Settings

• tone, pathetic fallacy
• reflection of characters
• demonstrates social hierarchy
• context
• influences events
• characters have somewhere to be

The Road
The cellar
~ illustrates the decay of humanity 'an ungodly stench'
~ Horror 'oh Christ', tension, fear 'dance of terror'; stands out in the novel, nothing else is as memorable
~ underneath the road things happen that people do not see
The bunker
~ food store 'hundreds of gallons of water'
~ built to save people from the apocalypse, it didn't serve its purpose as no one survived 'someone thought it might be needed'
~ safe 'they wont find us', secure, civilised, the man and the boy should never have left 'the richness of a vanished world'
~ In the back garden of a house 'across the yard'

The Great Gatsby
The garage
~ in the 'valley of ashes', a no mans land between civilisation
~ everything is the same shade if grey 'grey land and the spasms of bleak dust'
~ Old, dirty, plain, dusty
~ Hard working people 'ash-grey men'
Gatsby's mansion
~ reflection of the roaring 20's 'the party has begun'
~ superficial 'came for the party'
~ extravagant and out going 'alive with chatter and laughter'
~ parties, indulgence, new, life 'the champagne and the stars'

Browning poems
Porphyria's Lover
~ in the middle of nowhere, she is hiding her lover away from the world 'withdrew the dripping cloak'
~ cottage, on the fringe of society
~ contrast in the warmth 'all the cottage warm' of the fire and the strength of the storm 'shut the cold out and the storm'
The Laboratory
~ secretive 'better sit us, and observe thy strange things'
~ hidden from everyone 'empty church'
~ masked ' trying thy mask tightly'

Rime of the Ancient Mariner
The boat
~ unsafe, uncontrolled, supernatural 'pursued with yell and blow'
~ Isolated, physical journey 'nor shapes of men or beasts we ken': representative of a spiritual journey
~ medium of transport ' the ship drive fast'
The land (hermit)
~ safe, contact with other life, rescue 'it is the hermit good!'
~ cleansing of sins 'he'll shrivel my soul, he'll wash away the albatross's blood'
~ end of the mariners journey 'I stood on the firm land'

symbolism

The water throughout the novel is used as a fresh start in their (the man and boy’s) journey down the road. When they find the bunker and are replenished on the very verge of death, they wash and groom to reconnect with who they were before. However when the reach the shore and the sea is dirty and coated in ash they realise that there is no new beginning and they have no second chances as the only thing that could ‘purify’ them has been tarnished along with the rest of the world.

The mountain is a physical representative of the obstacles the characters are up against in the post apocalyptic world. It shows the strain that the man and boy are prepared to put themselves under physically and mentally. It also shows the contrasts in the new world as it starts with it being bleak and blending into the surroundings but it also holds fire and chaos which could reflect the destruction of nature in the sense that it is fighting against itself-fire and ice.

The sea is a token of hope and is pin pointed as the destination of the novel, as the ocean is the very base of life itself it can be recognised as the mother earth, when the man and child finally reach the sea they are met with bitter disappointment as it then dawns upon them that there is nothing left the world has to offer. It then becomes a constant reminder on what has been lost and the inevitable end of everything.

The colour grey is part of McCarthy’s limited pallet; it is referred to so frequently that the very word becomes mundane. It also reflects what has been lost from within the world, the blue of the sky, the green of nature and the warmth from the sun showing the loss of all that is beauty. By only referring to the landscape as this grey and dreary wasteland, the impression of it being a never ending journey as everything is the same much like everyday being the same struggle to survive.

Fire is symbolic for the supposed ‘good guys’ as it lets them show the way, this does however come with a great consequence; as it enables them to see into the dark and see all that is wrong and all that is lost. The man drops the lighter ‘the fire’ in the cellar where the people are being farmed. This shows that the responsibility of ‘carrying the fire’ can be too great. It can also be presumed as a symbolism of hope as the flare gun is most commonly used to attract a rescuer, however when the boy shoots it, there is no fire as there is no hope. Fire fluctuates between destruction and hope, as the forest fire destroys what is left of the mountain side and causes the man in the building to suffer excruciating pain.

The idea of sight and sightlessness is symbolic as there is no really definitive feature in the barren landscape so they can see but without actually seeing anything. When the man and the boy are running away after the roadrat ‘he looked around but there was nothing to see’ it reflects the idea of the world being emptied of all its riches. The concept of day and night also plays an important part in sight as during the day they are subjected to the horrors of the post-apocalyptic earth but at night they are blinded by the blackness of it all. The old man they stumble across (Ely) is partially sighted and almost has blended into the deathscape around them suggesting the only thing between humanity and death is the ability of sight. However as the novel progresses being able to see is a curse as an individual is subjected to horror beyond imagination and the images consumed will haunt them forever ‘the things you put in your head are there forever’

Seeds are symbolic as they represent a source of new life and in this post-modern world there isn’t enough to support new life. The man takes a packet of seeds from a shed and places them into his pocket as if to have to purpose of planting them later, which could just be a force of habit as there is no way to grow the seeds as the atmosphere is so thick the sun can barely prevail. The man finds some seeds on the floor of the barn and attempts to gain any nutritional value from them.

Musical instruments are symbolic as the man hand carves a flute ‘from a piece of roadside cane’ and gives it to the boy. This is symbolic as music holds the possibility for something new and unique, unlike their surroundings. The music created from the boy and his flute is categorised as ‘the last music on earth’ suggesting that this song is the last new experience in the lost world ‘called up from out of the ashes of its ruin’ implies that the music is born out of the apocalypse and will therefore share its ‘formless’ structure and be without meaning.

Religious imagery is symbolic as the new world boasts no god, ‘where men can’t live gods fare no better’ suggests that god’s are fuelled by faith and where there is no faith they cease to exist. The idea of the boy being an ‘angel’ contradicts the way of the new world as angels are sent from heaven to service mankind and protect them in some way. As the world is dead and humanity is dying there is little an ‘angel’ could do except to offer hope. This is ironic as there is no hope, because the death of everything and everyone is inevitable. The boy finds comfort within the idea of religion and often ensures that thanks are paid or a prayer is made for people; this only highlights his innocence.

The coca cola can is symbolic as it is the only real physical connection for the boy to the alien world as it was before aside from the man, to which it is a painful reminder of what has been lost and what can never be regained. It is also a symbol for consumerism as it was left in the machine while it could have been a life line for someone. The fact that the man and boy found this item in a supermarket shows the naivety of humanity as they went to the shop in the hope of supplies despite it being devastatingly obvious that the prospect of such a thing is impossible.

voice and point of view

The techniques confuse the reader as there is no definitive difference between the voice and the narrative and thoughts. Which compiles the speech, thoughts and observations into one text, giving a sense of disorientation as there is no separation between the main characters in the novel, and there is no signalling as to where the dialogue ends and the narrative begins because of McCarthy’s use of unattributed and uncontexualised dialogue. An omniscient point of view gives very little indication as to whether one of the character’s views is being put across or if a narrator is describing what they can see ‘he went down the road as far as he dared’ could be from the man’s perspective or McCarthy’s own. By utilising these techniques the reader can feel lost within the novel which is a reflection of the characters’ own disorientation.

5+5=1

·         Sirens destroy men

·         The woman represents the beauty within death

·         The man resists the temptation of an escape

·         The absence of the mother shows vulnerability

·         The woman in stronger than the man

·         Destroy

·         Beauty

·         Temptation

·         Vulnerability

·         Strength

·         The woman

the woman

The woman is a powerful and ambiguous symbolic function in the novel. She represents both the giving of life and the temptation of death.

‘He was learning how to wake himself from just such siren worlds’ suggests that she is beautiful and death which is an ironic reflection on the beauty within death, as it promises an escape from the nightmare in which they live. The reference to a ‘siren’ encourages the idea of luring men to their death through their beauty which in turn will destroy the man. The man also makes a statement to reassure the boy when he has a terrible dream; if he stops having nightmares then they are living in one. The man however has dreams about the woman which almost succeed in luring him to sleep forever as he has to force himself awake showing that he has, subconsciously, already given up.

For the man, the woman’s absence is a constant reminder of the alternative to struggling to survive.

The woman killed herself as she knew what the future held for herself and her family. She represents how easy it is to escape the world of terror surrounding the man and boy; this only makes it harder for the man to face the aspect of death as it undermines everything that he and the boy have been struggling for. This shows that she is bold enough to leave her family behind to suffer, partly because she could not kill her own son and didn’t believe the man could either; who when the time comes can’t bring himself to do it ‘I can’t’. As the novel progresses the woman’s image becomes darker and tainted as she becomes all but skin and bones in a dress with the man’s final image of her it shows that she, to him, is the very symbol of death.

The vulnerability of the boy would seem far less evident if his mother was there as well.

The boy throughout the novel is presented as a weak and vulnerable character because he has nobody to care for his emotional needs along with protection from the threats that cause his emotional distress. A mother is far more attentive to a child’s emotional turmoil than a father and would go out of their way to ensure that they were feeling okay. Opposed to the general ‘Okay. Okay’ from the man, which does little to calm and reassure the boy when a situation gets out of hand.  The mother would spend a lot of time attending to the boys needs while the father protects them (in an ideal perspective) it would also appear as a much more stable relationship if three parties were involved as the level of protection would be higher making the boy seem less vulnerable to attack.

time and stucture

Cormac McCarthy expands and contracts time throughout the novel, by doing so it structures the pace of the novel and illuminates areas that are of obvious importance. He makes a point to show the reader just how long the apocalypse was from the current narrative. ‘He thought the month was October but he wasn’t sure’ (page 2) suggest that time has quite literally stopped and there is no definite in the new world surrounding the characters, as it has lost all meaning.

McCarthy also uses the time of day to show reference of time passing this not only gives a unit of time it also provides some contrast in the never changing landscape. By just making use of the time of day, McCarthy can manipulate the length of time a particular moment is supposed to occur within. ‘Suddenly exposed to the day’ (page 20) implies that the man and boy have either sleep through the night or that the night passed too quickly.

There are also abstract references to time within the novel: ‘hurrying against the dark’ (page 74) shows that the characters have simply not got enough hours in the day to complete the aspirations. It could also imply that they have lost track of time and maybe an arduous task has undergone. Or their fight against the dark is almost over as they are ‘carrying the fire’ which by definition brings light into the darkness of the world.  It also creates the impression of the dark chasing them, possibly forcing them to undergo tasks and put themselves in less desirable circumstances.

the end

To me, the end of the novel is when the boy is introduced to the woman as it is the point where his father’s quest ends-for his son to be protected. As even though there is no certainty on whether the new characters are the ‘good guys’, it is quite obvious that they belong to a community through the new man ‘pulled back the hood from his face’ as it suggests that they have an identity.

It is also the end of the boy’s hardship, suffering and struggle for life as the woman provides a maternal edge that has always been missing in his life on the road. As she offers care along with protection from the world that his father failed to give to him. On their very first encounter she ‘put her arms around him and held him’ this shows the release of emotions missing from the novel.

It is the end of the journey for the woman (maternal) and other man as well, even though it was not depicted in the novel, their quest was to find and adopt the boy. When they finally catch up with the boy and his father is dead there is a change in tone as they speak to him how a child is expected to be spoken to. This implies that the boy can go back to just being a boy, instead of carrying the world on his shoulders.

 The boy finds new hope when a mother figure is finally introduced into his life as he has had little company aside from his father for his entire life. This is the disequilibrium and can therefore be disclosed as the end of ‘the road’. It is also the end of the boy’s physical journey as the woman and man are obviously not on ‘the road’ and are from some sort of settlement. This has great symbolism for the end of the novel.