Sunday, August 7, 2011
The road post 2
one of the key concepts that made this book very individualistic was the focus on description or careful attention to the tiny details and events that made the story seem a little less hostile. like on page 53 "one in those early years he'd wakened in a barren wood and lay listening to flocks of migratory birds overhead in the bitter dark. Their half muted cranking s miles above where they circled the earth as senselessly as insects trooping the rim of a bowl. He wished them godspeed till they were gone. He never heard them again." just thinking back to careful memories and thoughts when the world wasn't so psychotic. the people in this novel are like a blank canvass splashed with many different colors. Maybe they all want to escape reality, or just lay down and die because of the hopelessness, either way its a clever mix of the psychological means faced with impossible odds. the man and the boy want to make it to the coast with their cart full of supplies.what about the other people? possibly sick with some type of lung disease from the poisoned air may want to kill the next person they see and take everything they have just to survive. McCarthy is truly a philosopher in the making
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4 comments:
I really like that the attention to seemingly minor details struck you as much as it did me. The description of the characters as a "black canvas" is really interesting, though personally I think the landscape is more of a bleak background on which the intense love and dedication of the man and his son are painted. McCarthy really tried to make it clear that the only thing in the world besides the endless road and desolate, deserted world was human instinct - the want to live. Even if they died ("Are we going to die?" the boy often asked), it wouldn't be the end. Losing all hope and having to physically exist, however, would be the true tragedy.
I agree with Lily. This book is very dark that even minor sparks of color and light can seem so large. Because of the boys innocence, the world becomes less dreary. He is scared but still has ambition and moves forward. However, even though the human instinct is to live, I don't believe the same for the man. The boy is the only thing keeping the man alive and without the boy, he would probably see no hope for his future and kill himself. He cares so much for this boy that he truly wants to live just to give the boy a better and safer life. The boy is in fact his light making the world at least a little more bearable to live in.
McCarthy is definately a true philosopher. McCarthy is able to express his idea in which small things can definately bring color to a person's life. Just by having a little hope and light in their lives can help them out in the long run. The father and son we're blessed to have each other for moral support. But not everyone has someone that can support them and tell them "It will be okay." Not everyone is going to have a sense of optimism like other people. The father has so much love towards the boy that even if frightening things are occuring around them, he would still have hope for the best and have motivation to continue on their journey. Just like birds, some people wish to fly away and forget all about their problems and the harsh things that has happened to them. But we cannot just run away from our problems though. Just like the father and the son had motivation to continue on, everyone deserves to find atleast one reason why to live on this Earth. Because if they don't, they'll end up killing themselves or living a life without meaning.
I had the same questions regarding how other people are fairing in the post-apocalyptic world which McCarthy created. In The Road, The Man and The Boy are quick to separate themselves from the rest of humanity, creating a sort of black and white morality by splitting the population into “good guys” and “bad guys”. The “good guy” angle seems to be represented by The Boy, while the “bad guy” angle is covered by the truck-bound wanderers and cannibals who plague The Man and The Boy. However, both sides are essentially one-dimensional characters. In fact, the only character which exhibits an flaws or character development is The Man. As I read the passages, I wondered about those who The Man and The Boy encountered on their travels (i.e. the thief, or the cannibals in the mansion). Had they always been amoral people, or were they just acting out of desperation; do they have any goodness left in them? These are only a few of the questions which came into my mind while reading The Road.
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