Stylish Road

When Redding Cormac Mcarthys novel The Road we see his style directly portrayed in his writing. Two key aspects drag my attention as i read: variation of sentence length (structure) and liberal use of grammar. Here is where one as an active reader should analyze “why” and “how McCarthy is using this particular form of wiring.

The “why” is a more complex question to deal with compared to the “how”. We must read carefully and draw connections on The Roads theme, characters, plot symbolism, setting to McCarthy’s style. Defining “why” he used a certain sentence structure or omit the use of apostrophes is a very risky task. And based on this, our hypothesis must be open to other approaches concerning “why” McCarthy uses these techniques.

Here is the “how “ must be taken into consideration. McCarthy mentions, “A dead perch lolling belly up in the clear water. Yellow leaves” (pg 7). As a example of this particular sentence structure. He gives a long description and its followed by the incorporation of a short one. The juxtaposition of these different lengths transcends esthetics, they contribute to the essence of the Road. I believe this sentence introduces us the description, the second one emphasizes the importance of this description. If we recall, “In the morning they went on. Desolate country” (pg 8)we see the same form of writing. McCarthy uses adjectives and nouns like “visual colons” in the road. By this I mean his evident contrast on a previous paragraph and the next one serve as means to highlight information. This is obviously used instead of consistent sentence structure, which would be less interesting.

McCarthy also appeals the use of a liberal employment t of grammar. When having dialogue between the boy and his father apostrophes are absent and therefore show McCarthy’s style. Most writers would incorporate them in order to note importance to their characters thoughts. I believe it is also an approach to a figurative purpose when writing. I interpret this as another way to communicate the value of nothingness. These are unnecessary standards used when facing harsh situations.