Phase Two: The Road (Part 5)

"They stood in front of the house looking at it. There was a gravel drive that curved away to

the south. A brick loggia. Double stairs that swept up to the columned portico. At the rear of the house

a brick dependency that may once have been a kitchen. Beyond that a log cabin. He started up the stairs

but the boy pulled at his sleeve.

Can we wait a while?

Okay. But it's getting dark.

I know.

Okay.

They sat on the steps and looked out over the country.

There's no one here, the man said.

Okay.

Are you still scared?

Yes.

We're okay.

Okay.

They went up the stairs to the broad brickfloored porch. The door was painted black and it

was propped open with a cinderblock. Dried leaves and weeds blown behind it. The boy clutched his

hand. Why is the door open, Papa?" pg. 66

"The boy didnt want him to go upstairs. He tried to reason with him. There could be blankets

up there, he said. We need to take a look.

I dont want you to go up there.

There's no one here.

There could be.

There's no one here. Dont you think they'd have come down by now?

Maybe they're scared.

I'll tell them we wont hurt them.

Maybe they're dead.

Then they wont mind if we take a few things. Look, whatever is up there it's better to know

about it than to not know.

Why?

Why. Well, because we dont like surprises. Surprises are scary. And we dont like to be

scared. And there could be things up there that we need. We have to take a look.

Okay." pg. 68


    McCarthy uses suspense to create an air of paranoia, a common element of the book. Everywhere the duo travel, paranoia always looms around. In effect, the reader becomes paranoia that something terrible could occur. Throughout the entire book, the author illustrates the two as "the good guys." The reader feels a connection to the two characters, and see a bit of themselves in the characters.

    That being said, the reader is taken in by McCarthy's words, leaving them vulnerable to his main messages about the environment. I'm pretty sure I've already said enough about environmental dependency in previous blogs, so I won't beat it to death here.



    For the last portion of the book, they make it to a beach somewhere in the Southeast where the father's illness gets worse. They stay on the beach using any possible materials they can find. The author continues to use suspense as a major strategy, scaring the reader. However, pretty much every time, it doesn't turn out to be a big deal. For example:

•  The father swims out to investigate a small ship. It turns out to be deserted, but he salvages a few supplies. (Letdown Count: 1).
• He returns to shore only to find that the boy lost their pistol. They walk 10 minutes down the beach and recover it. (Letdown Count: 2).
• The boy develops a strong fever. Without any medicine, the boy hangs on to life by a thread. They stay on the beach for four days, worrying that someone might find them. They're fine.
  (Letdown Count: 3)
• They make refuge on the beach for the night and wake up to find their possessions stolen. They run off in the direction of the tracks and find that some random guy took their cart. The man holds him at gunpoint and forces him to strip, recovering his possessions and gaining a few more.
  (Letdown Count: 4).
• They continue on to another town where a makeshift archer shoots the man in the leg. The man retaliates by shooting his newly acquired flare gun into the archer's face.
  (Dull period over).

    Notice how I didn't include any quotes. That's because these events occur for the entire last quarter of the book - in great detail. The author takes his time describing each possible setback in vivid detail, but he never tells us about any successful forward travel. We know it happens; Early on, he talks about 4 days of traveling with minimal rest at a time. He deliberately uses the shortcomings of the main characters to illustrate the desperation of the situation.

   His point? Without the environment, it's impossible to survive for very long...without giving into the craving for HUMAN MEAT! (dun dun duuuuunnn).

Hey! It's a post without the need for a happy cat.