Seasons

In literature, as well as in life, each season has unique symbolism which is reflected by the different emotions and impact they have on the characters. Spring is represents the person's birth and childhood, since it is time when the leaves and flowers begin to bloom. Then comes summer, which symbolizes the jolly, exciting and fresh youth. Afterwards is autumn that exemplifies through its falling leaves and dying trees the period of middle age of a person, when they start to seek the end of their life. Finally comes winter, which symbolizes death and old age since everything is dead and covered with snow.

This symbolism plays a substantial role in The Road, since both of its characters are looking for a place to escape winter (death). They are currently submerged in a transition stage where they are slowly moving from autumn to winter, which is described by this poem. Through the following conversation, McCarthy shows the denial the man has towards death, meanwhile the boy is starting to accept it as their innevitable destiny:

You think we're going to die, dont you?

I dont know.

We're not going to die.

Okay.

But you dont believe me.

I dont know.

Why do you think we're going to die?

I dont know.

Stop saying I dont know.

Okay.

Why do you think we're going to die?

We dont have anything to eat.

We'll find something.

Okay.

How long do you think people can go without food?

I dont know.

But how long do you think?

Maybe a few days.

And then what? You fall over dead?

Yes.

Well you dont. It takes a long time. We have water. That's the most important

thing. You dont last very long without water.

Okay.

But you dont believe me.

I dont know.

He studied him. Standing there with his hands in the pockets of the outsized

pinstriped suitcoat.

Do you think I lie to you?

No.

But you think I might lie to you about dying.

Yes.

Okay. I might. But we're not dying.

Okay." (pg 100 - 101)

Withering Road

McCarthy shows the readers how the world and life in "The Road" are slowing disappearing through the following:

The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colors. The names of birds.
Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true. " (pg 88)

 The first sentence indicates how the names of certain things (and the things themselves) are being forgotten by humanity. The lack of color symbolizes how the world has fallen into a monotonous and monochrome cycle of death and depression. The names of the birds exemplify how humans are losing touch with nature and how they barely care about anything but themselves. Food is a direct example that reflects the hunger and scarceness of supplies humans are facing due to their abuse and greed. Finally he mentions the "names of things one believed to be true", showing how they have become wary individuals who are used of doubting and mistrusting people's actions and intentions.

More fragile than he would have thought. How much was gone already? The sacred idiom shorn of its referents and so of its reality. Drawing down like something trying to preserve heat.
In time to wink out forever." (pg 89)

The excerpt above is a continuation of the previous quote, which states how the man never thought forgetting those important details was possible. He ponders how much things have already dissapeared and he haven't even noticed. Afterwards, he makes reference to how language (words) make futile attempts of preserving those concepts, even though they are gone already and nobody really cares about them. Finally he predicts how everything in the world will end up vanishing if humans continue behaving the way they do.

The Price of Luck

In Cormac McCarthy's interview with Oprah, he mentions several things that are also shown through the book.  He says that he has never cared too much about money, because for him the most important thing is to do the things that make you passionate. In the book, this is reflected trhough the fact that the characters never talk about money, nor care about becoming powerful or superior. They are only struggling to survive and to reach a better future.

Another important aspect disscussed in the interview is McCarthy's luck. He starts the topic by saying that when he was younger he lived in Kentucky and he had a job housesitting (because he was homeless and broke). One day, he heard someone knocking on the door, and unexpectedly, received a check from a foundation worth 20thousand dollars. Oprah asks him if he considers himself lucky, and he responds that in the world's "luckiness" can be seen as a bell graph, where people move either to the "lucky" or "unlucky" side through their life. He says that currently he felt on the lucky side, but that he has never done anything to deserve it, so things may change in any moment.

This relates to the book's character's life, since in some scenes they appear to be unfortunate and cursed, but on the other hand, they face many situations where they survive mainly due to luck. For example, after they though they were going to starve to death, they found the bunker with food and supplies inside:

He stood the lamp on  the step and went up and took the boy by the hand. Come on, he said. It's alright.                                                                                                                         What did you find? I found everything. Everything. Wait till you see." (pg 138 - 139)

Death Route

As the characters continue to struggle for survival, they face different situations that make their arduous journey almost unbeareable. Death becomes a really important subject of disscussion between the son and the father. For example, after they both escape the well-mantained house were prisioners were being kept, the father asks his son to kill himself if the "bad guys" catch him:

If they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you
hear me? You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it
quick and hard. Do you understand? Stop crying. Do you understand?
I think so.
No. Do you understand?
Yes." (pg 113)

This conversation, and the fact that the father abandoned the people that were about to be killed reflects how death has caused a tremendous impact on the man. First of all, its clear that his only priority is to keep his son and himself alive. The rest of the people have lost importance in the man's life since he has lost hope in humanity.

On the mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened
and burnt. The smell was hideous.
Jesus, he whispered.
Then one by one they turned and blinked in the pitiful light. Help us, they
whispered. Please help us. Christ, he said. Oh Christ.
He turned and grabbed the boy. Hurry, he said. Hurry." (pg 110)

The experience of watching these people left the boy and the man shocked and traumatized. After that, the boy continuously asks the man if they are going to die soon and begs him not to lie to him. He also wants to know if they will end up doing the same things as the "bad guys" in the masion did. The dad takes his role as a protective figure to the child, and asures him that even though conditions are tough, they will make it through and continue to be the good guys:

We wouldnt ever eat anybody, would we?
No. Of course not.
Even if we were starving?                                                                                                   We're starving now.
You said we werent.
I said we werent dying. I didnt say we werent starving.
But we wouldnt.
No. We wouldnt.
No matter what.
No. No matter what.
Because we're the good guys.
Yes.
And we're carrying the fire.
And we're carrying the fire. Yes.
Okay." (pg 128 - 129)

But even though the dad keeps telling the son that they are not dying and that they can endure the situation, he knows death is slowly coming upon them, and therefore, has a dream about it:

He was beginning to think that death was finally upon them and that they should find
some place to hide where they would not be found... He'd seen the boy in a
dream laid out upon a coolingboard and woke in horror. What he could bear in the
waking world he could not by night and he sat awake for fear the dream would
return" (pg 129 - 130)

The Ignition of Life

After the dad killed one of the "bad guys", his son becomes distant and depressed. Also, tension builts up among them, as shown through the following:

Take me with you, the boy said. He looked as if he was going to cry.
No. I want you to wait here.
Please, Papa.
Stop it. I want you to do what I say. Take the gun.
I dont want the gun.
I didnt ask you if you wanted it. Take it." (pg 70)

They continue the journey, but as soon as they realize that their food and items were stolen and that the only things left from the man were his guts, they decided to camp in a bridge. While they were camping, the father decides to collect wood and start a fire. The way McCarthy describes the shape and vitality of the fire makes it appear as a symbol of life and hope:

He took the lighter from his pocket and struck the wheel with his thumb. He used gasoline in the lighter and it burned with a frail blue flame and he bent and set the tinder alight and watched the fire climb upward through the wicker of limbs. He piled on more wood and bent and blew
gently at the base of the little blaze and arranged the wood with his hands, shaping
the fire just so." (pg 72)

Some pages ahead, the fire also plays an important role in the story. When the characters are sleeping in the abandoned city and they hear a dog barking, both of them felt scared, hungry and disoriented. In that moment, fire is shown as a symbol of power and a protecting shield:

We're going to be okay, arent we Papa?
Yes. We are.
And nothing bad is going to happen to us.
That's right.
Because we're carrying the fire.
Yes. Because we're carrying the fire." (pg 83)

The element of fire can also be seen to an exception of the monochromatic life both characters are living. The dazzling colors of the flames and the warmth they produce reminds them that they are still alive and they have a purpose to fight for. Their discontent with their lifestyle is reflected in the following phrase:

The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colors. The names of birds.
Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true. More fragile than
he would have thought. How much was gone already?" (pg 88)

Def-i-ni-tions

In Camille's post "Words." she defines several words and their context to help the reader understand the usage and meaning of them. I agree with the post's first statement, about how Mccarthy has a "huge vocabulary", since he uses specific and consice vocabulary throughout the novel. I think that the reason of this precise and minimalist language is that he portrays the character's unique situation and vision of the country in an also unique form. Even if destruction seems to have taken over, each landscape and circumstances lived by the characters differ from each other. These can be seen as the "synonyms" of the story, which in a literally level seem to mean the same, but in the symbolic one, they have slight differences that make them matchless.

I find the way Camille defines the words very adequate and interesting. She starts off by presenting the context in which they are found (quote) followed by a definition in her own words. Finally, she expresses her opinion towards their significance and the impact they caused on her. Through this format, she avoids making a boring, monotonous and dictionary-like post,but instead , she accomplishes her objective as a writer of attracting the readers to read and enjoy her material.

"With Silence Favor Me" - Horace

There are several things from Natalia Chaves' post "No words. Too much to say." in which I agree and others in which I disagree. First, she mentions how there is a distance between the son and the father, since their conversations are always short and simple. I disagree with this because I think that the fact that their dialogue is plain and concise indicates how the son trusts his father completely and never questions his decisions. McCarthy shows their close relationship through the following quote:

He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of
God God never spoke." (5)

In Natalia's last paragraph she explains the importance of the scant dialogue as a way to see how the characters have been through painful situations which have dehumanized them and transformed them into plain and stoic individuals. I agree with the previous statement because it is evident how destruction and chaos have made a terrible impact in the book's characters and the way they interact with others.

The: (article) normally used before a noun / Road: (noun) a way or course between two or more points

"Tattered gods slouching in their rags across the waste." (52)

Tattered: (adj) old, torn, in bad conditions.

 All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's
heart have a common provenance in pain." (54)

Provenance: (noun) origin or earliest roots of something

Following a stone wall in the dark, wrapped in his blanket, kneeling in the ashes like a penitent." (54)

 Penitent: (noun) a person that shows regret for doing wrong.

She would do it with a flake of obsidian. He'd taught her himself. Sharper than steel." (58)

Obsidian: (noun) volcanic rock formed by the solidification of lava. 

He came forward, holding his belt by one hand. The holes in it marked the
progress of his emaciation..." (63)

Emaciation: (noun) extreme thinness caused by malnourishment

When it was a bit lighter he rose and walked out and cut a perimeter about their siwash camp looking for sign but other than their own faint track through the ash he saw nothing." (68)

Siwash: (adj) related to indian's lifestyle. 

Road on Fire

As soon as the father arrives to what used to be his house, curiosity and melancholy take over him, making him enter the destroyed residence in despite of his child's fear and insecurity. As they walk around the house, the man evokes memories from his childhood, which make him ponder about the causes of that cruel and irreversible future. McCarthy exhibits how the man feels impotent and clueless about humanity's destiny:

What had they done?
He thought that in the history of the world it might even be that there was more
punishment than crime but he took small comfort from it." (33)

The journey continues on, and as the winter gets heavier and colder, the man and his son make an extra effort to arrive to a place known as "the gap". While pushing the cart, which has become a harder task since its wheels are buried under the snow, they arrive to a waterfall where they decide to rest. The place is meticulously described by McCarthy, which gives the reader a clear image of the beauty of the site. The characters decide to take a refreshing bath in the calmed part of the waterfall, were the man's care and pride for his son becomes evident.

The father decides to leave the place the next morning because he's afraid someone else might be there. They go under the bridge that crosses the river and, on the other side, they find an abandoned trailer where they decide to spend the night in. As the man decides to light a small fire inside the truck, he discovers dead bodies piled up in the rear part of it. The fire is a symbol used by McCarthy to display clarity and life because as soon as the fire was light, the man realized that they were surrounded by dead and that they were lucky to remain alive:

Human bodies. Sprawled in
every attitude. Dried and shrunken in their rotted clothes. The small wad of burning
paper drew down to a wisp of flame and then died out leaving a faint pattern for just
a moment in the incandescence like the shape of a flower, a molten rose. Then all
was dark again." (47)

Another human being appears in the road (for the first time in the story), and the boy has mixed feelings of fear and desire to help. The man is visibly hurt and crumbled since he doesn't notice the presence of the main characters behind him. The man decides to follow him with due precautions because he doesn't trust anyone but himself and his son. The man hobbled along the road until he sat down and never stood up again. The son started crying for he was afraid and concerned about this man's health. The father explained him that the man was hit by lighting and, even though they felt the urge of helping him, there was nothing that could be done. This attitude shows how tragedy has dehumanized the man, but the son is still innocent and pure, which makes him vulnerable to inevitable things like death.

The Road

The book "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy tells the story of a man and his child traveling across the devastated United States in search for survival. Both of them live a monotonous and scarce life, which is described by McCarthy as:

Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before" (3)

The previous quote sets a dark, sad and hopeless mood that is held throughout the book. Every landscape described by the main character looks basically the same: ashes, destroyed buildings and no signs of life. The desolation and loneliness of the towns make the man and the boy anxious and paranoid. They walk carefully (with a gun in the man's hand) and looking back constantly to check if they are being followed. It is sad to see how their life has come down to an endless pilgrimage and how everything they had is now reduced to a shopping cart filled with their belongings.

An interesting contrast with the book's dusky mood is the description of the man's dreams:

In dreams his pale bride came to him out of a green and leafy canopy. Her nipples
pipeclayed and her rib bones painted white. She wore a dress of gauze and her dark
hair was carried up in combs of ivory, combs of shell. Her smile, her downturned
eyes." (18)

The way his dreams are vividly described shows how he treasures those memories and wishes to go back to them. Daydreaming takes a big role in the novel as well, since the man gets caught up when remembering childhood events, like the peaceful afternoons spent in the lake in company of his uncle. The fact that the man is daydreaming permanently makes allusion to the fact that his surreal lifestyle has taken away some of his human attributes, like his sense of reality.

The conversations between the man and his son are very interesting as well. Even though they are short and dry, the exemplify how the son has absolute trust in his father and never questions his judgements or decisions:

Can I ask you something? he said.
Yes. Of course.
Are we going to die?
Sometime. Not now.
And we're still going south.
Yes.
So we'll be warm.
Yes.
Okay." (10)