PAGE-82-EXERCISE-2

– The man and the boy are nameless because their anonymity makes them more mysterious as well its easy to identify yourself with the protagonists . It’s one of the author’s main hooks to lure the reader into the story wanting to find more about them as the story unravels.
– We can see they are in danger because of the sense of rush and urgency we are getting from  their environment, from what they are carrying. Even from the chrome motorcycle mirror clamped to the handle, we are having the sense of them trying to flee the danger as they use it to check of what is coming from their back. What they are trying to escape from is not clear, but it is surely powerful and catastrophic as it has turned their world into ashes.
– The chrome motorcycle mirror as well as the cart are giving us a contemporary clue of time but it is not clear where it is set. It can be any time anywhere.
– Being alone, without human around is scary and leaves people in despair. Probably what caused them to run away from is the reasons of people being vanished from their environment.
-It looks like they have been through a disaster in apocalyptic scale as what is left behind is death and ashes.
– They probably trying to escape from what caused their world to be in such in danger and they are probably following their  human instincts of looking for shelter comfort and safety. We don’t know where they come from (another hook-clue).
-The road is their way to freedom, it’s an escape from what they have been suffering from and a safe way out.
-There are many poetic devices in this short message especially when the author describes the environment our heroes move into:  <<wasted country>>, <<grey serpentine of a river. Motionless and precise.>> <<a burden of dead reeds>>, <<gunmetal light>>, <<shuffling through the ash, each the others world entire>>. He gives an artistic view of the environment which makes the story more engaging and more interesting.
– By not using speech punctuation the author, in my opinion, is trying to tell us the story as a viewer and not as a first hand witness which could be another narrative he could use. I think by using this method and becoming an over looking narrator he can handle the story better as he has been given more expressive means and describe what he sees using a wide angle lens.
– By using only few clues (knapsacks with essential things, wasted country, empty road, dead deeds, gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash) McCarthy is getting us into a story where the man and the boy are, or they feel like they are, in danger and in a mission to survive. The metaphors used are very well chosen to give the reader the sense of insecurity and peril. Especially the serpentine; it is the biblical  sign of evil and by giving the river this description (grey serpentine of a river) brings that symbol as an extra element of endangerment. Having a biblical reference in a post apocalyptic world we us readers can see how difficult the situation of our heroes is and how important is for them to leave the world of jeopardy and insecurity and by following the road ahead to seek for redemption.
– The writing style is the style of a novel: with short but “juicy “ sentences, having pace and rhythm which makes reading more pleasant and more interesting. It creates as we say a page turning story. The language is simple but with poetic elements, which are used to ornate the narrative and bring more satisfaction to the reader.
-When I read the story I felt fully engaged. Being a parent I placed myself to the position of the man (trying to protect his son?). Being in his shoes I have started thinking how would I respond to a situation like this. It gives you the struggles, the agony and the stress of the protagonist. Also it makes me feel about my values, my family, the people that care about the most.
 Making me feel like this, creates what I call a winner, a truly great story worth reading it.