The Effect of Language in the Opening Moments of “the Road”

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The effect of language in the opening moments of “The Road” In this passage from the novel McCarthy uses language to set the mood and make a statement about humanity. In the opening of the story McCarthy is describing a dream that the father just had. He uses language to set a very vivid tone and setting. He uses words like dark, cold, gray, glaucoma, dimming, stinking, silence, dead and dull to set a dark and eerie tone. In the dream the father and son are wandering through a cave carrying a light. McCarthy compares them to pilgrims, a religious reference. Religious references are used throughout the book because religion is a major factor in maintaining good human nature and keeping people on the right and moral path. The boy and his father travel through the cave and wind up in a great stone room within the cave where they see a creature. The creature “raised its dripping mouth from the rimstone pool and stared into the light with eyes dead white and sightless as the eggs of a spiders.” The creature represents the fall of humanity. The light represents many things throughout the novel, but in this case seems to represent hope for humanity. Humans want to be good and follow the light, but the order and morals of the human race are already to far gone. The world is in chaos and people are just trying to survive and only worrying about themselves. The creature is described as pale and naked and translucent. “The brain that pulsed in a dull glass bell.” The way the creature is described shows that is very weak, vulnerable and sick. This is done on purpose to emphasize the sharp negative trend in civilization and order. In the end the creature “gave out a low moan and turned and lurched away and loped soundlessly into the dark.” This illustrates that the fall in humanity and how it is getting worse

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