Key Episodes

Key Episodes...
Pages: 1-6
It makes me feel emotions of sadness, guilt, confusion and privileged for what I have compared to them. He does this by using emotive language. 'Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth and the hours and the days of it and the years without cease.' We predict that the cart my get stolen or brake so it could no longer be of purpose to them. They might meet someone on The Road, and possible shoot them or themselves 'He took the pistol from his belt and laid it on the cloth.' There is no change of mood in this episode it is all drab, slow, dark and dusty. We could see the Gas Station as a sign of hope however it doesn't realise the tension  it is still very sceptical. 'We have to go back.' This hows that they feel they have no choice but to do the things they do like keep walking and going back to the Station for gas. From this first little bit we know it's a man and his son 'Papa'. From the word papa we get the idea that the boy is very young and reliant on the man. We also get the understanding that the man takes care of the boy 'I'm right here. I know.' The novel is simple, with a lack of punctuation, there is no climax in this section as nothing of great importance happens. The language however is sophisticated in certain areas 'glaucoma' is used to explain the eye infection instead of just saying an eye disorder. It's also symbolic of what they can see in the road, cloudy, misty and unclear. Another symbol in this section is the Beast 'a creature that raised it's dripping mouth from the rime stone pod and stared into the light with eyes dead white and sightless as the eggs of spiders.' This is a symbol of dead like creatures that are floating around in the atmosphere a bit like the dust. This episode is important because it is the first time you meet the characters, it's also the first time you imagine the setting, it also builds a atmosphere and a little tension. It establishes the desperation that is throughout the novel, the relationship between the two characters and the thought of being chased.


Pages: 50-53
This episode made me feel sad, the reason for feeling sad was that the boy wanted so badly to help this poor man who had 'been struck by lightening' and yet his father wouldn't allow them too. As this episode went on a felt a little bit better as the man had done the right thing by not letting the man have the food that they needed 'We cant share what we have or we'll do too.' The story could go on to meet some other people where the boy wants to help but the man says no, or the man could chose to help a certain few and the boy gets confused on why he helps them but not others. I suppose it is a lighter part of the book the thought of meeting someone or though there isn't a change of mood because the man doesn't help them in anyway. There is a little more tension because you don't know if the 'burntlooking' man is going to harm them in anyway like he might have a pistol like they do. We learn even more that the boy is easily scared and uses the man as a barrier for fear 'The boy hung on to his father's coat.' You could also say that that man tries to keep him from all the bad things and tries to protect him although he knows he won't be able to do it for the rest of the boys life. The language is very much the same with the simple words and variation of sentences. The main image that is foregrounded is of the man who has 'One of his eyes burnt' it goes into great detail of the man and how scary he comes across, although he doesn't try to harm them as he is tired and slowly dying. Although this an important part because it shows another side of the man but it isn't as important as some of the other episodes. It stands out because it is one of the first characters we meet in the story that isn't the main.

Pages: 62-69
This episode made me feel scared for them and it also changed my opinion of the man. My opinion changed because I never thought he would kill someone he acted completely different in this episode to any other time in the book. I also made me think about what the man did before the apocalypse because he 'fired from a two-handed position balanced on both knees at a distance of six feet' and got the man exactly in the head. The story might go on to meet other people that the man might have to shoot or the boy may feel like he can't go on after what has just happened to him 'covered with gore and mute as a stone.' It is defiantly a change of mood and there is a large increase in tension, because you don't know if the boy will get hurt or if the man will miss or what will happen after the man has shot the gun' 'set off up the old roadway at a dead run'. The boy is shown as being very vulnerable in this, the man is also shown as being maybe a military man before the disaster as he knows exactly how to shoot the man and miss the boy. The relationship is also shows as the boy is so dependant on the man at that point 'he dove and grabbed the boy'. The language in this episode is quite a bit different because when the man speaks to the 'roadrat' he uses intelligent words such as 'colliculus' and 'temporal gyrus' this indicate that he may have prier training to this. The image of the man dying is given in detail 'lay with blood bubbling from the hole in his forehead.' This makes the image stick in your mind like it has in the boys and the man's. This is defiantly a key episode because it shows a different side to the man and about what will happen if anyone else tries to harm his son.

Pages: 112-121
This episode made me think of a horror film because in horror films there is always someone in the room that is locked and normally not a very nice someone or something. McCarthy made me feel like this by building up lots of tension and slowing down the novel. The story might go on with the man and boy going to another house and possibly not escaping this time from the people that have captured the people who are in the cellar and then goes on to tell us how they all escaped. The mood changes a little bit because it gets a bit more serious and scary. There is defiantly an increase of tension at this point because you don't know what's behind the door or if the captures will return at any point. 'Coming across the field towards the house were four bearded men and two women.' The characters are shown as being inquisitive but also very cautious. 'He would have ample time later to think about that.' is his comment about the pile of clothing.  The language is again very simple this might just be because the man has only had conversations with the boy for the last couple of years. The people being trapped could also be a symbol of them because they are trapped in this world of uncertainty and never knowing if that day will be their last. 'Help us, they whispered. Please help us.' It could be seen as a key episode however I don't think it is because it isn't as important as other parts such as when the man kills the 'roadrat'.

Pages: 210-215
This episode makes me feel sick at the thought of eating a human being let a lone a child, you also don't know if they only had the child to kill them and eat them which also made me feel sick. The writer does this by giving very little detail about the people or the infant on the stick 'What the boy had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit.' From that bit we understand the child that the people were about to eat is actually a baby who never knew wrong and the life they could have had. The boy and man might have to eat a human later on as a mater of life or death, however they may go on and get court and someone else wants to eat them. This is a tense moment because the people whose food it is may come back at any time and then capture them and eat them eventually. The boy is still shown as being very young as he asks 'Can I hold your hand?' this shows he's scared and he knows the man wants to protect him from all bad things. There relationship is shown as being very strong at this point because the man even picks the boy up and caries him even though he is very weak. He does this to show the boy he does care and he knows that it was a horrible thing for him to see. The language is still the same as the rest of the novel, there is very little punctuation, however have the occasional really long sentence or really short sentence. It is a key episode because it shows how close the boy and man are even if they don't talk very much,  have very little conversation, or show affection to each other. It also stands out because of the baby being eaten which is quite a gruesome thing.

Pages: 227-230
It makes me feel emotions of happiness yet still cautious for them. The fact that they have made it to the coast shows that they must have come a long way, also because 'They ate well' it kinda shows that things are looking up because they have enough food to eat well instead of saving it for other days. The plot could go on to when their back in really difficult situations where they have no food or clean water. They could also end up in a town with lots of other people that have joined together to survive. There is a change of mood and it is a lighter moment in the novel. I guess it's lighter because it's the first time the boy has shown signs of happiness 'We did good, didn't we Papa?' and although they know they've got a long way to go they look on the positive side of it all. 'He knew that he was placing hopes where he'd no reason to.' The characters don't really develop in this section apart from having more hope that they're going to live and get to the coast. The language is simple again showing there simplicity and how little things such as canned foods and new to them shoes. This is defiantly a key episode because they have a sign of hope and things seem better. This bit really sticks out in the novel although there are no chapters because this is the first time they mention something none related to the road, the beach. There's also the disappointment on the boys face because the sea isn't blue, this can also show how we imagined the sea to always look like.

Pages: 270-278
This episode made me feel really sorry for them as they had done quite a bit of work for the few things that had and yet someone came along and just took them. McCarthy does this by making them out to be very innocent and as though they have never stolen anything from others before. The plot could go on for them to meet the people that stole their stuff and they may have to shoot one of them or they may be captured by the people who took their stuff. This is sort of an increased tension part because it makes you question what they will do if they don't get their cart back or they end up meeting the people who took the cart and what will the man do? It again shows the boys innocents because he begins 'to cry' about the cart being taken  and would probably prefer to stop and do nothing. The man is also shown in a different way because he makes catching the people into a game for the little boy rather than just walking after them like they walk everyday. The language is simple and has speech of basic things they need to talk about rather then talk about anything else. For example the man comforts the boy but in very few words, 'Stay with me, the man said. Stay right with me.' Could the things being taken be a simple for someone going to be taken away by death either the boy or man? It is a key episode because we want to read on to see what happens.