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"I will not send you into the darkness alone." We know what this suggests, but what does this tell us about the man as a person...as a father?
You tried to kill us.
I'm starving, man. You'd have done the same.
You took everything.
Come on, man. I'll die.
I'm going to leave you the way you left us.
Is the man being hypocritical here? Is he being fair to the thief?
You're not the one who has to worry about everything.
Yes I am, he said. I am the one.
Explain the meaning of this exchange. What does this tell us about the man? the boy?
The boy believes they killed the thief. What do you believe?
The man tells the woman that she was left here...she claims she chose to be here...what do you think?
How well do you think the boy understands their predicament? Give examples for support.
31 comments:
I think the father and son's exchange about who worries about everything shows how truly opposite their ways of thinking are. The man does whatever necessary for survival; he finds the food, he builds the fires, and so on. The boy watches every move his father makes and questions whether it was right or wrong. He wonders if someone else needed the food, or if his father should be gathering wood despite his incessant coughing. The father is very logical and survival-minded, while the boy is very emotional and inquisitive.
I think the man is being slightly hypocritical when he takes everything from the thief. The man would have done something similar if he had found the supplies. He may have not taken all of the supplies from another person, but the idea is still the same. The man’s main focus is on survival, not the difference between right and wrong. While the man has every right to be upset; he is still criticizing someone for doing something that he would have done if he were in the same situation. He isn’t really being fair to the thief because in the society the novel is set in people do what they have to do to survive. I agree with boy’s belief that they killed the thief. The boy’s priorities are much different than the man’s. The man is focused on survival and the boy is focused on doing what is right. So they did kill the thief, but at the cost of the boy’s guilt.
"I will not send you into the darkness alone." is one of my favorite lines from this entire novel. Taken at face value, this statement literally means that he will not leave the boy alone in this dark world and lawless society. The old man is essentially stating that he will not let the boy wander and roam on his own, but will take care of him. However, the quote obviously refers to something more than the literal darkness surrounding the man and boy. By "darkness", I believe that the man means he will not let the boy die by himself, and would kill himself in order to stay with his son. This quote says so much about the man as a father. This man is willing to do anything for his son, and this redeems almost all of the questionable and immoral decisions he has made previously. This man will/would make the biggest sacrifice, his own life, to ensure that his son never faces anything alone.
"I will not send you into the darkness alone."
This is definitely my favorite quote. It carries so much love and so much meaning. I believe the man is a wonderful person and a devoted father. Even if he is suggesting that he would commit suicide, it's not that he's taking the coward's way out or giving up on life. He simply cares too much for the boy to continue on without him or let him die alone. The only reason he even bothers surviving from day to day is for the boy, and if the boy were to die, the man would gladly follow him. When it comes to his son, the man is completely selfless and fiercely loyal. To be that devoted to one's kin is a display of true love.
You tried to kill us.
I'm starving, man. You'd have done the same.
You took everything.
Come on, man. I'll die.
I'm going to leave you the way you left us.
Is the man being hypocritical here? Is he being fair to the thief?
The man is being very hypocritical here, but he is also being quite fair. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. It seems harsh, but it is technically fair. I'm not sure I would be able to leave someone to die even if they were a heartless thief, but I seriously doubt such a man would return the gratitude. He would probably just try to kill the man and boy again down the road, so the man was also avoiding more danger by choosing the path he did. In the world McCarthy created here, you really can't trust anyone, especially not someone like the thief.
When the boy gets sick and falls asleep for a few days, I thought he was going to die. Then he woke up... I can relate to his "weird dreams." When you're super ill it can mess with your dreams and mind, when I was young and had fever dreams I thought they were real and it really made me afraid to dream. Then I grew up.
About the thief's hand: "a fleshy spatula" is a pretty vivid (and morbid) image. Good word choice there.
pg 261: the man thinks. "The earth itself contracting with the cold... What time of year? What age the child? ...No sound but the wind...He is coming to steal my eyes, seal my mouth with dirt." I enjoy these sentiments, I think they bring the book together. And who is he? Certainly not any god. Maybe another man, who kills the man for food or less competition.
Its hypocritical that the man left the thief to die. He condemns the thief for his actions when in reality, he does the same thing. The boy believes that the man killed the thief. I think that the thief probably survived because if I were in his position, I would have retraced my steps after I got desperate, just in hopes that the father dropped something along the way. Also, it seemed as though there was almost nothing else in that area.
I understand that the father is upset that the man took their cart and everything they had. From a father’s point of view, he would do anything to save his son, and that meant getting it all back. However, the father did the same thing. He took whatever he could find; assuming that they were dead or they would not have left it behind. This brings up a good question: are they still the “good guys.” I do not think that in this sort of situation there are any truly good people. When survival is at stake, a human’s selfish instincts kick in whether they like it or not. Now this does not mean they cannot perform selfless acts, but it is impossible to avoid selfish choices altogether.
The man is being fair to the theif. He's following the rule of "an eye for an eye". However, I also believe the man is being hyprocritical. In the same situation, I can imagine the man doing the same thing to keep himself and the boy alive. It may be said that he is right in leaving the theif with nothing, because the theif left him with nothing. I don't believe he is right for making that decision from anger; He would have done the same. I believe he's a hyprocrite in being angry at the theif for only trying to survive.
"I will not send you into the darkness alone."
This quote alone shows what the man has been struggling for throughout the entire story. The man was taking his son south to get away from the cold winter all the while hoping that he could make it there alive and find any sign of life. As a father, the man wants what is best for his son and is willing to risk his life to make sure that the boy has someone to look after him while he is gone. Before the man dies, he wants to at least complete his goal of not leaving his son alone to fend for himself. Although the boy is mature for his age, he is still a child and needs someone to care for him.
In a way the man and the boy did kill the thief. However, I do believe that it is total karma for stealing the man and the boy's supplies. The thief has no clothes to keep him warm and no food. Frost bite, starvation, and dehydration will take over, and he will die. The man and the boy didn't directly kill the thief, but they did help him to the path of death.
“I will not send you into the darkness alone.” I think this shows that the man is completely devoted to the boy. He loves him so much and it shows that as a father his only priority is the boy. The only reason the man is still alive is for the boy. He knows he cannot leave his son alone. The man’s character is filled with dedication and love and fear. He is afraid, not of his death, but I think of his son’s death. He is afraid of that time that may come and he is just trying to be there for his son no matter what happens to them.
The man is being hypocritical to the thief, because the thief is right. If the man come across the things the thief did, the man would take it without a second thought. With that, I too believe they killed the thief. They took everything from him, even the clothes on his back. I really don't see how he could have survived.
I don't think what the man did to the thief was all that bad. The world that they're living in is no beach resort with unlimited access to everything. For all we know that man has been stealing from a lot more than him and the boy. Thief’s get what they deserve, more or less an eye for an eye kind of deal. Especially when the world's food supplies are limited and no one seems to know where to go. Everyone is pretty much dead any way.
Although the man did not kill the man physically, I think he sent him to his death, I agree with the boy. The man left him in the road with nothing. No clothes, or the knife he was carrying, no food. The weather is very cold as I can tell from the way the boy and man survive. There is no way a living human being can survive winter with no clothes or blankets this time of year. Leaving him like this also makes him an easy target for other people to take advantage of him and eat him. The thief will be looking for other people to help him, no matter who he runs into, he is desperate and in need of help. It remains to be seen if these guys are good guys who help him, or bad guys to eat him.
I think the man may be a bit hypocritical here. I understand his anger at the thief stealing everything, and though it may seem overly cruel to strip the thief down of every stich of clothing, but if you think about it if they hadn't caught the thief, they basically had been stripped and left to die as well. He did indeed, in that regard, leave the thief the same way he left them. Therefore, I believe the man was fair overall.
"I will not send you into the darkness alone." This quote shows the level of love and compassion the man has for his son. Obviously, the quote means that the man will not send his son into the dark, morbid world by himself. I think it also means that the man will not let his son die alone; that if the man has to kill himself to be with his son, that he would. The man cares about his son very much and doesn't want him to go anywhere alone. Whether it be into the dark night, the devastating world during the day, or death itself.
I could not believe that the man acted that way toward the theif! I never thought that he would stoop so low, like forcing the theif to take off his own clothes and weapon and give them to him. I'm sure that if the man was in that same situation with unattended supplies right in front of him that he would take them too. And yes, I agree with the boy when he says that they killed the theif because they left him with nothing, and he was so ashamed and scared of what was to happen to him, which he knew was death.
I don't think that the man is being hypocritical, the thief left them for dead, why not do the same to him. In a post-apocalyptic world their is no reason to be a "fair" person. The man knows the rules that govern the world, do whatever it takes to survive. If I had been in this situation I would have shot the thief the second I could have. I also believe that the thief is dead, without any clothing or food the thief has no chance of surviving.
The man is not being hypocritical. The father and son were attacked and have the right to defend themselves. They didn't kill him they left him without hope or way to survive. So he is being fair to the thief who would have done the same.
It is very hypocritical that the man left the thief with nothing. Given the same situation, the man would have done the exact same. It makes sense that the boy believes that they killed the thief, because, in essence, they did. They left him with nothing. The man probably didn't last three days.
I think that the woman decided to stay there, the rest of the group probably told her that they were leaving the man because he would be to much of a burden. The woman probably was close to the man so she didn't want to leave his side.
This quote that the man states in the novel tells us that, as a person, he is a thoughtful and caring guy who genuinely cares about what happens to the person that he is traveling with. He makes promises that he can keep and you know are true. On a different level, this quote tells us that the man is an awesome father who you know will stay with his son no matter what. He is committed to keeping himself alive for the sole purpose of keeping his son company. This also shows that the man is a very protective father and lives to keep his son out of harm’s way. I feel like the man says these kinds of things along their journey to make sure that the boy knows how much he truly cares about him and to reassure him that he will never be alone no matter what.
One of my favorite physical descriptions is in this section. When the man and the boy stumble upon the thief with their cart, McCarthy very briefly describes the man. He's "scrawny, sullen, bearded, filthy," and he has "a sort of fleshy spatula," for a hand. It's really hard to hate the guy because of his description. He sounds sort of like a stray mutt that had a bad run in with a bear trap. However, it's also really easy to see him as a bad guy.
"You're not the one who has to worry about everything" "Yes I am, he said. I am the one."
This quote is one of the saddest in the book, I think. Because even though the father has given his all to protect his son, he's still going to die eventually. And that'll leave the boy to worry about everything on his own. So even though the man thinks he's been carrying the burden of worrying on his shoulders, the son has been worrying about both the present and the future. The man only has to worry about the present.
The man is being hypocritical, but I understand where hes coming from. However, I cant believe he took away all his clothes-especially in front of his son who always wants to be the "good guys."
I agree with the boy. The thief probably died soon after they stripped him of everything he had. He probably either froze or starved to death.
The son feels like he should be the good he wishes to see in the world. He lives because he can see him and his father being one of the "good guys." When he stops seeing his father as a "good guy" he stops talking to him. The man has to earn the boys respect back, which is a bad situation when they are "each the other's world entire."
"I will not send you into the darkness alone." The quote is very self explanatory but it shows how much the father loves his son. He will stay by him no matter what and is very loyal to his son.
It is very controversial when the man catches the thief and takes everything away from him. I understand the father's reasoning but at the same time he is being rather hypocritical. I think he should have taken everything back that the thief stole but not everything the thief had. I don't think that they killed him though, at this point death is almost impossible to escape and there's no proof that he was actually dead.
well, first off, it shows that the man may be okay with sending his son off into the light, so if he educates his son enough, he may be okay with dying off, but it also shows that the man will go on as long as he physically can, and then some, because he cares about his son that much.
the man isn't really being fair to the thief, i mean as far as an eye for an eye goes, it's more like an eye for a whole head. but the man was so worried about what the loss of all the materials meant for his son that he may have overreacted a little.
i believe they killed the thief too, i mean they left him bare naked, and anything in the area of use the man already took, so the thief may have had nothing to do but just lie down and wait.
I think the boy doesn't really totally understand the situation they are in. He likes to think between right and wrong. Where his father does what ever possible for thier survival.
I believed they killed the thief because they left him with no clothes or food. They took away his necessities for survival. So in a sense they did kill the thief.
I think that they unintentionally killed the thief. Its winter time, no one can find decent food, and there isn’t much of anyone around. It was wrong for the thief to take everything from the man and boy, but that’s where he made his greatest mistake. He should’ve taken just several items that he could’ve used. Once the man discovered that the cart and belongings were missing, he turned into a mother bear and attacked the thief. He left the thief without clothing which most likely made him freeze to death, because wouldn’t have know to wait for his clothing to be returned.
I was kind of shocked by the man's dialogue with the thief. He is probably so unforgiving because his journey is on its last link and he has lost patience with the world. Yes, the man is being hypocritical and unfair to the thief. Although, unlike the thief says, I don't think that the man would have done the same to him. The thief didn't deserve to die, which became his likely fate. All in all, I think the man wanted to give the thief a taste of his own medicine, but in the process, he forgot what side he was on.
It is very hypocritical that the man left the thief with nothing. Given the same situation, the man would have done the exact same. It makes sense that the boy believes that they killed the thief, because, in essence, they did. The man probably didn't even last three days to be completely honest.
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