The Road, Cormac McCarthy

Task 1

5 sentences to summarise what I have learnt so far:

1.      The book is inspired by B Movies (films of lower value that are cheesy); The Hills Have Eyes, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Last House On The Left, Dawn Of The Dead

Word to summarise sentence: B Movies

2.      The book was inspired by the Cold War; people built bunkers and envisaged what the future generations would have to face- living underground

Word to summarise sentence: Cold War

3.      The Road was influenced by Cuban Missile crisis; at 64, McCarthy took himself and his son (6) to Nevada and made his son evaluate what it would be like if they were all that were left- his inspiration.

Word to summarise sentence: Missile (crisis)

4.      The Road has a post-modern apocalyptic style of literature that is deliberately ironic.

Word to summarise sentence: post-modern/apocalyptic

5.      The strange writing style reflects the breakdown of society; clinging to the cart/trolley is clinging to humanity

Word to summarise sentence: Breakdown

1 word to summarise all I have learnt: Inspired

Task 2.

What does these extracts tells us about;

·         The type of novel it might be (the genre/s it seems to draw on or fit with)

o   The story (what might happen)

§  Themes (the ideas it might raise)

v  Characters and relationships

Ø  The way the story might be told.

This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man's brains out of his hair. That is my job.

·         Horror, action.

o   Violence occurs for survival of the boy

§  Death, violence, sacrifice,

v  The man will do anything for the boy.

Ø  Simplistic, there are no speech marks. Everything is stated as though it were a mundane occurrence

Yes I am, he said. I am the one.

·         Allegorical, horror, detective

o   The man and the boy encounter someone or something

§  Allegorical.

v  One of the pair idolises the other.

Ø  Simplistic; not a lot of grammar. Simplicity to show loss?

Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned hams. Corned beef.

·         Discovery

o   The pair encounter a multitude of food of which they have not seen in a while whilst on the road.

§  Survival, Discovery

v  The fruit and vegetable are listed together. The meat is separated. Meat, from evaluation of the punctuation, is more sparse and less easy to come by.

Ø  Lists, everything is a chore and a task. Analytical. Careful.

Are we still the good guys, he said.

·         Supernatural, Dystopian

o  The pair begin to doubt themselves and their morals in a world that does not seem to care.

§  Self-doubt, good vs evil.

v  The boy is naïve.

Ø  In the viewpoint of the boy.

We should go, Papa, he said. Yes, the man said. But he didn't.

·         Thriller, adventure

o   The boy begins to feel anxious  and wants to leave but the man is curious.

§  The unknown, mystery.

v  The boy relies on the man.

Ø  Simplistic- hardly any grammar

The snow fell nor did it cease to fall.

·         Fantasy, supernatural

o   Pathetic fallacy of the snow can display their urgency to keep travelling down the road as their time is running out like sand in an hour glass.

§  Isolation, mortality.

v  Neither can go on without the other.

Ø  Pathetic fallacy portrays their hope and time left upon the Earth.

Okay? Okay.

·         Adventure

o   The man the boy's most common form of communication; it is always in their conversation.

§  Compassion and forgiveness, isolation, love.

v  The boy and the man simply talk to fill the silence and to make sure the other is there to keep a piece of their humanity.

Ø  Simplicity is often the most complex form of them all.

They sat on the edge of the tub and pulled their shoes on and them he handed the boy the pan and soap and he took the stove and the little bottle of gas and the pistol and wrapped in their blankets and they went back across the yard to the bunker.

·         Thriller, dystopian

o   Describes their safe haven that they have found but know they cannot remain there forever.

§  Mortality, strength and skill, isolation, survival.

v  The man makes sure the boy is taken care of before himself. he places the boy's needs before his own.

Ø  Simplistic, ever going with no stops; story of their journey, constantly going on in the hope that they can find safety.

Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth.

·         Horror.

o   Realisation that although they are alive, they are not living. They are wanderers knowing that the finality of their lives will soon be tolled.

§  Mortality, spirituality, violence, versions of reality, good vs evil.

v  Death is their ever following companion. The man knows that Death is catching up with the pair.

Ø  The ‘tolling’ could be a death bell; the toll of earth’s death. The toll of the man’s wanted death drawing nearer.

She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift.

·         Romance, Gothic, Thriller

o   Analepsis of the man's wife and of her final moments.

§  Love, isolation, violence, mortality, memory and the past, versions of reality.

v  The man can never truly forget the past; the boy is a constant reminder of his wife.

Ø  Analeptical; flashbacks of the man’s wife.