The Road - Quotes

This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man's brains out of his hair. That is my job. The quote is very bleak, it comes across as if it's been said without emotion as if you could hear it being said in a monotone voice. The man appears to be resigned to the fact that this is how his life is, that is his son, it's job to take care of him and therefore it's up to him to do the jobs that nobody would want to. The part "That is my job" combined with the rest of the quote, sounds as if he isn't doing it for love, but out of necessitty. Yes I am, he said. I am the one. Having read this quote, the audience will question who the one is? The one is the father, the only one reffering to the fact that he is the only one who wil take care of his son, as everyone else is gone or evil. Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned hams. Corned beef. When read aloud, the quote sounds like a song, as if having this food is an amazing, sacred gift. The man lists the foods, which to us can be found anywhere and aren't considered to be things of great value, to him at the end of the world it's the thing he lives to find. The mans sole existance revolves around finding food for himself and his son. The food itself, is stuff of little value, found in most shops or kitchen cuboards, and all of them can come in the form of canned goods. Canned goods can last a long time without being damaged, and because they're airtight they can't be ruined through radiation. The fact that they're surving of canned goods suggest there has been some sort of disaster, meaning they can't get fresh food. Are we still the good guys, he said. After his father shoots the man, the son questions whether or not they are still the good guys as now they've killed someone. The father taught the son that they are the good guys and the bad guys are the bad guys because they kill people, so once his father kills someone the boy questions their own goodness as they've done what he's been taught was wrong. We should go, Papa, he said. Yes, the man said. But he didn't. What is immediately noticeable about the quote above, it how short the sentences are, as if they are like thoughts or breaths. In the quote, the act contradicts what they are saying, the boy wishes to leave, and the man reasures him saying they will, but they don't. By doing this the man is appeasing the boy, in some ways it may be looked at as being selfish as he wishes to stay even though the boy is scared and it also could be looked at as a kind act as they father lies to his son because he wants him to stop feeling frightened? The snow fell nor did it cease to fall. The quote conveys a sense of hopelessness, nothing could be done to stop the snow fall. McCarthy could merely have written the snow fell all night, but the way he wrote it gives over a sense of dispair, it's both past and future, continous like the snow fall.  Okay? Okay. This quote is intresting as it's the exact same word, with two different implied meanings. The first okay is a question of whether or not everything is okay, and the second is an agreement of yes it is. The man asks the boy if it is okay by him, to which the boy replies okay. I think the man asks the boy more if he's okay to see if he understands why they're doing what they're doing and the boy replies with an okay in a kind of resigned or objective manner, as if he has no choice anyway. They sat on the edge of the tub and pulled their shoes on and them he handed the boy the pan and soap and he took the stove and the little bottle of gas and the pistol and wrapped in their blankets and they went back across the yard to the bunker. Even when they're washing, an activity that most people do daily, the presence of the pistol shows the ongoing danger throughout the novel. They are not safe, nor do they feel safe anywhere at any time. Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth. When someone dies the church bells are described as having tolled eg the bells tolled after his funeral, the minutes of the earth being described as tolling could suggest that the earth is dying, or everything on the earth is dead and the earth is tolling for them, remembering what it has lost. This is overall a very grim quote, that creates a scene of emptiness, and suggest that the book is filled with sorrow, loss and people who are alone. She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift

Having read this quote, people will immediately question who she is, why she left and how she left? It creates the sense of an act so cruel it's done without emotion and done to hurt others. It talks of the "coldness" being "her final gift" which suggest she did what she did in a cold manner, so that the people she left would feel hate towards her and find it easier to move on from her and wouldn't try to follow her?