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.