Ever is a long time- close reading

"Turns out the light and is gone. Ever is a long time. That ever is no time at all"(28).

The first sentence might refer to a dream or hope. Humans always want to achieve new things so when it says, turns out the light, it means that it doesn't interest him anymore or that he has no way of accomplishing his dreams so its gone, the idea, the desire to do it has vanished.

The second part of this quote refers to the time something takes. If we are waiting for something to happen, it takes a long time before it happens. Or if we want a moment to happen quickly it seems very long.

The last part is very similar to the the second one. If we want something to happen, we wait for a very long time till it happens, once it occurs, time goes by really fast.

Human greed

Eating people. How crazy can you be to do that? While the son and the father starve for some days until they find food, the bad people have absolutely no problem in eating others. They get prisoners from the road, as they hide in a box observing they catch their pray. After making them take their clothes of they are taken to a room where they are locked up. I personally think it's harder to get the prisoners, and cook them and then eat them. I couldn't do that. Who could! I must admit, this part of the book really shocked me. Often lots of the ideas and actions present in this section of the book are mentioned. To continue with the shockers, how can a father teach his son to kill himself? I cant judge, I've never been in that position and i hope i never have to be involved in a circumstance like that. However, the father gives the son the gun, "you know how to do it.You put it in your mouth and point it up"(113). How can you say that! Teach your son how to kill himself? I blame society. I blame humans. It's all our fault. We are despicable human beings. We kill others and feed of them when we need food, and we have to teach our children how to kill themselves so they don't have to suffer and live what others have lived. It's all part of our greed. Humans are greedy, we want more material things, more power, more emotions. We always want what others have. While some people eat fancy food and dress up with expensive clothes, others are dying because they cant have a sip of tap water. Other humans are suffering because of our desires. Children are dying while we have an extensive meal, others have no knowledge at all because they cant afford school while we complain of the homework we have. The human want of power and material things have turned the world to a race. Always showing off to others what we have. Well i think its about time we stop thinking about ourselves and start taking others into consideration. Stop caring for material things and start caring more for others.

Against the Current

The boy and the father continue to travel down the road, their shoes are muddy and their bodies are weak. The little boy cant walk anymore. The father knows he has to stop, the child needs to rest but if they stop in the wrong place they might end dead. The words of comfort the boy receives are, "We'll stop. Okay? We just have to find a place."(93). As they continue to walk, they find an old barn, the wall full of decapitated heads. The father comforts the son and encourages him to go on. As they proceed to enter, the father places the plastic on the floor. The child and the father are ready to sleep. They cover themselves with the blankets and jackets they have. Soon the father is awake again and as he sees people walking near their hiding place he touches the child and tells him to be quite. Once the child is warned, the father crawls out the barn and lays on the ground observing how the bad guys walk through the road. Several good people have been made slaves ant they are forced to pull a cart full of ammunition. On their march, there are also several women, some of them are pregnant. Very still, the father and the son wait till the procession has passed. Very quickly the father pick everything up and puts it in the cart. He has to be careful, the bad guys are on the move and they can be easily found. At this point of the book, i think the father has a disadvantage over the other males in the book. With a weak son, he has to take special care of the little boy, also he has to be very careful because they could ens up pulling the cart for the bad guys. The little kid needs rest. The father knows it but everywhere they try to rest something happens. After they hide from the other humans, they continue to walk and the child isn't making it easy for the father. With excuses and apologies the boy tries to continue walking but after the child falls, the father tries to find a hiding place. They will stay during the night in the woods under a big trees. As a procedure, the father puts on the floor the plastic where they will sleep. He goes out to find some wood to make a fire. They get some sleep but once again the fathers sleep is interrupted by some noise. After several series of the big sound, the father realizes the trees are falling. He wakes the kid up and they try to move fast, avoiding an accident. They finally find a safe spot, they wait for some time until the trees stop falling. Once they think this has happened the father makes a hole under a fallen tree, moving away the snow where they sleep.

role model  noun a person whose behavior, example, or success is or can be emulated by others, especially by younger people. Everything seems to be against the father and the son. They try to rest but their sleep is always interrupted by something. They are fighting to survive in a world they don't even know. They have no idea of they will have to face in the future. But still the father keeps on going. It amazes me how the father is still so strong. Hiding the weakness from the son. I think at this moment, the father is keeping the boy alive. Before the boy gave the father strength and help him cope with reality. Now the father seems strong, giving the boy a great example. A role model, is the word i would use to describe the father. With the situation the two of them have to face, they are surviving, the father stays true to himself and to his little son. Always following the right path and trying to do things in a correct way. By this time, i think the father is stronger than the bad guys. In the book the father and the son are vulnerable. Instead of being the good guys, they could turn into the opposite. Getting food and clothes by killing people or making others carry their blankets so they can walk easier. This would be easier on both of the characters but instead, the father stays strong and does things correctly. Giving the boy a good example.

Words from McCarthy

McCarthy explains to Oprah how the book came to his mind, telling us about a night he spend in a hotel at El Paso with his son. Its interesting to see how the story comes to life. McCarthy mentions how he was awake in the night and he looked out the window, everything motionless but the sounds very alive. He could see the image of flames and destruction in his head. Four years later he writes the novel always having the thought of his son in mind. It takes him 4 years with his son to continue writing the book, we can see how in reality and in the book McCarthy and the father share lots of time together with their sons, listening to them and teaching them. They have lots of affection for the little boys. The night in the hotel , helped him through the books setting, were we often find the father awake in the middle of the night and the child sleeping. Making nameless characters McCarthy allows anyone to relate to the book, never mentioning their identity. I can even say the book is about McCarthy and his son, telling the readers about experiences the have. In the book, the way the father and son react towards each other is more than an imaginary idea. Giving the novel a personal tone, we see how the father protects the son under any circumstance even killing men if he needs to. The reason why the world is the way it is in The Road, is because humans are always searching for perfection. They have a set of ideals and goals they want to reach bus as McCarthy says in the interview, they will never be accomplished. However without these "dreams" of perfection, humans wouldn't get anywhere I found an interesting connection between the interview and the book. McCarthy mentions he didn't know where the book was going to end while he was writing it. Somehow, this idea relates to the book because the characters, the boy and his father, have absolutely no idea of their destiny, for all they know, they could be walking towards death or to salvation. Their faith depends on how McCarthy decides to end his fiction book. Even then McCarthy has the power to terminate or continue the life of the two male figures that appear in the book, however he has absolutely no idea of what their end will be.