Symbols...

Water, cleaning and washing

Water is the one of the most needed things for humans, or for any animal to live. The reason that humans can live on earth is because of water, other planets in our solar system do not have life because there is no water. So when the man has to purify the water using the cloth it shows the only thing that stops the world from depletion is corrupted.

The mountain
The sea
The colour grey (gray American spelling) Ash

Ash is a sign of fire which has died out and left the scraps unable to burn, on the road it is everywhere, the scraps of humanity which the fire can't quite destroy but it useless, dirty and unneeded... Depressing
The boy also plays with the ash with his truck before the roar rats come, this could be showing the world is so empty that you can look at a small part, or a larger part but they will both seem the same.


Fire

Fire has always been essential for human's to survive. Since the stone ages it is well known that cave men were to make fires from sparks. So when they go back to making them to keep warm (something for we don't use fires directly anymore) it shows humanity going backwards.
Also in a lot of books, animals have been portrayed to be afraid of fire, this is the only thing in the dead world they belong that separates them from the beasts.

Sight/sightlessness

The man has lost all sight for the future, all he can see is where the road is leading next. He never plans for anything only on getting to the coast, but even when they get there, there is no planning on where to go next, only making camp.

Seeds
Music/musical instruments Animal imagery


Religious imagery

The Road talks of God having left the world, but God's word being spoken through the boy. , these are two quite opposing ideas, but could represent the boy being the son of God (like Jesus) this is also symbolised by when his father died he waited 3 days before coming out the woods, quite like Jesus arose from the dead on the third day. Then he meets a man who could help him survive. His father would never let him do this (as he did not trust other people on the road) so like the curtain being ripped in the temple, a metaphorical curtain has been ripped so now the boy can go live with the remaining good guys... I accept that this might be considered very wooly...

The Coca Cola can

The Coca Cola can could in this represent humanity as it is "good" but very few and far between. It is also a place the father gives something to the boy and he enjoys it, it is one of the only times that he ever brings good news (the cola in this being the good news) to the boy.

Managing Time... Pages 71 - 91

Parts involving Time

Page 71 - "Light that past for day"

Page 73 - "Walked all throught the woods"

Page 78 - "He woke at night"

Page 79 - "The new snow"

Page 80 - "They trudged all day"

Page 81 - "In the morning"

Page 85 - "Darkness coming fast"

Page 86 - "They slept in a parked car"

Page 87 - "In the morning a cold rain was falling"

Page 89 - "Made their way back throught the town"

Page 90 - "They set out in the dusk"

Page 91 - "Followed us for two days"

The Ending in 25 words

Man dies... boy lives... alone... man comes... offers help... boy still carrying the light... doesnt want pistol... goes with family... keeps carrying the light... uncertainty

Road Rat Questions

What element of forshadowing is employed in this section and why? (pg 62)

Before they see the 'bad people' on the road, the boy is playing with a small truck and drawing in the ash, this is a uncharacteristly happy scene, but then it is followed by a horrible scene when the road rats come in a big diesel truck, in this scene the noises of the truck are described horribly but when the boy playing with his truck it's a nice and joyful sound. These happen in very quick succession and very much shows that on the road if anything ever happens which is good or happy must be replaced by something more horrible than the good event is happy.


What does the description of the men teach us about them? (Characterisation pg 62-3)

The description obviously shows us they are evil... basically. But at the start they seem like saviours, not tyrants; they are wearing "gas masks" and "bioharzard suits" which suggest they are figures of authority, however though these are meant to be things to keep you safe and clean  this image is tarnished when it says they were"Stained and filthy" which could be showing the intentions on the road. This could be showing the change in power, they now rule the road, now he Givernment has collapsed it now has to fall to an unstable group of thugs who will eat eachother to survive.
When they are first seen on the word it does not describe them as "some people were coming into view" but "the first of them" this shows that the man was always expecting them to be coming, and they were like an unescapable force.
There is also a feeling of them being like animals skulking the road, the most basic one him being described as a road rat, with out any explaination of why he would be called that.
It also describes them as "hooded" representing them as death "shuffling" in the road blindly trying to look for his prey.


McCarthy uses a simile when describing the truck 'Lumbering and creaking like a ship'. Why does he do this?

He uses this similie for a couple of reasons, one: it could be showing the bad people's shaky morale compass... (i agree this seems very bad... but its another point and means i can have more than one reason)
or two: he is going to a very biblical story of Noah and the ark, this is strange as in this description he is talking about the bad people, but the story of the ark is that God is drowning the world because it is full of evil, but this time he has not flooded the world, but left it to fend for itself, this meaning that they are the who will survive because they have an ark, which will protect them but as God has left there will be no salvation...

Why does Mccarthy describe the Road Rat in such detail? (Characterisation pg 65)

Mcarthy writes the Roat Rat's descritpion in such great detail for many reasons, for one, like the gore and blood which is shown through out the book is very uncensored he does this to show how bad the world is, simmiraly he does this with the bad person... being the road rat, he dscribes him in a lot of detail to show he is bad for the world as is the violence.
he also did it once so that you would always associate the bad people (who are alwas generlised) with the road rat.

Why is the Road Rats character so explicit whilst the man is so implicit?

The road rat is made very vulger in the scene, he swears and uses very basic, crude language when speaking, this is to show for one that he has given up on being proper and has 'adapted' to the road so dpes not have to bother with normal or polite language.
He is also meant to be portrayed as a typical "bad person" so this is a way you can seperate the two sides of the world other than just the appearence, meaning later when you meet the theif you can tell he isnt all bad as he does not speak as bad as the road rat.



What do we learn about the man through his exchanges with the Road Rat? (Pg 68. Consider the Man's impressive medical knowledge, look at the description of the grabbing of the boy and the shooting of the Road Rat)

As the roadrat and man converse you learn a lot about the man, for one he is atleast basically trained in medicine. He tells the roatrat in great detail how the bullet would go through his brain. Though you assume that the man is very smart through the book this is the first time it is said rather clearly.
You can tell he is also trained with firearms, and combat, he performs a cammondo roll and shoots from a far distance with a colt pistol, this is impressive which shows he either has killed many people on the road or he had been trained to do it, this makes a problem if not the latter, if he has learnt to kill people to survive is he any better than the man (road rat) he just shot?

"A single round left in the revolver. You will not face the truth. You will not" Who is the man echoing here? How do you believe these words are uttered?

This is the echo of his wife, telling him about the bullets in the gun. it can be seen really only in 2 ways, either that she is telling him that he is being foolish and arogant for not facing the truth, or she is telling them to stay strong and not to face the truth or it will ruin them, following the expression 'ignorance is bliss'

Why don't the other men chase after the boy and the man following the shooting? (there are clues on pg 73-4).

The men do not give chase for one main reason that it was easier to eat their friend than chase after live prey. This compares them very subtly to wolves, it is a fairly well know thing that if you are running away from wild wolves and only have one bullet (hmmm interesting coinsidence) that you should shoot the one right at the front of the pack, then the others will loose interest in you and go for the easy target... the dead wolf, this shows well in this scene.

It is not until page 77 that the man finally cleans the "gore" and "dead mans brains" from the boys face. Why? (Be aware that in the intervening pages he has kept him warm with blankets, fed him etc yet not cleaned his face)

This is a question of priorities, though in our day and society the first thing you would worry about would be to clear up gore from your son's head, however with this he chooses to keep the boy warm... for the cold will kill the boy but blood wont, it  shows how what is important changes when they are desperate, it shows this more than anywhere in the book, but is used to show how normal... or less significant it is compared to the world we know.

The Gingerbread Man

The Farmer's wife walked across the kitchen. She drew a blade from the knife block on the counter and stuck into the pastry. Cutting a thin lifeless man into the pastry. Pulling the residue off from around the figure she laid the body on the work surface.
She opened the oven door
You shall be tea for the children she said
She took it out of the heat, it was burnt at the edges. The gingerbread man's solid indention of a face twitched.
You shall be for tea the woman said
Nope said the gingerbread man you are not having me. The Gingerbread man jumped off the baking tray and towards the door, he pushed it open and ran onto the farm. The wind pushing him back. Catching his breath he stopped.
I would like to eat you for my tea said the horse. He was by the fence
Nope the gingerbread man said you will not have me
The Gingerbread man scurried down a lane. A river lay ahead. Dark and deep. How was he supposed to get away. A fox walked up to the gingerbread man
I could help you across just get on my tail the Fox said
Thank you
He walked for the table and sat on it. The fox started swimming on the river. Water hitting the Gingerbread man's face. Wetting his dough feet. My feet are getting wet
Then go on my back
The Gingerbread man moved onto his back. Still wet. Still getting his feet wet. My feet are getting wet
Get onto my head said the fox
Then there was a crunch. A yell. The gingerbread man had been bitten by the fox. And with one quick snap he was gone.

Key Moments

The Man who was struck by lightening

This part of the book shows the man being scared of helping a man in need. It makes you feel slightly disapointed in the man as you thought they were the "Good guys" in the novel. It is the first real test of morality.
When they reach the man, it says "he looked down as if he'd done something wrong" this makes you feel pitty for the man, this shows he is obviously expecting punishment, like an animal bowing its head as to protect itself, so by this shows he is expecting more pain this sets the scene for the rest of the book, unyielding suffering where no one will try to help.
By making the boy want to help the injured man but the Father not, it shows contrast, and makes the reader feel almost angry with the father for not helping him, as the boy is willing.
This is the point in the book where the Man leaves himself behind and accepts the full terror of the world he is living in. This is shown by him throwing away his wallet and his life. It says earlier that the injured man was "as burnt looking as the country" by saying that "we can't fix him" it could be a larger meaning that indicating, it could be a symbol that the world is falling and there was no way of fixing it

shooting the 'roadrat' (pp. 62-69)

This is when the man and boy come across the "bad people" on the road, it shows them to be evil immiedeltly as you see them it describes them as "casting their hooden heads side to side" this is like raging wild animals like a bear, searching for food.
A detail which is stangely repeated during this scene is the "diesel truck" which would nnot usualy be said, most of the time people would say 'an engine' or 'the truck' by being very specific it shows both the rarity of the truck and the concentration which the man has on it, as Petrol and Diesal engines though making relativly simmilar sounds do sound slightly different. This alos brings out the silence of the scene, that the usual calm means that when he does hear the engine it is a lot more defined.
When asked if the Man is a doctor in this scene, he replies "Im not anything" this shows how he feels unconnected tot the world he once knews, and he treats it as a different life... that or he just didn't want the roadrat to know he was a doctor...
When is describes the belt the road rat takes off, it says "the holes on it showed the progress of his emaciaton" Emaciation means how ill a person or how starved a person is looking, the holes showing his decent to death as he gets thinner its curious the that when the man shoots the road rat he says that blood was "bubbling from the hole in his forehead" which is the last part to the "progression"


- finding the cellar of naked and mutilated people (pp. 112-121)

In this scene the Man and the Boy go to a old house in search for food, they go into the cellar and find many mutilated people in it then they run.
Before they enter it says that "Chattel slaves" were used in the building this is meant to be said in soime disgust, as slavery is horrible, but it sets the scene and seems insignificant in comparison to what they see in the cellar, it is amost foreshadowing the mutilated people by mentioning the existence of the slaves.
THere are hints of Christiananity through this scene, when they decsend into the cellar the it describes it as "an offering" as if to God, but then said it was a "ungodly stench" this makes it then if not a offering to God then to the opposite; to Satan.
He also says "Jesus" and "Christ oh Christ" when running from the cellar. and they run back into the light of out of the cellar, this could be showing that God had abandoned the earth, like the Man and boy did.

- the baby on the spit (pp. 210-215)

This is a very shocking scene in the chapter, not only is the actual occurence horrible it is all by suprise, the description jumps straight in rather than explaining it so the reader could slowly absorb it.
It is a very significant episode in the book because of the brutality. It is also important because of the interaction between the man and the boy. When the man notices the baby, he runs away whispering "im sorry" he repeats this again, this is to show the desperation of his words, this isn't a timid apology this is him begging for forgiveness for this horrible thing, this is in great contrast to earlier in the book, as it is full of emotion, but earlier in the book he talks of gruesome events quite unemotionaly.
In these scene also the boy becomes very enthusiastic about everything, though earlier in the book he is very shy. Some how this has given the boy a sense of responcibilty as he talks about what they could have done for the baby.


- getting to the shore (pp. 227 - 230)

In this scene there is a lot of climax towards getting to the coast, which has been the goal through out the whole book. It shows the excitment - almost of the story teller - as he skips days with such expressions like "2 days later" and "long days" rather than explaining them fully as usually done.
On page 229 there is an incredibly small paragraph to show the excitment of the boy. But hardly through out the scene mentions the father's excitment and though before it talks about the father talking about the coast now the son is the one being excited. This shows how much the road has drained the man's spirit and but the boy's has kept going which keeps going which matches their physical health.
It is a great anti-climax when they see the sea "I'm sorry its not blue" the Man says this to reconcile the boy. Though it is a very small thing that the father has let the boy down with, it was the one thing that the boy was looking forward to, and the man had let him down so many times before then.
In this scene the man also talks about dead bodies and describes himself being like someone "waking in the grave" to show that he was almost dead but then is holding on, this really also makes the coast so disappointing the one thing that had been their hope for survival, but then he dies there.
This scene is important to the rest of the novel for the simple reason it shows the never ending gloom of the road, no matter what they do it is never going to end, and there is no light at the end of the road.

 the theft of the man and boy's belongings (pp. 270-278)


In this scene, for the first time the man properly looses his cool. When he realizes their stuff has gone he says "You stupid ass" this could be considered very crude and basic language. earlier in the novel for example with the road rat, the road rat uses very basic language to show that he was so absorbed into the chaos of the world, as the man and boy had spoken nicely it showed they were the "good guys" but now you see a bad streak in the man and this language shows the start of it. It is also shown they are the turning away from the good side because for the first time they are the ones giving chase not the ones being chased.
Also a thing that changes he tells the boy "Im scared, do you understand? im scared" this is a change from the normal, the man usually tries to reassure himself when doing a bad thing, but now as he is dying he has to pass it on the boy, so has to justify to the boy why he did the immoral thing.
This scene is important for the reason that it shows the transition and confusion as the man starts to become more desperate, and it asks the questions: are they still the good guys? 

Quotes

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

This is so detathed and cold. He talks about it as a meaningless thing, the event in the quote is so atrotious but he is talking about it mundainly and came to accept it and the fact that they are living in a disgusting world. When he says it is his job he now treats it as something he is not attatched to permenantly like he would be, for he did not say something like "it is my duty" which means you do it because you feel obliged to do, rather than being forced to, however you do a job because you need to.

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

This quote is a bleak statement, though in other contexts being "the one" is considered special and powerful, in this it merely means he is the only one who would take care of his son now, so this shows the depressing journey they have ahead of them, as they have no one but eachother, so very isolation...al...


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

The list of food makes it seem a lot of more precious than it would be in other circumstances; it is listed in awe, and is written almost poetically. Though these foods would usually not be of great value and certainly would not be eaten together it shows the how priorities have changed because of the doom on the planet.


Are we still the good guys, he said.

This shows a sense of morality in the book, morality is not very big in this book as everyone is so desperate and morals and ethics are forgotten, it shows the boy is still worried about it after the atrocities which are happeneing. Showing that he is not as effected by world as the man is.

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

This again shows coldness towards the man's opinion on life, he knows that he should go, but he is far too curious with what is happening, this shows either bravery or recklessness, the boy is almost used as a voice of reason, through out the book, and in this case the man is no longer listening to reason, as no one does when they give up on life.

The snow fell nor did it cease to fall.

This is a strange sentence. The easiest way to write this would have been, "it snowed for a long time" or "it snowed all night" but he chose to say it didn't "cease" to fall. This could be because earlier on in the book, it says about how the snow was dangerous, so by this it could mean that it was the man's thoughts of that it was never going to cease being dangerous.
Okay? Okay.

In this scene the Man is trying to convince the son there is nothing they can do for the other man who has been struck by lightning, though the boy tries to make them do something he gives up when he realises how pointless it is fighting it, though it seems they agree by using the same word, it isn't it is a surrender.

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.


This sentence though very long gives no detail. It shows the blankness of what their lives have become. It does not explain why. or to what avail the actions described do, merely just says what they did, showing that their lives have come purely down to instinct and rythm, like the way animals live.
Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth.

'Tolling' usually signifies the single sound of a bell, in this quote it shows the emptiness of the world and its decent into darkness. Also another expression used with tolling, is deathtoll, and these are associated bringing a death theme to the sentence.
She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift. 

This quote shows two sides to sides to the death of the wife. Though she kills herself for (it seems to be) selfish reasons it did in a way help the man and boy, by her not being there it means they dont have to find so much food as she is not living, this is shown because of the word "Coldness" because inanimate objects are associated with cold.