Decay.

The poem Fall, Leaves, Fall by Emily Jane Bronte relates to pretty much everything we've done in class lately. We discussed haiku poems that were about the end of a life, and displayed this through the changing of seasons. Emily Jane Bronte does the same as she describes leaves "fluttering from the autumn tree." (4) This shows the change from autumn to winter, which, as we discussed in class, represents the transition from middle age to old age and death. Also similar to the haiku poems is the tone in which this transition to death is discussed. The haiku's didn't discuss death in a fearful or sad way, and neither does this poem by Emily Bronte.  The way she commands the leaves to "fall, leaves, fall" and the flowers to "die...away" shows that she has no fear, and the way "each leaf speaks bliss" shows joy in these changes. (1,3)
Bronte's poem also very obviously relates to Cormac McCarthy's novel because they both use nature to show a transition towards death. However, the views towards the disappearing nature and movement into death greatly differ. I don't think the man and the boy from The Road would "sing when the night's decay/ushers in a drearier day" as they try to survive in a "world shrinking down about a raw core of parsible entities." (Bronte 7,8 McCarthy 88) But the same seasonal representatives are used in each case: winter is equal to death.
Despite the differences between the haiku poems, Bronte's poem, and McCarthy's novel, they all share a common usage of seasons as symbols which works perfectly in each case to reflect the writers intentions.

Remember/Forget

At the end of last class we were asked to perform a close reading on a section of text that we chose. There is a short section at the beginning of the novel where the boy and the man discuss things that are remembered and things that are forgotten. The boy begins with "you forget some things, don't you?" which tells the reader that he has been thinking about the past, perhaps the families past experiences or journeys. (12) Maybe he has forgotten some things about the world that he used to know, and is trying to remember them. The man's response is "yes. You forget what you want to remember and remember what you want to forget." (12) This appears to be a little more than one would expect a father would tell to his young son, so you can conclude that he's got something bigger and deeper on his mind. Of course, any reader would know from experience that his statement is very true. He could have been trying to remember the good times before the catastrophe yet the only things coming to his mind were the horrors that they had seen in their travels.
These observations relate to the allegory because McCarthy could be making the point that if we allow our planet to fall into such a state as in the novel, we will forget all of the joyful things about the living world that we want to remember and our minds will be consumed by the death and dread of the dying world.

Words of the Late World

About halfway through the novel, the boy starts using some surprising phrases. These don't seem like normal things for a young boy to say who hasn't been exposed to many different varieties of speech, and the father is quite surprised. The first time this happens is when the boy is able to take a warm bath at the house with the bunker and when the man asks "what do you think?" the boy replies "warm at last." (146, 147) The man is quite surprised, but when he asks the boy "where did you get that?" his reply is simply "I don't know." (147)
This scenario comes up again a little bit later when the two are about to stop on the hill. The boy asks the man "what are our long term goals?" and the man is very taken aback, how would a boy growing up in a dead world know about the existence of 'long term goals'? (160) Once again he asks the boy where he heard that, and once again the boy responds "I don't know." (160) However, this time, the man perseveres and the boy eventually responds: "you said it." (160)
I found McCarthy's inclusion of these two instances rather strange and unexpected. They show that the boy was listening; he has always been paying attention. Maybe even that he is trying to hold on to a world he never knew in the only way that he can: with the only things they have left, words.

Dreams of Mother Earth

Recently in class we discussed the importance of dreams in the novel and what they mean. The man's dreams often feature his late wife and the absence of nature in the world now. We took this juxtaposition of the mother figure and nature to signify the death of 'Mother Earth' as the world ended in some form of man-made environmental crisis. An example of one of these "rich dreams...which he was loathe to wake from" is the "memory of her crossing the lawn toward the house in the early morning in a thin rose gown that clung to her breasts." (131) Here McCarthy calls attention to the fertility of the woman through the clinging of the gown to her breasts, and the nature that is "no longer known in the world" through mentioning the lawn. (131) In this way he shows the relationship between two things that no longer exist in the story: the woman and nature. This point can be expanded in the way there are virtually no women in the novel. The mother of the boy is mentioned only in flashbacks, dreams, or memories and every other traveler that the protagonists encounter is male. The only female survivor that the man and his son see is the pregnant woman traveling with two men. When the boy and the man go to their campsite they see a human infant on a spit over a fire. Once again McCarthy highlights man's exploitation of the earth and her resources, as one can assume that the two men traveling with the pregnant woman have just been using her to reap her fruits (eat her children) in order to stay alive without thought to the consequences.

Luck.

In Cormac McCarthy's interview with Oprah he discusses the luck in his own life and how he would randomly get lucky during times when he really needed it. He brings up an example of a time when he had no money at all, and then received an unexpected check in the mail for a substantial amount of money. These experiences with luck in McCarthy's life are reflected in the novel in the way that the protagonists, while not lucky, encounter enough random luck on their journey in order to stay alive. An example of this is how just when the man and the boy are on the verge of death from starvation and they encounter the barn with the orchard. In this place the man found "more apples than he could carry" and "a cistern filled with water so sweet that he could smell it." (121, 122) They had been lost and wandering and the man just happened to stumble upon this area that supplied enough nutrition for the two to carry on with their journey, much like the way Cormac McCarthy just happened to receive that check when he was in dire need of money.

On Fire

Chechi wrote a really interesting post, "Road on Fire", that summarizes her reading as well as points out important meanings from the text. 
She begins where the father enters the house of his childhood. I agree that this was an important part of the novel that should be highlighted. It gives background information on the father and more context to what happened in the characters' lives before the story began.
I really enjoyed the way she chose to respond to the text, summarizing her reading while picking out aspects that had a special significance to the story. And at the same time she was able to find deeper meanings in these areas. 
My favourite of her interpretations of the text comes at the end, as she describes when the boy and the man encounter the traveler who had been hit by lightening. She points out how the two main characters' different attitudes towards this unfortunate man show "how tragedy has dehumanized the man, but the son is still innocent and pure, which makes him vulnerable to inevitable things like death." I love how deeply she was able to read into this and make such an interesting observation.

All About a Dark Road

In response to Mateo Jaramillo's post "A Dark Road" there are some aspects which I agree with and some with which I disagree.
Mateo commented on the repetition that McCarthy uses at the beginning of the novel. He thought it was "a bit odd" but I would disagree and say that it fit incredibly well with the novel in the way it was used. I hardly noticed that the repetition was out of ordinary because it blended so well with the characters' environment and the plot of the story. The repetition was intentional to add emphasis to the surroundings of the characters in the story line.
For this reason I do agree with Mateo in that McCarthy's repetition "helped create a dark, cold, and lonely environment." The use of the same monochromatic words over and over mirrors the monochromatic existence of the man and his son. This engulfs the reader in the tone of the story, drawing them in and ensuring that every aspect of the mood and environment is felt.

Words.

I hadn't noticed it before, but Cormac McCarthy has quite the knack for using extremely interesting words that are just perfect for what is being portrayed in the story. This reminds me of our writer's workshop today on being concise. In order to be concise, you need a huge vocabulary.
Below you will find some phrases I picked out because they contain words that are particularly interesting or beautiful, or both.

"He used gasoline in the lighter and it burned with a frail blue flame and he bent and set set tinder a light and watched the fire climb upward through the wicker of limbs" (72)
Frail means weak or insubstantial, and wicker in this case means a plait or weave. The imagery here caught my eye, and made me notice the descriptive vocabulary.

"He dried him with the blanket, kneeling there in the glow of the light with the shadow of the bridge's undersrtucture broken across the palisade of treetrunks beyond the creek." (74)
A palisade is a form of enclosure or defense, such as a fence. I had never heard this word before, I had no idea what it meant and was therefore intrigued by the phrase.

"The shapes of the small tree limbs burning incandescent orange in the coals." (74)
I chose this phrase because it is so beautiful to read. It just created this striking image in my mind the minute I read it, even when I wasn't too sure what incandescent meant. Now I know it means glowing or emitting light.

"They moved through the streets like sappers." (79)
A sapper is a military engineer in charge of detecting or disarming mines. Very appropriate (also unexpected) descriptions for the dangerous situation that the boy and the man are in.

"Faint plume of their breath." (80)

Plume means to spread out in the shape of a feather. Fantastic imagery.

"The sacred idiom shorn of its referents and so of its reality." (89)
I love these random sentences that keep showing up with these unexpected words out of the usually monochromatic (literally...) story. An idiom is a group of words that mean something entirely different when together than when taken literally and individually, usually a form of expression natural to a language. Referents are objects of reference, the thing that something else would stand for or reference.

"The heads not truncheoned shapeless had been flayed of their skins and the raw skulls painted and signed across the forehead in a scrawl and one white bone skull had the plate sutures etched carefully in ink like a blueprint for an assembly." (90)

Part of the reason I chose this phrase was because its so descriptive and complex and eye-catching. Very similar, I imagine, to the scene which it describes. A truncheon is a baton, similar to a bludgeon, which could be a weapon or symbol of authority. I'm going to assume that here it is a weapon, and to be truncheoned is to be hit repeatedly with said weapon until extreme damage has occurred. To flay is to peel the skin off of. Lastly, sutures are just stitches to a wound.

Context.

In pages 35-71 McCarthy introduces more of a context to the main characters' situation. We knew they were in America from the information at the back of the book, yet we find out that they are in North America, and what used to be the United States on page 43. They boy asks if "there's not anymore states" and the man replies, "I don't know exactly. That's a good question." (43) This information tells the reader that, for some reason, the United States collapsed and left a few struggling survivors. However this still leaves many questions unanswered, such as what happened for this powerful country to fall? What happened to the other countries in the world?And, if these countries are still in existence, why did none come to help the survivors?

The next information that we receive about the past of the man and the boy is when the man "sat by the roadside and took out... the contents [of his wallet]. Some money, credit cards. His driver's license. A picture of his wife." (51) Here we are introduced to the man's wife and (presumably) the boy's mother. She is obviously not with them, yet the fact that the man had been carrying a picture of her with him this whole time shows that he still cares for her and they did not split because of hate or violence. The revelation of the man's wife leaves us with more questions, such as: why is she not with them now?

"The clocks stopped at 1:17" takes us to the beginning of the catastrophe which the rest of the story follows. (52) This paragraph shows us the man and his wife, pregnant at the time, in their house. In their life before their world collapsed. Slightly further on, the boy tells the man, "I wish I was with my mom" and the man eventually responds: "you mean you wish you were dead." (55) Here we find out for sure that the wife has died, and it was after the birth of their son because he knows her enough to want to be with her. More questions: How and when did she die?

The next paragraph begins a conversation between the man and his wife that answers these questions. She appears cold, uncaring: "I don't care. I don't care if you cry. It doesn't mean anything to me... I don't care. It's meaningless. You can think of me as a faithless slut if you like. I've taken a new lover. He can give me what you cannot." (55-57) She walks out into the dark, frozen woods to die without saying goodbye to her son. The man begs her not to go, but I think she did the right thing. She was brave. She mentions people who will come to rape and torture and eat them. I wouldn't want to sit around and wait to meet them either. She made a sacrifice for her husband and son, there were only two bullets left. Someone was going to have to die another way, and she chose to save the two people who mattered most in the world to her- despite how much she insisted that she didn't care.

The Colour of It

35 pages in and I'm hooked. Not much has happened... and the characters don't really speak... but I love the way this is written. Today in class Mr. Tangen mentioned something called Stream of Consciousness... maybe this is what he was talking about. The way the thoughts flow unhindered by chapters, or even quotation marks. Its interesting, I've never read anything like this but I find it compelling and easy to follow.

In these first few pages the thing that has struck me the most is the relationship between the father and the son. My pages are littered with sticky notes pointing out places where the man has shown his care for his son, and vice versa. They care for each other... as McCarthy describes (and as the back of the book quotes), they are "each the other's world entire." (6) Even the way this sentence is written draws the reader in. By saying "world entire" as opposed to "entire world", McCarthy calls attention to the unique relationship... for most people would have said "entire world". This is fine and makes perfect sense, but it is very cliche. "World entire" comes across as much more true. And something tells me McCarthy isn't a cliche kind of guy...

The first display of this father-son relationship is a mere three pages into the story, when as soon as the little boy opens his eyes he knows his father is right next to him. Similarly, as the two climb up the hill and the man "looked at the boy", the boy responded "I'm all right" to the question that was never spoken out loud. (8) This type of communication and mutual understanding shows a relationship that is not always seen between father and son. Additionally, when the man fixes the cart like a bobsled down the hills, just to make his son happy, and "it was the first that he'd seen the boy smile in a long time." (19) The Coca-Cola which the two found in the super market is yet another example of the man and the boy caring for each other. The boy takes a sip from the can, and then makes his father have a sip too. The boy is aware of every sacrifice that his father makes for him, and tries to give back whatever he can.

I think the most significant sign of this incredibly deep relationship (at least in the first 35 pages) is the conversation the man and his son have about death:

"Can I ask you something? [the boy] said.

Yes. Of Course.

Are we going to die?

Sometime. Not now.

And we're still going south.

Yes.

So we'll be warm.

Yes.

Okay.

Okay what?

Nothing. Just okay.

Go to sleep.

Okay. 

I'm going to blow out the lamp. Is that okay?

Yes. That's okay.

And then later in the darkness: Can I ask you something?

Yes. Of course you can.

What would you do if I died?

If you died I would want to die too.

So you could be with me?

Yes. So I could be with you.

Okay" (10)

This conversation is just so raw and blunt, like the reality they live in. The way each character is so true, it shows again the reality of their relationship. I think this will come back again in the novel, as a long conversation like this is rare - so it must be important.

He Photographed That

 Here, Ondaatje describes one of Belloq's photos, displaying his skill as a photographer and the sorrow of the prostitute who is his subject:

"What you see in his pictures is her mind jumping that far back to when she would dare imagine the future, parading with love or money on a beautiful anonymous cloth arm. Remembering all that as she is photographed by the cripple who is hardly taller than his camera stand. Then he paid her, packed, and she had lost her grace. The picture is just a figure against a wall." (50)

This poetic passage describes the way Belloq captures his photos to make them so interesting. Here, in the first sentence, he is able to create a situation where the prostitute remembers all that she had wanted to be and everything that she could have been in her life. She compares that to now, being the subject of a photograph for a poor cripple and doing things she had never imagined for money. When it is over she feels no value, nor importance. As is stated in the last sentence, the picture had become simply "a figure against a wall".

Through Every Voice You Speak To

This first close reading passage is taken from about midway through the novel, when Webb finally finds Buddy at the Brewitt's house in the bathtub. Ondaatje  describes:

"Till Bolden went underwater away from the noise, opening his eyes to look up through the liquid blur at the vague figure of Webb gazing down at him gesturing, till he could hardly breathe, his heart furious wanting to leap out and Bolden still holding himself down not wishing to come up gripping the side of the tub with his elbows to stop him to stop him o god jesus leave me alone his eyes staring up aching, if Webb reaches down and tries to pull him up he will never come up he knows that, air! his heart empty overpowers his arms and he breaks up showering Webb, gulping everything he possibly can in." (80)

The whole paragraph is written as one sentence, in a run-on stream of consciousness that seems to begin in the middle of a thought. The word 'till' starts off this section, a casual slang word that adds character and voice to the narrator.The first section shows that Bolden is surrounded by water, as if in an attempt to relax or escape from 'the noise' which he does not appear to want to confront. In the next section of the sentence Bolden's eyes are open, staring up through the water at his friend. This shows that Buddy does not want to truly acknowledge what Webb is saying or doing, but simply watch from a safe place or try to get away. Again we see the slang 'till' used, which gives the section the feeling of being inside someone's head who is just thinking in a constant flow. The section that follows, 'till he could hardly breathe', shows Bolden's determination to stay under the water, to continue to hide from the realizations and responsibilities that Webb symbolizes by finding Buddy.
From 'his heart furious...' down to the end of the passage is one long stream of though that is extremely effective in this part of the novel with this event. The reader feels placed inside the mind of Bolden, listening as his mind battles his body over which actions to take. Bolden here is nearly suffocating as his body wants to 'leap out' yet his elbows are there 'to stop him to stop him'. The repetition at that part is again very effective as if the reader is hearing Buddy remind his body to stay in place and stop itself from getting a breath. 'o god jesus' emphasizes the pain that Bolden feels despite forcing himself in this situation. It's curious how the words 'leave me alone' directly follow the call to god... My first thought was that Buddy was 'thinking at' Webb to leave him alone, yet when I read it the second time it almost seemed as if Buddy was calling out for god and Jesus to leave him alone to die.
In the next phrase Buddy's eyes are again described, yet now they are 'staring' and 'aching' as opposed to when they were just 'looking' when he first submerged himself. This calls the readers attention again to the increasing pain and suffering Buddy's body is undergoing in this short yet hectic passage.
The following part, about Webb, calls attention to how well he knows Buddy. Apparently well enough that he can sit by a bathtub where Buddy is trying to drown himself and just wait for his friend to resurface. Webb has come this far - traced Buddy all the way to the Brewitt's house - and here Webb's complete understanding of Buddy's character is emphasized by the fact that both men know that Webb won't try to get Buddy out of the tub by force because it will have a worse effect.
The exclamation, 'air!', seems to me to be Buddy's body's final cry of resistance to his attempts to drown himself... And in that burst of energy his heart 'overpowers' his mind's control of his body and breaks through the water, covering Webb with water in this sudden rush.
The last line '...gulping everything he possibly can in' is my favourite because it is so vague, and clearly symbolic. The author did not limit Buddy's gulping to,for example, 'all the air he could possibly breathe' because at that moment it is apparent that Bolden needs more than just air to keep him going, and he'll take anything he can get.

Party's Over, Kids

In the second to last paragraph of the novel, The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald leaves us with this narrative by Nick:

"Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us. It eluded  us then, but that's no matter - tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further... And one fine morning -" (172)

 The first sentence relates to Gatsby's desire for Daisy and their past love, yet also means significantly more. Nick is referring to Gatsby's obsession with something that only existed in the past, which he spent his entire life trying to get back. Thus, Gatsby wasted his 'receding future' by pursuing an affair that should have stayed in the past. In the next sentence, 'tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms further' shows typical human procrastination. Almost as if Fitzgerald is having Nick say 'oh it doesn't matter that we missed out dreams that time... We'll get 'em when they come round again' which seems to contrast what was said in the first sentence. After having read the second sentence, its almost as if Nick is congratulating Gatsby on actually trying to run faster, and stretch his arms out further, to try and catch what 'eluded us then'.

Symbolism

On page 65 Gatsby presents Nick with a picture of himself at Oxford University. This photo that Gatsby always keeps with him is one of the less obvious symbols in Great Gatsby. He uses this photo to reinforce one of the lies he lives – that he was educated at Oxford – when in actuality he was not there to be educated. The symbolism is especially highlighted because few people believe this tale. The picture, and the fact that Gatsby always has it with him, is one of the many symbols of his insecurity. It demonstrates how much he tries to prove himself to be a wealthy, well-off man who is worthy of Daisy’s attention. In this way it shows one of the main points of the novel: that Gatsby does not truly fit in with the established upper class and ‘Old Money’ no matter how much he tries.