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The man makes the boy a flute, allows him to put toys in the cart, and tells him stories -- still trying to give the boy as normal a childhood as possible...
Why is the boy so concerned about the dog? Why is it important that they don't eat the dog?
Did the boy actually see another little boy or didn't he? How is the man so sure he didn't? Or is the man just trying to get the boy to think he imagined it? He changes his tune later, though, indicating that he does believe the boy. Why is he now conceding this?
On p. 87 in my book, there is a shift in narration: "The dog he remembers followed us for two days." It is the voice of the father...what does this narration change add to the story?
"He doesn't remember any little boys." How sad that the boy has never had a sibling, a friend, or a playmate...his whole life...Just sayin'...
"The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colors. The names of birds. Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true." At what point does it end? What things or names of things would be the most devastating to lose?
Very gruesome scene of bones, etc. He and the boy are together, but the man stops and looks for longer. Why?
They see the bad guys march by, and the father states that it's not a good sign. Why do you think this is a bad sign?
38 comments:
I believe the boy does not want to harm the dog for two reasons. The first is that he does not want dogs to become extinct like most of the other animals. Even though he know the chances of the animal surviving is low, for him it is better to hope that it lives than know that it dies. Second, I believe he relates eating the dog to the bad guys eating humans. The bad guys are desperate to survive just like the boy and his father, but the boy is determined to keep him and his father from stooping down to their level. He wants them to be the good guys, and he will do everything and anything to keep it that way. In return, the father will do almost anything to please his son.
The end to the loss of names may only come in two ways. Either everyone dies so no one is left to remember the names, or those who are left were never taught the names and descriptions of those objects that do not exist anymore. Losing any name means losing the object itself. So the loss of any name would be somewhat devastating because it means the loss of an object. I think some of the most devastating things to lose would be the ideas of basic human rights. Most people believe these rights to be true, and without them life for most humans would be very difficult. If the name would be lost, there would be no idea of basic human rights. Also for some people the loss of the name of some faith may be devastating. Faith is what keeps many people going during a time of great struggle. With the loss of faith people may give up because they have nothing to believe in. On a completely different note, some may be devastated by the loss of things we believe to be facts. If something we have thought to be true our whole life disappeared we may just give up. If the facts we used to always be able to depend on disappeared, some may just give up hope. Losing the stability of those beliefs and facts may mean losing stability in your own life.
The shift in the narration to the father's point of veiw lets the reader into the father's head for a moment. It adds an emotional aspect to the story. Getting a glimpse at the regret and sorrow the father has for his son really draws the reader in. It makes the whole story seem much more believeable, and the reader gets more emotionally attached to the characters involved. The shift in narration also revolves around giving background information about their old life.
It's important that the pair don't eat the dog because (in their world) it is good vs evil, and it's obvious that the evil people eat dogs while the good people don't eat helpless dogs (because they are domesticated, and since everything else in their world has gone wild they need some semblance of purity).
I don't really think the boy saw someone else in the house, I'm betting he just saw a mirror or something. I think probably the only people that are still alive (other than the man and boy and a few more like them) are tough, vicious mongrels that travel in packs and aren't really nomads. The man may have wanted the boy to think he imagined another person so there would be one less thing to worry about, and also because the boy may have wanted to make friends with the other person (he's pretty friendly! and lonesome...). Maybe the man began to go along with the boy after the boy said he didn't care if he died... sometimes little things (like the possibly imagined person) fall to the wayside when bigger threats come up.
"the sacred idiom shorn of its referents and so of its reality." wow McCarthy really outdid himself on that one... it is true though. Even in this age people don't remember the origin of some idioms, so who is to say they won't be completely wiped out at some point down the road?
I believe the man is trying to give his son a normal childhood because somewhere deep down he hopes that when they reach their destination his son will be able to actually have a normal life with toys, dogs, and friends. The man remembers his childhood, and I believe it saddens him to see that his son is not given the same opportunity. I also believe that the man is trying to give him a normal childhood because he knows that if they don't make it to their destination, they won't make it at all. Therefore, he wants his son to have the things he did in case he doesn't get to grow up into a normal life.
Just because the words are lost, the ideas behind these words are not necessarily thrown into oblivion also. At this point in the evolution of the human race, according to this book, human rights are not the top priority. Most people don't seem to care about them, regardless of whether the names of these rights still exist. The world has bigger problems besides the loss of words. However, someday if the human race finds a way to revive itself the ideas that are important will resurface and new names will present themselves as they are needed. We have to remember that at one point none of the words we know existed. Our existence was not just magically blessed with an entire language to represent all the ideas we will or could ever have. As time went on and as ideas and thoughts arose, words were invented. Words are simply a means of communicating ideas. If the human race is to survive this imagined disaster, it is more important that the ideas of things such as human rights survives. The words to describe them will naturally follow just as they have in real history.
The father wanted his son to have a normal childhood for a few reasons. It seemed that there isn't much top look forward to in this world. Giving the boy as close to normal as possible childhood is all he could really try to do. The man seems to think of the boy getting a normal childhood is hopeful. Even though things aren't that great the idea of a normal life makes it worth the trip. It gives them something to live for. Without the idea of moving to a better place they wouldn’t feel a need to make the journey.
The boy is concerned about the dog, because it is the most normal, living being he has seen, besides his father, in quite some time. I mean, he saw the "bad guys," but they represent evil, whereas the dog represents the last of the purity and good in the world. It is important that they do not eat the dog, because that would symbolize the end of goodness in the world. Besides the fact that the dog could be carrying around diseases and such.
"The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colors. The names of birds. Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true." These things "end" when they cease to exist and their names are therefore no longer needed. Even further, they will end when the people who remember them die. Then, even their memories will be extinct. The things and their names that would be the most devastating to lose would be things like sunlight, chocolate, stars, love, purple, dogs, and friendship.
The boy is probably concerned about the dog just like any other little kid would be. He knows animals have those same feelings too and he probably didn't want to harm something he loved, just like he didn't wanna be harmed by "the bad guys". They shouldn't eat the dog because the dog is living and trying to survive too and the boy understands that.
When the dad talks in first person, it seems to be referring to the flashbacks he's used to having because he mentions something about "her"... it's saying things from his point of view for once instead of looking at him as an outsider.
When the man continues to look through the house after he sees all of the corpses, etc. it seems to be because he's still looking for supplies and food because he needs food for him and his son and he won't give up until he finds some to survive. (Especially because the son is so worried about dying and keeps on thinking they're going to die)
The soldiers are a bad thing because it seems almost as if the people who were with the man "Papa" shot, were cannibals. The narrator mentions that the bones seemed to have been boiled and there were other strange things, implying that the men from the truck came back, found the dead man, and ate him. Maybe the man is worried that anyone in sight could maybe eat them at any time so he needs to stay hidden. I'm still confused on why they have to hide from everyone really..
The boy is so concerned about the dog because it is to him a sign that there is still life in the world he lives in. It is important to him that they do not eat the dog because he thinks eating the dog will compare him to the cannibals. He would be eating what little of life is left of in the world he lives in.
I love how the man lets the boy keep toys in the cart, makes him a flute, and all the stories he tells him. The situation they are in is very hard, and life threatening. Every day they are fighting to live. I think the man is trying very hard to keep them alive, while still trying to be a father to this boy. The man hurts when the boy hurts, and would do anything in his power to keep him happy. As in not killing the dog the boy got attached to. The man wants to father this boy, and he is trying to give him the best possible childhood he can while battling the circumstances they are in.
the boy is so concerned with the dog because the dog is the only living thing he's seen in a long time that isn't trying to kill him. the dog is cute and nice and the boy likes it, and he wants to be sure that the man will never get rid of something like that just so it's a little easier for them to survive.
that shift in narration confused me a little at first, but i understood it the second time i read through it. it brought to light the fact that this was no healthy dog, and it seemed like he had some intention of doing something with it before his son begged for the dog's life.
the bad guys marching by means that the bad guys might be headed for the same place they are, or maybe just that there are a ton of bad guys.
It is pretty depressing that the boy has no one else aside from his father. Although he learns much from his father, there is so much more to learn from other people. The boy only sees one perception of reality: his fathers. Although the boy would be used to being around his father all the time, sometimes other companions are needed. The boy is ignorant on how to act around other people and also seems too forgiving and merciful to others in a world that is neither forgiving nor merciful. Being around other people, especially children, would show the boy the ups and downs of someone who was not so caring as a father figure, and the boy would be able to learn so much more.
After all that they have been through, it’s nice that the father is tries to keep the boy happy and give him the best life he can now. I think he feels responsible for bringing him into this horrible world and wants to make up for it by being a good father to him. He even took the time to make him a flute! He might be trying to distract the boy from the bleak surroundings.
The boy loves to refer to him and his father as 'the good guys', which is why he didn't want to harm or eat the dog. Even in a time of desperation, the good guys would never eat another living being, and the boy knows this. It seems that all the people that they have run into have had something to do with cannibalism and are referred to as 'the bad guys'. The boy didn't want to stoop to their level to become one of them. Another thing... I wish that we knew how old the boy and the father are! And their names.
It’s a bad sign that the bad guys have caught up with them, because it means that they ran out of people. Either by eating or making them run away, they lost their food source. When animals run out of their food source, they also move on. The man might be worried about the people up ahead, or just about himself and the boy. It’s not good either way.
And I loved how he agreed to Oprah saying that The Road is a love story to his own son. Just something to think about. :)
Does any one else feel extremely bad for the boy? I can't imagine what it would be like to witness everything they go through in real life. His mother left, he's starving, freezing, he's been threatened, and witnesses death daily. This is why the man gives him toys and tell stories. Children (or anyone for that matter) should not have to experience what they're going through. The man is doing anything he can to help give his son a happier, normal childhood.
When the bad guys march by I think that the father says it’s not a good sign because these people have many prisoners with them. They are heavily armed with dangerous weapons and if they come upon anyone they take them for their keeps. If caught, the boy and father would be harmed or maybe even eventually eaten. The father would most likely be killed first and the boy would be taken as prisoner and later killed. The father and boy must try to keep away from them even though they are marching south, too.
This little boy is probably his dad’s greatest blessing. He has a way of putting a smile on my face, I can only imagine what he would do for his father’s willpower to keep on going.
He doesn’t want to eat the dog. What kid would? Dogs are innocent, like children. Dogs aren’t something you kill and eat just because they’re there and able. It’s easy to see the comparison in his mind to him eating a dog and a bad guy eating him.
Even through all that they are enduring, the man tries to give the boy a somewhat normal childhood. The boy is basically striped of his childhood already. He witnesses coming close to death daily and has seen death and destruction around him. Instead of having the carefree life that a child usually has, he's afraid and fighting to survive. This is where the toys and stories come in. The man still wants the boy to somewhat have a childhood, so he lets him keep the toys in the cart and tells the stories, because at least it's better than nothing.
The child is really kind, even when people have not been kind to him. He wished to help a lonely boy, even offering to share what little food he had. He also wanted to help the dog, when he had no connection to the animal. The child understands empathy even as a small boy, which is rare. One of the first words learned by most kids is 'mine,' this child seems to say 'ours' more often. These are truly kind thoughts in this unkind era.
The shift in narration threw me off for a minute and when I read it again I realized this small part of the novel drew me in more. It gave more back ground information and made me more into the novel than I already was.
The man tries to give the boy a little taste of what a normal childhood. He didn't really give him one. Lets face it, nothing about this boys childhood is normal.
I think that the child is kind, loving, and a good person. I feel like he relates eating the dog with the bad guys eating people. The dog represents some of the last good in the world, and i feel like the child doesn't want to be responsible for ending that. I think that as a child, the kid has a different view of how to survive. While a hungry adult would eat whatever he or she could, he has more reservations about the morality of eating something like the dog. It was refreshing to read about the child making a good decision in a story where so much evil is prominent.
I think it is good (and very important) that the man tries to give the boy a normal childhood, especially under the circumstances. If/When the man and the boy survive, the man doesn’t want the boy to have only horrible memories. He wants the boy to have a few good memories such as having toys. I think this makes it a little easier on the boy.
It is important that they do not eat the dog because they are the “good guys.” I think the man wants to show the boy that even if they are starving, they will not eat another living being that is not a normal food choice.
The dog remains unharmed by the boy because the boy must view his as an equal. When you are all alone, except for the company of your father, the thought of another companion triumphs over harming the dog for personal gains. At this point in the novel I put myself in the boys shoes and asked myself "What would Emily?" I am ashamed to say that I probably would of killed the dog in a desperate attempt for relief from what I was dealing with. I admire that the boy did not give in like I know I would
“The man makes the boy a flute, allows him to put toys in the cart, and tells him stories -- still trying to give the boy as normal a childhood as possible...” I think this is very sweet and very noble of the man. He puts the boy’s needs before his own and does everything he can for the boy. These are the actions of a true, loving father. The boy couldn’t be in better hands.
“He doesn't remember any little boys.” How sad that the boy has never had a sibling, a friend, or a playmate...his whole life...Just sayin'...” I agree. This is a very sad thing – tragic, in fact. I enjoy my alone time and often wish I was an only child, but I still love hanging out with my dear friends and being with my family. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to never have a friend or sibling. It must be agonizingly lonely.
The father is a good man for trying to give his son what childhood he can. Growing up in this time must be terrible, and all the stories he tells the child seems to cheer him up and keep him going. When he gave the boy the flute in the book I thought it was a very uplifting gesture, that through all they were going through he had the time to make his son a flute. The father, so I think, believes that every child deserves some kind of a childhood that isn't plagued by so much death and carnage, no matter what is going on around you.
Although the father does his best to give the boy as normal a childhood as possible, the boy does not have anything close to a "normal" childhood. The boy is constantly being starved, freezing, tired and unhealthy with no friends, education, home, family other than his dad or almost anything that a normal child has. Although this is the case, the father makes the boy a flute and allows him to have toys which is all he can do in his power to allow the boy to have some things to make him happy.
It is so sad that the boy has never had a sibling, a friend or a playmate his whole life. For what its worth, the boy does handle it well and has never really complained about his life, only about not helping others.
The shift in narration confused me and first and forced me to reread the passage. I liked the aspect of it however once I came to understand it. It gives you a chance to get inside the characters head and understand what he's thinking and his views. It adds an emotional appeal to the story and lets you jump in to the storyline more.
I think it is a bad sign when the bad guys march by because they are on the move and are now ahead of the father and his son. If one group of bad guys are on the move then more must be, so that means that the pair must stay alert at all times because the bad guys could be anywhere. It may also be a bad sign because the bad guys were moving in the direction that the man and boy were so they may potentially be going to the same place. Since the bad guys are now marching in front of the pair, they will have first pickings through roadside houses and farms which means that the man and boy will have a harder time finding food and supplies.
I believe that the father doesnt kill the dog because killing the dog for food would be a sign of desperation that he does not want his son to see. He also wants to give his son a sense of humanity and teach him to be civilized, not just killing to kill.
I think that the reason the father sees the men marching by as a bad sign is because that means they are going towards the thing that the men are going to be fighting . The father wouldnt want his son near a battle against whatever has destroyed almost everything.
In my opinion, the boy is fortunate to have never had a friend or sibling. If he had, he would have to accept the fact that they are likely dead, or that he will never see them again. To me, losing something is worse than never having it. At such a young age, the boy would not be able to understand the reality of losing someone so close. He has plenty of time to make friends later in life, but he is lucky that he hasn't lost anyone important to him.
I think its very sad that the boy has never had anyone other than his father his whole life. I also think that the father trying to give the boy a normal upbringing is almost pointless, the father is raising his child as if he'll have a life before the event that changed their world. The boy needs to be raised to survive in a post apocalyptic world, if I were his father I would be teaching him all the survival skills I know.
The dog is the boys only companion that he can relate to, the only one he can be a child with. The father sees this and understands that the boy needs some thing to be a boy with he needs to be able to have some what of a normal live in this apoclitic world. Without this dog the boy won't understand how to be human and have fun while trying to survive.
The boy is a very sensitive and nurturing person and doesn't like to see people or any living thing go through pain like he is. He is trying to better everything else before himself and the man. He doesn't want to kill the dog because maybe he feels they will go extinct if he does that. Also he probably relates to eating the dogs as the bad guys eating humans. When the bad guys approach them on the road the man thinks it's a bad idea because the bad guys may be searching for food and they never know if the bad guys are really canibals or not, so they have to keep them safe and out of sight of any other beings.
The loss of names strikes me as a particularly sad predicament for the father and son. To some extent, the naming of things is what defines the world as we know it, and represents humanity. Mankind names different things as they are discovered, and does so in order to be able to refer to them, and know them by more than sight. Names allow us to recall objects or events in our memories. Without names, everything would be a jumbled description that would eventually blur together and become one collective mass. I also think that the loss of names represents the slow decay of society. As it continues to spiral downward, the names of things that are becoming lost fade away entirely from memory and leave nothing but a blank canvas. And although it would be tragic to lose colour, food, and ect., I think it would be devastating to lose the name of humanity. If it were lost, then the people in this book would revert (as it seems some of the characters already are) to to creatures of lesser intelligence and morals.
I think the boy is concerned about the dog because of the traumatic incident he faced earlier where his father shot the guy. The boy thinks that he and his father are the good guys and eating the dog would make them no different than the evil guys.
The father thinks its not a good sign when they see the men marching because they have weapons and prisoners. The men were probably heading the same direction they were and the father is worried that something will happen to him and the boy.
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