The Road Cormac Mccarthy-Narrative Methods

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Narrative Methods: pages 56-62 “You mean that you wish you were dead”, McCarthy continuously develops characters but slowly, creating hesitation in the reader’s minds and preventing judgement of what could be a reflection of himself and his son. Throughout the novel the man commits these selfless acts to his son. Only when an idea that his son admits his longing for death, “I wish I was with my mom”, do we see a more selfish side. McCarthy depicts this when the man tells the boy off, a first within the novel, “You mustn’t say that”, it is also the first time the man sort of says no to the boy. In consideration, self-loathing rules the man’s existence forcing him to be selfless. Their whole life is almost a lie, a misconception trying to convince themselves why they should try to survive. So it seems the man also mirrors this in his personality, pretending to be someone else, convincing himself and the boy of what he is not. An alternative interpretation to the man’s first expression of desperate anger, (or even of any extreme emotion, contrasting to his regular empty, shell-like state), is that he is tortured with the thought that his wife left them and the horrific memories the mention of her brings up. This interpretation would make sense as it leads to an analepsis of the man and his wife arguing. However, the conversation points more towards the man’s feelings towards his son when he almost pleads him not to think that way, “But you have to”. McCarthy constantly uses techniques to represent his idea of Dystopia: location is vital in indicating the relationship the man and the boy have. Conversations between them tend to be less descriptive, in terms of location and emotion, which suggests loneliness but also togetherness. Sentences are short using simple words and lack of punctuation too creates an emptiness on the page once again highlighting their simple,

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