Coming across a man who had been struck by lightning....
The first paragraph on page 50, tells the reader of the footprints which the man and the boy have come across along the road. Although this part is read in a calm tone, the man not appearing to be particularly bothered about their findings, a sinister atmosphere does begin to creep in as the footprints ‘just suddenly appeared’ in the tar which, for two people who know how not to be seen, could suggest to them that the person a while in front of them has no reason to hide. The explanations to this are either that they are following a bad person or, as they soon find, a dying person, with no reason to fear being caught. This poses questions for the reader though; are they going to encounter another human being? Is there a relevant danger ahead? Once again, McCarthy is bringing to light the natural fear of the unknown; the situation in which the book is set is one that probably does bring fear to the reader as an apocalyptic world is something which has no definitive proof as to whether it will ever or not happen and to read an entire book about the disaster it would be if it did occur will scare a reader or at least allow them to fear what they could lose. The author uses this a feeling to manipulate his reader into relating with the characters; although their situation is something which we personally probably won’t experience, their constant fear of the unknown is something which we can easily experience everyday and from it can connect with the man and his son which is essential if we are to ever feel empathy towards them for the things they do which could be considered heartless.
On coming across the owner of the footprints, silence is all that fills the air; often, McCarthy describes the weather and uses pathetic fallacy to depict the mood, yet in this scene it isn’t necessary as the sorry state that they find the man in can be summed up by the description of him being ‘struck by lightning’ as this shows natures brutality to the remaining people; as if it hadn’t been cruel enough, killing off the majority of people in one blow, something from a higher power is now individually picking people off like targets. This shows the reader that the man and the boy are going to die, there is no escape, they can try to run but nature is eventually going to find them and gives the impression that there is no use of pathetic fallacy is in this chapter as nature is too cruel for words.
The final element to this depressing sequence of events is the boy’s pleas to help the man which are completely rejected by his father and with no explanation a distance between the two begins to show. The man can see that there is no way to help the dying man as he has been struck by lightning, there is nothing they can do other than comfort him which although is no cure, shows the optional humanity that the new ‘every man for himself’ way of life has forgotten. It then becomes apparent that the man truly regrets leaving the other man to suffer and die alone as ‘he looked back up the road’ which the reader interprets as his guilt, not only to the man he left behind but also to his son who has just witnessed his worst fear, his father no longer acting as ‘a good guy’ this guilt is reflected a few sentences later when McCarthy misses out the apostrophe in ‘couldn’t’ to reflect just how he has given up; in doing right by his son and saving food for him, he has killed another part of the boy’s spirit, he can do nothing right so what is the point in caring? His feeling of self disgust is continued later when he decides to effectively disown himself by leaving all things which are a part of his identity behind. He does this to relieve himself of the responsibility of being a good guy as no matter how good he tries to be, he can’t get it right. In leaving behind his identity, his wedding photos and a drivers license, he is leaving behind his past in terms of a wife, and who he was, the only part of him which is still on his person, is the boy. This shows that, although it began as depression, he has found a new hope to live off as he can now forget himself and focus entirely on his son. This is significant as it tells the reader that although the boy perceives there to be a void growing between him and his father, this is actually what the man wants; the boy can go on without the fantastic father and son relationship he could have experienced under normal circumstances, while at the same time, the man can dedicate himself to subtly being as dedicated to his son as possible, by forgetting himself.
On coming across the owner of the footprints, silence is all that fills the air; often, McCarthy describes the weather and uses pathetic fallacy to depict the mood, yet in this scene it isn’t necessary as the sorry state that they find the man in can be summed up by the description of him being ‘struck by lightning’ as this shows natures brutality to the remaining people; as if it hadn’t been cruel enough, killing off the majority of people in one blow, something from a higher power is now individually picking people off like targets. This shows the reader that the man and the boy are going to die, there is no escape, they can try to run but nature is eventually going to find them and gives the impression that there is no use of pathetic fallacy is in this chapter as nature is too cruel for words.
The final element to this depressing sequence of events is the boy’s pleas to help the man which are completely rejected by his father and with no explanation a distance between the two begins to show. The man can see that there is no way to help the dying man as he has been struck by lightning, there is nothing they can do other than comfort him which although is no cure, shows the optional humanity that the new ‘every man for himself’ way of life has forgotten. It then becomes apparent that the man truly regrets leaving the other man to suffer and die alone as ‘he looked back up the road’ which the reader interprets as his guilt, not only to the man he left behind but also to his son who has just witnessed his worst fear, his father no longer acting as ‘a good guy’ this guilt is reflected a few sentences later when McCarthy misses out the apostrophe in ‘couldn’t’ to reflect just how he has given up; in doing right by his son and saving food for him, he has killed another part of the boy’s spirit, he can do nothing right so what is the point in caring? His feeling of self disgust is continued later when he decides to effectively disown himself by leaving all things which are a part of his identity behind. He does this to relieve himself of the responsibility of being a good guy as no matter how good he tries to be, he can’t get it right. In leaving behind his identity, his wedding photos and a drivers license, he is leaving behind his past in terms of a wife, and who he was, the only part of him which is still on his person, is the boy. This shows that, although it began as depression, he has found a new hope to live off as he can now forget himself and focus entirely on his son. This is significant as it tells the reader that although the boy perceives there to be a void growing between him and his father, this is actually what the man wants; the boy can go on without the fantastic father and son relationship he could have experienced under normal circumstances, while at the same time, the man can dedicate himself to subtly being as dedicated to his son as possible, by forgetting himself.
A very good response Victoria, you are beginning to look more deeply into McCarthy's style.
ReplyDeleteYou must look into the section where the man leaves his possessions in the road. Why does he place them in the road rather than simply throwing them away? It is more than turning his back on his old life.