Liberal Blogging

The following blog entry is less conventional compared to the ones I have previously written. While I read I highlight phrases, excerpts words among other things I find interesting along the text. These may be words I’ve never seen before or quotes I believe are esthetically well written that may have some literal value.

“Look around you. Ever is a long time.

But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all.” (pg 14)

This particular phrase uses time to evoke the kid and dad’s emotions in The Road. The boy is afraid of their undecided future and possible death in the post apocalyptic scenario. It is very interesting that “ever” is infinite and cannot be determined by time. His father being the “wise” figure in the story is wrong, and the boy serves a juxtaposing character.

“The faintly lit hatchway lay in the dark of the yard like a grave

yawning at judgment day in some old apocalyptic painting.”(pg 79)

McCarthy presents to us the use of imagery by using a simile. He compares the hatchway in the dark to a grave at judgment day. I consider this comparison to be a more interesting approach to portray The Road’s scenario. It is almost a type of meta-fiction in a sense that they are referring to an apocalyptic setting while being in one.

“Then they set out along the blacktop in the gun-metal light, shuffling

through the ash, each the other's world entire” (pg 3)

This phrase is ethically good and portrays The Road’s theme completely. They are together in a vast world in which death is their nearest friend. The rough description of the “gun-metal light” suites perfectly the idea of McCarthy’s story.

Blues And Greys

The Road by Cormac McCarthy portrays the nothingness and lack of hope in society. The view of a destructor World is an universal theme. His novel incorporates “hope” as a major idea in which the boy and father struggle to survive. McCarthy says, “Barren, silent, godless” (pg 2) alluding to the common fear people feel when being lonely and uncertain, usually associated to the lack of a deity. This, is often used as a critic to search for a higher being in moments of destruction. How humans feel tiny when they realize that nature or modernism are stronger forces than us.

The Road is a painting done by pen, crayon, chalk, blues and greys. It has a strong use of emotions evoked by the kid’s questions answered by his father with negative and yet positive predictions. McCarthy says, “Are we going to die? Sometime. Not now” (page 5).

Carts Moving Along The Road= Humans Coping With Existance

As I read McCarthy’s novel I couldn’t forget Mr. Tangen’s words: “ this is a pretty easy book, you’ll read it fast.” And so far I couldn’t agree more, however, the novel has various interesting elements such as strong symbolism. The kid walking with his dad in a post-apocalyptic scenario isn’t my favorite plot to read. Despite this, McCarthy has strong character development throughout his novel and is able to use symbols to portray stronger ideas aside from a stereotypical theme.

The evident symbol in the novel is the road itself but asides from this I consider the kid’s cart to be as important. It is a more “subtle” incorporation to his text and yet reflects a deeper idea. The cart is a symbol of humanity, if the road is our life then the cart represents ourselves. McCarthy says, “One of the

front wheels of the cart had gone wonky. What to do about it? Nothing” (pg 7). This quote shows the harsh situation the boy and his dad had to face in McCarthy’s novel. The cart has one of the wheels “wonky” representing their inability to move smoothly through the road, or in their particular case: life. The cart is the only possession they have throughout the novel and it is an agent of assistance or destruction. The boy and his dad carry the cart everywhere, and they deposit their goods and the gun. Portraying how humanity has both benign and negative aspects as they live. Despite the cart’s damaged condition the boy is able to fix it. This shows how sometimes we (humans) encounter adverse situations in our road (life) and must fix our cart (step up) in order to continue moving. An example of this is the boys reaction when he is able to repair the cart and enjoy life for a short period of time. The omniscient narrator states, “It was the first that he'd seen the boy smile in a long time” (pg 9).

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.