Exploring Analysis of The Woman

1. This is a novel less about survival than about the relationship between a father and his son.
2. McCarthy needed something that is no longer present to represent life as it used to be in the time before.
3. The man and woman represent the different ways in which humanity might react to such a situation.
4. This is a novel about minute by minute survival. Showing the man resisting the temptation of his memories brings this home to the reader.
5. The woman has a powerful and ambiguous symbolic function in the novel: she represents both the giving of life and the temptation of death.
6. There is no space in this pared back narrative of survival for a third main character.
7. The vulnerability of the boy would seem far less evident if his mother were there as well.
8. For the man, the woman’s absence is a constant reminder of the alternative to struggling to survive.

Task: Place the 8 meanings in order of relavance, from most to least:

5,2,8,4,3,7,1,6

Least Important: 6

"There is no space in this pared back narrative for a third main character"

Since the novel is not solely based upon the relationship between the man and the boy - due to the lack of emotion for each other; the only emotion is shown at the end after the death of The Man. Including another character probably would not affect the novels main objective of keeping to a savage post apocolyptic world. The addition of the woman may affect the overall chances of survival for The Man and The Boy by making it more difficult for the trio to find enough food for all 3 of them; but we could say by the way the novel is planned out that the woman may act in a submissive manor, letting the man take control of their journey south.

Most Important: 5

"The woman has a powerful and ambiguous symbolic function in the novel: she represents both the giving of life and the temptation of death"

The woman is shown throughout the book in a way that can be viewed in several. We find out early on in the book that the woman does commit suicide, this can be viewed as a cowardly act to take on her part. We could also say that this is not what a mother would normally do, to leave a child with his father in a dead world with danger round every corner and to go and kill yourself instead seems almost as a 'Cop out' on her part.

Although, from a more feministic viewpoint, we could say that the woman is actually the strongest character in the novel. For example, she does not take her life quickly or painlessly with a bullet, she leaves two bullets spare for the man and the boy when they seem is right to use them and instead kills herself with volcanic glass by 'slitting' her wrists. This method would seem a painful way to kill yourself, but this decision could be viewed as the strongest move to take as well as showing the guilt of the woman for making this decision. Her final decision to kill herself without using bullets, and if The Man did not die when he did, could potentially save their lives or at least take the Boys life away from the misery of this world.

Rory's Quick Latin Lesson

Deus ex Machina
Translation: God Is In The Machine
Meaning: One Thing To Fix Everything

The Ending - My Opinion

The Beach

Quotations
" He looked at the boy. He could see the disappointment in his face. I'm sorry its not blue"
' The gray Beach' - Still no colour, limited visual imagery.
' I'm sorry its not blue' - Still no colour, shows disappointment of the man towards the boy.
' Do you think theres ships out there' - Still hoping for some sort of rescue,
' Smog on the horizon' - The Sea is dead. The sea is the life of Earth, Death symbolism.

Links?

• Loss of Hope   - Mothers suicide.
• Lack of colour - 'gray' 'ash'

Themes

• Disappointment
• Is it the end or a new beginning?
• Death
• Monotonous - Limited Palette
• Hope
• Isolation

Why this Ending?

• End of there Journey - reached there goal, to get to the sea.
• The Boy has begun to expect disappointment so is understanding
• Hoping for an equilibrium.

Other Opinions

When the Man dies?

The boy and the man have been together throughout the whole novel.
'You Said you'd never leave me' page 298
'By the light they carried' Page 300 ( Pointless, death is now inevitable)
'Point of no return' Page 300 ( Giving up, They have gone to far)

Hansel & Gretel - McCarthy Style

A very poor man lived in a cottage in a forest with his ill-mannered wife and 2 Children. Hansel and Gretel.
There is not enough food for us all, she said.
Okay.
Good.
The man abandoned the children in the forest. And walked away.

Hansel did not eat his bread. They walked through the blackened forest only to stop and turn around and search for the source of the sound that caused them to stop before going on. He crumbled the bread and created a path through the forest. The starved wildlife however ate this. The children were lost.

Im frightened; she wept.
Dont be afraid.
Okay.
Okay.

Night fell. Darker than Black. Temperatures fell.
They huddled together for warmth.

Two days later. The dawn broke. They walked through the forest.
All hope faded. They came across a house all covered in jet black chocolate discoloured from age. They peeped through the windows.
Im not too sure about this, Gretel said

Come in! Come in you've nothing to fear. An old woman said.
The children walked in. They walked into the kitchen. They looked around the kitchen. Stopped. Before continuing to look round the entire house from the upstairs to the lounge.
You're nothing but skin and bones.
Okay.
Hansel had fallen into her trap. As she locked the chains around his legs he wrestled to free himself but she only tightened the chains as she trapped his sister at the same time. Trapped. Alone. Isolated.

Light the Oven! We're eating roasted boy! she told Gretel. She delayed the response. She just waited. And waited. Waited. The hagged old woman walked over and bent towards the oven.

Gretel pushed. Old woman fell, into the fire she went. She freed her brother and stormed out of the house.

I told you so she said as they attempted to catch there breath.
Im sorry! Hansel babbled, im so sorry.

In my opinion, Hansel and Gretel has similar scenes to the road;

• for example the mystery house which both the fairy tale and the man and the boy venture into.

Charcater Analysis of the Boy

We can see The Boy as a child prodigy, not for doing something amazing, but is able to stay in control of his feelings during the harsh conditions. We can also say that the boy is not a selfish character as most children around his age (although it doesn't say his age in the book, we can suggest he is around 9 or 10) but instead he is constantly thinking of others as they walk the road, one example of this is the man who was struck by lightening; and gets very upset with his 'papa' for not staying to help him. The boys compassion inspires The Man to this 'love-fest' late in the book "You have my whole heart. You always did. You're the best guy. You always were".

The Boy also has moments of fear. Again and again, he begs the man not to go upstairs or open cellar doors out of fear of what maybe there. He also cries a lot in the book, like any child would, and needs his father their to comfort him during this lower times. Although, he can be difficult or unkind towards his father, he threw away the flute given to him by his father who carved it for him. We can say that The Boy can be seen as self-righteous, one example of this was how The Man tells stories to keep their spirits, The Boy is more concerned about the treatment of other people they meet on the road who is worse off then them.

McCarthy also often describes The Boy using religious symbols and languages. At one point, the man describes The Boy's blond head '[g]olden chalice, good house to a god.' The Boy sometimes seems like a divine child who can inspire The Man to goodness. The Boy's gentle nature provides us readers with hope for the future of the story. Though he has only known this savage, post-apocalyptic world, he's still full of kindness and innocence. 

The Road Pictures

What does it mean to be alive in a dead world? pp.229

9th November

Page 229 Lines 6-18

Sentence Structure

• Extremely long sentences without commas, this forces the reader to speed up the reading of the section, creating the effect of frantic actions as they feel unsafe similar to pages 6 - 10 in the novel.
• However in the passage, the sentences shorten, this makes the pace of the reading slows down, therefore we can infer they have moved on and the danger has passed.

Choice of Vocabulary

• The vocabulary is simple, this maybe because the father has grown accustomed to the sons style of speech; another reason could be because the simple vocabulary inadvertently increases the pace and tension of the passage as it does not give time to go into intense detail.
• The detail length and vocab becomes more detailed as they appear to leave the danger, this allows the tension to decrease and takes the reader 'off edge' only to increase it once again later on...

Repetition

• The repetition of the can (in this case) is used in the extended sentences as this creates an almost instruction guide to the actions they are creating; in this case with the constant repetition of the can and the process of collecting gasoline shows the frantic actions that the man is completing.

What style of text does this section remind you of?

• The section I have chosen reminds me of an instruction manual, e.g. Survival Guides.
• This is because the passage is short and sharp sentences with actions to follow, exactly like an instruction manual.

Effects on the reader?

• The first part of the section causes the reader to be on edge with the short sentences makes the reader believe that something may happen to them. Once the reader realises that the danger has passed, the reader begins to calm down but stays on edge expecting to be hit graphically from an 'attack' on the McCarthy Style.

5 + 5 = 1

9th November

5 Sentences

1) Time expansion and telescoping.
2) Paranoid character who fear every move they make may be their last.
3) The characters rely on basic 'human instinct' to survive.
4) The man in the story seperates himself from the boy to feel less guilt towards leaving the boy alone.
5) Words match the sound of the scene they are describing.

5 Words

1) Time
2) Paranoia
3) Instinct
4) Seperation
5) Onomatopoeia

1 Final Word

Survival

HWK Episode 4 - The baby on the spit pp.210-215

9th November

4) The Baby on the Spit (pp.210-215)

How the episode impacted on you?
This episode personally made me feel sick, as this episode shows how desperate and low humanity can go in the search for something to eat. The lack of description of the baby as a human, and the more description as an object makes the description more disturbing for the reader. The only character to show any emotion to the sight of the baby is the boy, who is also the character created for a Christian Allegory to symbolise the hope of the planet. The man does not react to this sight which shows he must have seen similar scenes before.

Plot Progression (What will happen next?)
At the risk of sounding repetitive, (which suits the novel very well I must add) this still does not show us how this story may end; but what were are able to say is that the boy is the boy is becoming more aware of the situation he is in and the perils he may face.

Your Experience?
This section in my opinion, brings the tension back up as it shows how the danger and peril is increasing as more and more people are getting so desperate they are resulting to cannibalism. We can also say that as the victims of the apocalypse are getting younger, we could say that the innocence and hope of the boy is starting to fade away.

Is the language in keeping with the rest of the novel?
In keeping with the novel, the language is still simplistic and no changes in the speech of the two characters.

Is this in fact a key episode? What makes it important?
I believe that this episode in particular is a key episode as now it shows that the human race has become so desperate, they have lost all morals all together when the cannibalism has not only became prevelant scene in the book, the cannibalism of babies and young children is brought in. With the death of the baby, we can say that hope and the innocence of humanity has finally gone.

HWK Episode 3 - Finding the cellar of naked and mutilated people pp.112-121

9th November

3) The cellar of naked and mutilated people (pp. 112-121)

How the episode impacted you?
With this episode being based on the film 'Dawn of the Dead', which after seeing a clip from the film, McCarthy was able to show this scene in scarily levels of detail. This is donebecause McCarthy uses and appeals to low-culture, which is the reason for the horror film references. This clip in my opinion, affects how we read the book as a reader as the detail is so intense, we begin to view these mutilated people as if this was reality. The way the tension is released suddenly after the build up really shocks the reader; this is because McCarthy does not reveal this scene at the time we as readers would expect, this lets the reader almost relax, and then McCarthy shocks us with the scene.

Plot Progression (What will happen next?)
I believe from reading this section, the following scenes to follow will consist of the father and son fleeing from this house and danger. I believe that although the man is glad that his son is okay after the ordeal they have been through, I also believe that the man may feel almost 'smug' as he told the boy it would be best if he stayed outside the house where it was safe for him.

Techniques employed by McCarthy, language, symbols or images?
The language is the same as it has been throughout the whole novel, similar to the other episodes in the book, the description is still intense and because of this, it gives a clear image for the reader to get the emotions wanted by McCarthy.

Is this a key episode? What makes it important? How does it stand out in the novel?
In my opinion, I believe that this episode could be a highlight of the book, this is because McCarthy is able to show the savagery of the human race. The episode also shows why the father and son are constantly on edge and permenantly nervous which is unclear throughout the book until the roadrat incident and now the cellar.

HWK Episode 2 - Shooting the Roadrat pp.62-69

2) Shooting the 'Roadrat' (pp. 62-69)

How does the Episode impact you?

I believe that my opinion of the father has changed in some ways, for example the brutal and event savage event. Although, I am not surprised he was so calm and protective over the boy, or why he did what he did as the 'road rat' was warned that he would be shot. I believe McCarthy writes this episode in this way to show that, although knowing he must reach a point of either allowing the boy to go off on his own and die or kill him - it clearly shows that the father does care about the boy’s safety.

Plot Progression (What will happen next?)

With the style of writing of the book, McCarthy does not show any hidden plots that the characters may pass through on the way to through the original. From what reading just this episode, we cannot suggest what may happen to them, other than what they have already done before, for example visiting the gas stations. The reader can infer though that the father and son will end up in some sort of dangerous event on the horror basis, so we are expecting an especially gory event.

Your experience (Changes in mood? Tension?)

In my opinion, the tension that is gradually built up over the novel is released all at once. This shows that the man is more than capable of protecting himself as well as his son; however the tension is built up again after we find out that there is only a single bullet left, this makes the reader almost nervous, as to how the novel will continue; as well as who or when the remaining bullet is used upon. We also must consider if this bullet will be used in defence of the son, or if the bullet would be used as a 'release' from the post apocalyptic world that they must face.

Techniques employed by McCarthy, language, symbols or images?

McCarthy uses descriptive language far more in this episode in comparison to the lightning scene. This is due to the episode being set out in the form of Narrative time - meaning the story is played out as if the story was played out to us in real life, this allows McCarthy to build up tension as well as allowing him to go into intense levels of detail.

Is this in fact a key episode? What makes it important? How does it stand out in the novel?

I believe that this episode is a key episode within the novel as in my opinion, the episode as it shows how savage the human race can be in the battle to survive. Although being witnesses to a murder, I believe we still cannot say that the two are the 'Bad Guys' within the book; this is because they have not killed to eat - as many others had done so, but in fact only done it in self defence. This episode affects the whole novel to follow, as this now leaves the father with only one bullet. This leaves the reader wanting to know whether the father will kill his son, or will end up using the final bullet in self defence once again.

HWK Episode 1 - Man struck by lightening pp.50-53

9th November

1) Coming across the man who had been struck by lightening (pp. 50-53)

How does the Episode impact you?
As we read the episode, we initially feel sympathetic towards the boy and the man who had been struck by lightening, and question why the man in the book refuses to help this man who is clearly in need of attention and help.
'Cant we help him? Papa?
 No. We cant help him.' Although, later in the passage the man gives hints that by leaving this man, he may in fact be doing him a favour. We can tell that this man will most likely not survive as 'He was as burntlooking as the country', by leaving him to die, the man maybe saving him from even more pain. Also we must look at this situation from the man and the boy; with an extra person to take care of, the demand and responsability placed on the man, with an incredibly ill person, he might fear that he and the boy would turn to cannibalism if given the chance.

Plot Progression (What will happen next?)
I presume from this episode the two characters will continue their journey as normal, or as close to as possible for the boys sake; this is first due to the circumstances that their in - where if they dont continue, they wont survive the winter; and secondly, with the boy being young, we can assume that the man does not want to help incased the man died. This is because the man promised that the boy and himself were safe and nothing would happen to them; if they were faced with a man they have just met and will die, it will show the mortality that the man has attempted to hide from the boy to maintain his spirit and personal goal, to reach the south.

Your experience (Changes in mood? Tension?)
The episode alters my opinion of both characters, this is because they are (obviously) still human, and as a resutl still have the feelings of pain, suffering and sympathy. Unlike in many novels, the characters become 'lost' or unaffected by their surroundings; in the road, with this decision, the tension between the Father and Son as the boy is clearly upset and the father barely cares or notices.

HWK - Opening of the Road

5th November 2012
"Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray," this gives the reader the impression that the mood in the book is the aftermath of a major event on a global scale - by the way the description of the weather being more surreal.This gives the reader a clear indication of the genre of the book being based on horror and the battle to survive.

As an opening to the book, we are introduced to a father and son who seem to be in major peril; but for an unknown reason as they seem uncapable to leave the cart alone, as it contains their belongings. They feel compelled to place the cart "Where it could not be seen," which acts as an insight to the potential perils they may face.

We are able to know its a post modern novel by the monotone and monosylabic being of the journey and the opening.

Due to the open state of the introduction, we are unable to tell in great detail where the story is heading and what will happen later in the story; the only clue we are given to where the story will most likely be going South in the country to avoid the cold weather.

In my opinion, the tension increases right from the start of the book, with the mention of the creature within the cave being able to "See its heart beating", with the "Dying groans" adding to the atmosphere of the book; giving the effect of a horror story or a thriller genre.