Journal #1
Pages: 1-58
The author varies the syntax within the novel to convey different moods and emotions throughout the text. Towards the beginning of the novel, long and stretched out sentences are incorporated by the author. For instance, when traveling on a highway, of which seems endless, the man describes how, “At times they could see stretches of the interstate highway below them through the bare stands of secondgrowth timber […] Just beyond the high gap in the mountains they stood and looked out over the great gulf to the south where the country as far as they could see was burned away […]” (McCarthy 14). This passage demonstrates how very lengthy sentences with great amounts of description were used. The incorporation of long and stretched-out sentences makes the reader feel as if the descriptions of the setting, such as the highway, go on forever, as if there is no end to what the man sees. This specific syntax is used to enhance the mood and feeling of the novel in such as way because by making lengthy sentences, the author is able to reflect the setting of how the journey that the man and child are taking seems to be endless and lengthy as well. This contributes to the overall mood of the text because by making it seem like the man and child are wandering on an endless journey, the journey seems to become more and more hopeless the farther they travel into barren lands. The demonstration of the hopeless feelings that the man and child have on this journey allows the reader to share and understand the same hopelessness, which enables one to get a better understanding of the development of the characters and overall novel. By varying they syntax with lengthy sentences, the author is able to reflect the endless journey, leading the reader to share the same feeling of hopelessness that the man and child experiences in order to get a better understanding of the text. Date: 2/21/15
Journal #2
Date: 2/23/15
Pages: 59-116
Cormac McCarthy incorporates the use of foreshadow in order to hint at significant events to come. Some key phrases that the child says to the man foreshadow a conflict later in the text. For instance, when the father decides to check the inside of an intact house for food, the child says, “‘I don’t think we should go up there,’” (Kidd 106). The child repeats this multiple times in order to try to get the father to change his decision of going into the house. The apprehensiveness that the child displays about going into the house indicates that this decision may go all wrong. After a while of searching, the father and child run into conflict by running into a group of men and women who chase them down in beg of help, and the father realizes the mistake he had made. The foreshadow that is incorporated into the text in crucial to the development of the novel because the man hadn’t listened to the child in desperation of food. However, after making the mistake, the father realizes that he should’ve thought his actions out, and listened to the child’s repeating warning. Now, the man will learn from his mistakes and act more cautiously rather than because of desperation. This affects the future of the novel because if it hadn’t been for the foreshadow through the child’s words, the father would’ve never learned to listen to the child’s warnings which can potentially lead to more conflicts in the future. By incorporating foreshadow through the child’s speech, the author is able to indicate conflicts to come in the future that hold significance to the development of the father and child’s journey.
Pages: 59-116
Cormac McCarthy incorporates the use of foreshadow in order to hint at significant events to come. Some key phrases that the child says to the man foreshadow a conflict later in the text. For instance, when the father decides to check the inside of an intact house for food, the child says, “‘I don’t think we should go up there,’” (Kidd 106). The child repeats this multiple times in order to try to get the father to change his decision of going into the house. The apprehensiveness that the child displays about going into the house indicates that this decision may go all wrong. After a while of searching, the father and child run into conflict by running into a group of men and women who chase them down in beg of help, and the father realizes the mistake he had made. The foreshadow that is incorporated into the text in crucial to the development of the novel because the man hadn’t listened to the child in desperation of food. However, after making the mistake, the father realizes that he should’ve thought his actions out, and listened to the child’s repeating warning. Now, the man will learn from his mistakes and act more cautiously rather than because of desperation. This affects the future of the novel because if it hadn’t been for the foreshadow through the child’s words, the father would’ve never learned to listen to the child’s warnings which can potentially lead to more conflicts in the future. By incorporating foreshadow through the child’s speech, the author is able to indicate conflicts to come in the future that hold significance to the development of the father and child’s journey.
Journal #3
Date: 2/26/15
Pages: 117-165
McCarthy incorporates the characters’ actions and speech in order to demonstrate symbolism and pass on a message to the reader. For example, when walking into an empty house, “[The man and child] came upon themselves in a mirror and he almost raised the pistol. It’s us, Papa, the boy whispered. It’s us,” (132). The man sees himself and the child in the mirror and almost thought it were another person, so he raised the pistol by reflex. A pistol or gun is usually a sign or war or destruction. The action of raising the pistol in fear of other people indicates the idea that humans fear and destroy each other because the father, representing humans, is depicted to fear his own mirror image, or mankind. The message portrayed through the man’s actions is significant to the novel because it demonstrates how extreme the conditions are and survival that the people still alive have to go through, even if it means to leave morals and have to put other humans in danger. This event in the house also delineates the humanity that is represented by the boy. For example, the man raises the pistol by reflex, but it is the child that reassures the man by saying “It’s us, Papa,” almost as if the child is reminding him to not be afraid of their own kind. By having this reassuring effect on the man and always going back to morals, the child can be seen to represent the humanity of people. By symbolizing humanity and morals, the child adds to the development of the novel by acting as a hope for humanity, and allowing the reader to come to the understanding that morals and humanity is not yet lost despite the post-apocalyptic conditions.In depicting symbolism through the man’s actions and the child’s speech, Cormac McCarthy is able to make a representation of the significance of humanity and morals in this novel.
Pages: 117-165
McCarthy incorporates the characters’ actions and speech in order to demonstrate symbolism and pass on a message to the reader. For example, when walking into an empty house, “[The man and child] came upon themselves in a mirror and he almost raised the pistol. It’s us, Papa, the boy whispered. It’s us,” (132). The man sees himself and the child in the mirror and almost thought it were another person, so he raised the pistol by reflex. A pistol or gun is usually a sign or war or destruction. The action of raising the pistol in fear of other people indicates the idea that humans fear and destroy each other because the father, representing humans, is depicted to fear his own mirror image, or mankind. The message portrayed through the man’s actions is significant to the novel because it demonstrates how extreme the conditions are and survival that the people still alive have to go through, even if it means to leave morals and have to put other humans in danger. This event in the house also delineates the humanity that is represented by the boy. For example, the man raises the pistol by reflex, but it is the child that reassures the man by saying “It’s us, Papa,” almost as if the child is reminding him to not be afraid of their own kind. By having this reassuring effect on the man and always going back to morals, the child can be seen to represent the humanity of people. By symbolizing humanity and morals, the child adds to the development of the novel by acting as a hope for humanity, and allowing the reader to come to the understanding that morals and humanity is not yet lost despite the post-apocalyptic conditions.In depicting symbolism through the man’s actions and the child’s speech, Cormac McCarthy is able to make a representation of the significance of humanity and morals in this novel.
Journal #4
Date: 2/28/15
Pages: 166-207
Cormac McCarthy incorporates a simile in order to allow the reader to get a better understanding of the conditions in which the father and son live through. The darkness of the sky is compared to the cellars of hell. For example, when the father and child try to sleep, as night approaches, the father describes their surroundings to be, “Houses or barns or under the bank of a roadside ditch with blankets pulled over their heads and the noon sky black as the cellars of hell,” (McCarthy 177). The sky is being compared to the cellars of hell, which one would usually think of as a dark, unforgiving, and dreadful place with no escape. By saying that the sky is as dark as the cellars of hell, the reader is able to come to the conclusion that the sky looks just as dark and dreadful in similarity. This description of the sky demonstrates the conditions on earth because the sky surrounds everything on earth, and by including this description, it is as if the darkness, dreadfulness and unforgiveness surrounds the father and child as well. By portraying that such characteristics surround them, the author is able to convey the image that the father and child live through dreadful and unforgiving conditions on the earth. Also, the comparison of the sky being like a cellar allows the reader to understand that there is no escape from these conditions, like the world is trapped in a cell. By incorporating simile in order to make a comparison between the sky and cellars of hell, Cormac McCarthy is able to demonstrate that the conditions in which the father and child have to endure through are dark, dreadful and unforgiving with no escape.
Pages: 166-207
Cormac McCarthy incorporates a simile in order to allow the reader to get a better understanding of the conditions in which the father and son live through. The darkness of the sky is compared to the cellars of hell. For example, when the father and child try to sleep, as night approaches, the father describes their surroundings to be, “Houses or barns or under the bank of a roadside ditch with blankets pulled over their heads and the noon sky black as the cellars of hell,” (McCarthy 177). The sky is being compared to the cellars of hell, which one would usually think of as a dark, unforgiving, and dreadful place with no escape. By saying that the sky is as dark as the cellars of hell, the reader is able to come to the conclusion that the sky looks just as dark and dreadful in similarity. This description of the sky demonstrates the conditions on earth because the sky surrounds everything on earth, and by including this description, it is as if the darkness, dreadfulness and unforgiveness surrounds the father and child as well. By portraying that such characteristics surround them, the author is able to convey the image that the father and child live through dreadful and unforgiving conditions on the earth. Also, the comparison of the sky being like a cellar allows the reader to understand that there is no escape from these conditions, like the world is trapped in a cell. By incorporating simile in order to make a comparison between the sky and cellars of hell, Cormac McCarthy is able to demonstrate that the conditions in which the father and child have to endure through are dark, dreadful and unforgiving with no escape.
Journal #5
Date: 3/13/15
Pages: 208-287
Cormac McCarthy makes an intriguing contrast in order to demonstrate that trust is needed in order the survival of humanity and life. The last paragraph of the novel depicts color and life, which is contradicts with the dull and barren descriptions that the author makes throughout the book. For example, after the boy gives his trust to a stranger, the author writes, “Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current […] They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming,” (McCarthy 287). The author uses words such as “trout” and “moss” to indicate life and create an image of color in the reader’s mind. Up until the father had passed away, the author had described the world to bee barren, dull, and hopeless. The child’s father had always been cautious and put no trust into strangers while the child often wanted to help and trust the few people that they came across on the journey. There hadn’t been much sign of hope for survival, but after the father had passed away, the child had put his trust into a stranger, and directly after, the author incorporates this paragraph that depicts life. Since the life and hope had only appeared till after the father had passed and the child put his trust into strangers, the child can be concluded to symbolize the new generation of trust and hope, which is the opposite of his father, or the older generation. This knowledge indicates that trust and hope is an essential aspect in humanity because of how the author presents the life present throughout the novel. By using this representation and portraying life at the very end of the novel, the author is able to demonstrate that trust is needed in order for the survival of humanity and life.
Pages: 208-287
Cormac McCarthy makes an intriguing contrast in order to demonstrate that trust is needed in order the survival of humanity and life. The last paragraph of the novel depicts color and life, which is contradicts with the dull and barren descriptions that the author makes throughout the book. For example, after the boy gives his trust to a stranger, the author writes, “Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current […] They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming,” (McCarthy 287). The author uses words such as “trout” and “moss” to indicate life and create an image of color in the reader’s mind. Up until the father had passed away, the author had described the world to bee barren, dull, and hopeless. The child’s father had always been cautious and put no trust into strangers while the child often wanted to help and trust the few people that they came across on the journey. There hadn’t been much sign of hope for survival, but after the father had passed away, the child had put his trust into a stranger, and directly after, the author incorporates this paragraph that depicts life. Since the life and hope had only appeared till after the father had passed and the child put his trust into strangers, the child can be concluded to symbolize the new generation of trust and hope, which is the opposite of his father, or the older generation. This knowledge indicates that trust and hope is an essential aspect in humanity because of how the author presents the life present throughout the novel. By using this representation and portraying life at the very end of the novel, the author is able to demonstrate that trust is needed in order for the survival of humanity and life.