Literature Analysis of The Road by Cormac McCarthy

1. Briefly summarize the plot of the novel you read according to the elements of plot you've learned in past courses.
The story begins with the author introducing the reader to a man and his son who are struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. They continuously travel in search of food and survival. Their travels lead them to stumble upon marauding ragtag armies, cannibalistic trappers, and other people just fighting to stay alive. Eventually staring death right in the eye the pair decides to make a few desperate decisions that result in them running for their lives and his boy falling ill. The story climaxes when his child is on the brink of death but miraculously pulls through due to some medicine that is salvaged by his father at the expense of a few treacherous trips to the city. The rest of the story all falls together when they reach there seemingly never ending journey to some southern coast and stumble upon their biggest treasure trove so far, a beached ship. After stocking up they are once again on the road. The pair travels with only the clothes on their back some food in a shopping cart and each other, but even that relationship is at jeopardy in the hopeless world they stumble through.

2. Succinctly describe the theme of the novel. 

Although each new challenges that the pair faces usually brought up a new theme pertaining to perseverance and the unbreakable human spirit I believe the primary theme of the story was that whoever carries the fire will survive, the “fire” being the drive to survive and innocence that the man sees within the boy.


3. Why did you choose this book?
I chose this book because after seeing the list Mr. Ostini put up and hearing him make a few comments about the book I decided to check it out. I found it in his bookshelf by where I sit and opened to a random page in the middle. Upon opening it I noticed how the author didn’t use any punctuation during conversations and I also noticed how eloquent he wrote. Next I noticed the bleak and harsh tone the author used but still somehow managed to make me begin to feel for this nameless man and child. Once I began to read the same things kept me reading. I didn’t even know who this pair could have been before the apocalypse but I felt every emotion they felt and hoped for them just as much as they hoped for themselves.

4. Did you find the book realistic?
I found the book quite realistic. I noticed the way the man talked to his child and how it correlated to the way that social workers used to talk to me. Although I hated it I eventually realized a lot of what people did for me was to protect me from the harshness of what was happening just like the man did to his son. Plenty of times the man treated the child like an adult but also did his best to protect his innocence. Also from my past reading experiences the world they live in is quite the same to many other post-apocalyptic worlds that I have read about.

5. Describe the author's tone.
The author’s tone was quite somber and serene despite the world’s actual state of chaos. “Can’t we help him Papa?’ ‘No. we can’t help him. There’s nothing to be done for him.” “You took everything.’ ‘Come on, man. I’ll die.’ ‘I’m going to leave you the way you left us.” Countless situations like this arise where the boy and his father must push their emotions aside and leave others to die so they themselves can survive. The author treats these situations as almost nothing as they occur often and give readers the sense of inhumanity that goes on every second of the day in their world.

6. Describe a minimum of ten literary elements/techniques
Throughout the novel Cormac McCarthy used different literary elements and techniques. Prose is often used to emphasize the utter bareness of the world they live in. No form of mannerism is used throughout the story. “You’ll freeze your tokus off.” (pg. 217)

Common every day hyperboles are often used but without the nonchalant tone we use them today. Each one literally means what it means no matter how exaggerated we use it today. “I’m not hungry.’ ‘No youre starving.” (pg. 203)

Almost every sentence is written so eloquently that the words jump off the page and paint a picture for you. “What the boy had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit.” (pg. 198)

The novel is full of metaphors that enhance our understanding and provides a better image. “Scrawny, sullen, bearded, filthy, a deer caught in headlights.” (pg. 255)

To provide the reader with a better sense of what is happening or how something appears to the boy and his father the author used personification. “The earth itself contracting with the cold.” (pg. 261)

The novel often has similes used in the same way as metaphors are used. “Raw, naked, filthy, starving, the same mental state as animals.” (pg. 257)

Among all these other different elements the novel is also filled with basic sensory details. “They stood in the wind from the sea with the grass hissing all about them.” (pg.233)

Symbolism is a key part of the story that comes up often in the form of fire. Fire is there key to survival in the wild and also their key to mental survival. The boy’s father refers to their inner drive to live as their fire that they carry. “Is it real? The Fire?’ ‘Yes it is.” (pg.278)

The dialogue in the story is also unpunctuated and I think that the author did this to provide emphasis on just how bare the world is and how primal in nature things have become. For example the lack of punctuation on the following quotes. “They wouldnt be able to see far.’ ‘No they wouldnt.’ ‘whats on the other side’ ‘Nothing.’ (pg.216)

The author also uses indirect characterization to prompt us to feel for the characters. When we see the little boy grow and mature we also feel for him as the father does. Each new responsibility and naivety pulls us closer to him. “We could take him and we could take the dog, I’ll give him half of my food and the dog can catch his own.” (pg. 86)


CHARACTERIZATION

1. Describe two examples of direct characterization and two examples of indirect characterization. 

One example of direct characterization in the novel is when the author describes the man’s past and says that he was once a light-hearted man but now after the world betrayed him no longer trusts anyone. Also in the same scene the author details the boys boisterous and curious personality. The author indirectly characterizes the man every time he puts him in a situation where he would normally be seen as cruel to us but is actually just doing his best to protect his son. Indirectly characterizing the man like this gives us a sense of mystery and reinforces the mystery of the past since he is the only representation of what the world was like before the apocalypse. The author also indirectly characterizes the boy when he is reprimanded by the father for being so naïve and curious by wanting to keep a pet dog. Although he has already directly characterized this part of the boy’s personality by doing it this way we once again can’t help but notice the boy’s innocence and how he represents the good that is still left in the world. 

2. Does the author's syntax and/or diction change when s/he focuses on character?
The author’s syntax changes between the boy’s and father’s unique dictation. It also changes for other minor characters that are briefly a part of the story but instead of having their own unique diction they all possess the same diction. The father uses an advanced vocabulary but never tries to explain to the boy what he actually means only reassures him with and repeats what he says when is questioned by the boy. The father often makes joke about religion, god, and praying that the boy does not understand yet makes no effort to enlighten him. The boy uses the same words as his father but it is quite obvious that he doesn’t know what he is talking about.

3. Is the protagonist static or dynamic? Flat or round? Explain.
The protagonist is the boy in this novel and he is dynamic and a round character. Throughout the story the boy will become more responsible with his decisions. At first he pouted and cried when his father made a decision that he did not agree with but later on although he doesn’t agree with it he understands why his father does it and doesn’t intervene to make a change, which is a blatant representation of a boy maturing and changing personality.

4. After reading the book did you come away feeling like you'd met a person or read a character?
After reading the book not only did I feel like I had met a person or read a character I felt like I had walked through all their trials and tribulations right alongside them. When the father dies the boy spends a few days on his own until he meets someone who ends up being a part of “the good guys.” To know that the boy had found a new family after losing his mother and father it was quite relieving and resolved the entire story for me.


ENDURING MEMORY

Write a paragraph in which you describe the one or two ideas from this book that you expect to remember for a long time.
After reading the book this book I know I will remember one idea for a very long time. It is that we all carry a fire within us. It is our own personal drive to be the best we can and in some cases, like the father and his son, their strive to survive. For each of us carrying the fire is a choice. Evidently, some people cannot take it and lose hope, like the boy’s mother. Some may burn brighter than others but even when the world is doing everything it can to shut us out and put us down we will always have the choice to carry the fire. You aren’t just a good guy or bad guy, it’s a choice that we all have to make in our lives and what we stand up for determines just that.