 pages, 'in dreams his pale bride came to him out of a green leaf of canopy'. These are happy memories he has of her, remembered her beauty, describing the colours of her clothes and the romantic feelings she made him feel. However these flashbacks were brief and over time came to an end. Love is also relevant to describing these flashbacks and a similar theme of the novel, because although death and loneliness is surrounding them everyday, both protagonists feel love for one another and for the women. The reason the man is still alive is purely for the boy, and the boy shows his compassion through trying to care for the man,' i want you to drink it'.
As mentioned in the reminiscing of the women, the man also reminisces on his past, happier life, such as his time spent on the lake fishing with his uncle, 'There was a lake a Mile from his uncle's farm where he and his uncle used to go in the fall for firewood', he also visits his old family house, 'he felt with his thumb in the painted wood of the mantle the pinholes from tracks that held his stockings forty years ago'. The two protagonists also discover a coke can in an abandoned supermarket and the man is reminded of the fizzing taste he once took for granted, which is a juxtaposition to the boy who had never experienced the taste of coke before. All of these situations also portray the changes that have happened in the generation gap between the man and boy, and the way the man describes them, it seems as if these experiences will never happen for the boy.
Cormac opens the novel with the man waking from a dream about wandering into a cave, being led by his son, 'Like pilgrims in a fable swallowed up and lost among the inward parts of some granitic beast'. The first thing the man did was to feel if his son was still alive, 'his hand rose and fell softly with each precious breath'. This is portraying the fact that life was being precious, and the boy was very important to him,the fact that the two protagonists are 'each others worlds entire', but the darkness as ever looming over them, 'nights dark beyond darkness'. The characters are all alone in this, 'Barran, silent, godless', world, and was even unsure of the month they were in, representing the time scale in which they had been travelling and that there was no real importance of time in their world. All of this is an integral way to McCarthy telling the story because he is showing the reader the importance of the boy to him, the life the boy still has left, the importance of the man protecting him and also the extreme dystopian world the protagonist are living in. Colour imagery is lacking, 'alabaster' and the positivity in the world and from the man is almost drained, 'if he is not the word of God God never spoke'.
As mentioned in the previous paragraph god is referenced in the beginning 28 pages, and religious imagery has an important role in telling the story,'oh God he whispered, oh God', and like Jesus in the bible who dies in order to save the human race, the boy is used as a religious allegory. As the story progresses we realise that the man has lost all real belief in God and being saved and his only real hope and belief is in the boy, who always is positive and looks after him throughout the novel. The boy is the mans 'warrant'.
Another particular theme which is important and arises more than once is the idea of death, which looms over both of their heads because they know who this world can and has consumed so many people, including the mans wife and the boys mother. Both characters miss the women, who is also never named, and the man reminisces about her throughout the 28 pages, 'in dreams his pale bride came to him out of a green leaf of canopy'. These are happy memories he has of her, remembered her beauty, describing the colours of her clothes and the romantic feelings she made him feel. However these flashbacks were brief and over time came to an end. Love is also relevant to describing these flashbacks and a similar theme of the novel, because although death and loneliness is surrounding them everyday, both protagonists feel love for one another and for the women. The reason the man is still alive is purely for the boy, and the boy shows his compassion through trying to care for the man,' i want you to drink it'.
As mentioned in the reminiscing of the women, the man also reminisces on his past, happier life, such as his time spent on the lake fishing with his uncle, 'There was a lake a Mile from his uncle's farm where he and his uncle used to go in the fall for firewood', he also visits his old family house, 'he felt with his thumb in the painted wood of the mantle the pinholes from tracks that held his stockings forty years ago'. The two protagonists also discover a coke can in an abandoned supermarket and the man is reminded of the fizzing taste he once took for granted, which is a juxtaposition to the boy who had never experienced the taste of coke before. All of these situations also portray the changes that have happened in the generation gap between the man and boy, and the way the man describes them, it seems as if these experiences will never happen for the boy.
Ellie, your introduction covers many points and establishes the 'style' of the story. Consider how you could include details on the form 'post apocalyptic', 'horror', action/adventure etc.
ReplyDeleteIn your subsequent paragraphs try to mention connections to horror (the strange beast in the cave), you do well to mention the religious connections (pilgrims, godless etc) but if you can connect the desire to death with his nightmares and the lack of god then that would strengthen your insight into your later point about the Boy acting as 'hope' for the Man.
You succesfully mention the various narrative threads that are introduced in the first 28 pages and your writing improves with every post. Well done.
14/21