The Road (Post 1, Question 5)

5. McCarthy's novel is a stark contrast to Kerouac's in terms of language. While Kerouac is lyrical, loud, and colorful, McCarthy's style is dark and sparse. How does McCarthy's style lend to the story itself? Cite text for support. Who is his audience? How can you tell?

I think McCarthy's style lends to the story by setting a constant mood of darkness. I notice the repetition of gray in the story, the world covered in ash and it shows that no matter where they search they can't escape. I think his style has a lot of repetition because he doesn't want the reader to get out of one frame of mind while reading the book. Keeping the book dark all the time almost gives the sense that it will end sometime, that there's a light at the end of the tunnel. I'd like to think that he is using the boy to light his way, the boy is the only reason he is alive. I found it interesting that the boy asks quite a few times if they are going to die. " If we were going to die would you tell me?"(94) I think this is something he put in to maybe shift the reader to think the opposite, maybe they're both just going to die in the end. I think that the audience in the story are people who are in a bad place in their lives maybe depressed to show that maybe there is something good in all this madness. I can tell because like the man uses the boy to stay alive, we all can find something worth that makes our lives better or worth living even in the worst times.