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8
Mar#4
I read Emily’s blog…. I find it very good. She wrote on a quote that I was too scared to write on because it seemed very simple and it’d be very hard to get anything really profound out of it. But, of course, she did.
She wrote about when the father was talking to himself, trying to convince himself to kill his son if the time came. He’s fighting with himself for a whole paragraph, but Emily brings up that he wouldn’t be able to; that’s why his son is still there and he’s still arguing with himself. He wants to be able to kill his son so that if cannibals tried to eat him, they wouldn’t get to let him suffer. She also brings up the fact that he can’t even leave the boy. He is incapable of doing so. She said, “His son is his anchor. He can’t be without him.” Which is a great point. The father really can’t be without him. That’s the whole reason he is alive and his wife is not.
I don’t really know what else to say….. That’s pretty much her entire blog…. Uh…. (If you haven’t already noticed, I’m trying to fill in these last 23 words….) What do you expect?! Her blog was short and to the point!
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8
Mar#7
The plot of this novel is pretty much just about a father and son trying to survive after the world has “ended”. The father is constantly trying to keep his son safe, fed, warm and clothed while they walk down this road. You see, something has happened to the sun: it’s pretty much gone. The nights are freezing and pitch black and the days are cold and gray. From what I know so far, is that the sun is starting to come out down south, so the father and his son are taking this road to try and get down there. They have to face extreme weather changes, times of starvation and even cannibalism. It’s a very intriguing book!
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28
Feb#6
“He leaned and kissed him and got up and walked out to the edge of the woods and then he walked the perimeter round to see if they were safe.” I think this perfectly describes the father in this story. It starts off with him leaning and kissing his son. That, I think, is the biggest part of the father. He absolutely loves his son and he’s devoted his life to taking care of him and making sure he’s safe. Which leads the second part of the quote; “…and walked out to the edge of the woods and then he walked the perimeter round to see if they were safe.” He’s constantly concerned about his son’s safety. I guess what I’m trying to say is that the father is never concerned with himself; he’s always concerned for his son because he loves him so much. That’s why I chose this quote. :^)
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16
Feb
“The snow whispered down in the stillness and the sparks rose and dimmed and died in the eternal blackness.”
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16
Feb
“Dark was coming on again and it was already very cold and he turned and went out to where he’d left the boy and knelt and put his arms around him and held him.”
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16
Feb
“The unseen sun cast no shadow.”
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4
Feb#3
My first quote that describes the theme of this book: “Raw cold daylight fell through the roof. Gray as his heart.” This quote is really depressing, which makes it a good description of the book’s theme. “Raw cold daylight…” Since when is daylight raw and cold? Well, let me answer that; When there is no sun! Whenever we think of daylight, we naturally think of the warm sunlight coming through your window during summer, waking you up peacefully. At least, that’s what I think of. Anyway, just by describing the daylight like that, it shows how depressing, dark and cold everything is. “Gray as his heart.” Self explanatory. My heart would be pretty gray too if daylight was cold!
Quote number two… “That boy was all that stood between him and death.” Wow. That’s quite a statement. It shows how hard times are. The father is pretty much saying, “Everything sucks. There’s no sun, no happiness… I can’t even dream about my past with the sun and happiness because it’s a false hope! I want to kill myself. I should die. But I can’t… I have to stay alive for this boy, this child.” I have never felt that desperate! My goodness! But even though this statement is depressing, it also shows the love and devotion and selflessness he has for his son. I believe this book is about love and family in the hardest circumstances and how they’re some of the only things that will endure through those hard things.
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24
JanAssignment 2… Or whatever.
Of my two quotes, here is the first: “He caught it in his hand and watched it expire there like the last host of christendom.” He’s talking about snow… Well, I didn’t know what exactly christendom was, so I looked it up. Christendom is pretty much the body of Christ. I’m not sure exactly what it’s saying, though. Is he talking about Jesus? Some other major prophet? Is he humiliating Christianity? If he is, what did “If he is not the word of God God never spoke” mean? I’m honestly confused. It could just be stating a fact… Because apparently, pretty much everyone is dead, so it could be anyone. But I’m really doubting that… Why christendom instead of any other dead thing? Is he saying Christianity is dead? Oh, my gosh. I’m so confused.
Numero dos: “You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget.” Simple, but it still affects you. This quote makes your heart hurt for the father. It makes you wonder what all he’s forgotten. Another thing to think about is he’s telling this to his son. This is a pretty depressing statement to tell your child! How old is he? He’s got to be pretty young since he’s never even had a Coke! There was another quote I considered doing, but I honestly had to idea what it meant. It was, “Everything uncoupled from its shoring. Unsupported in the ashen air. Sustained by a breath, trembling and brief. If only my heart were stone.” I don’t get it…….. I understand everything up to “If only my heart were stone.” It’s talking about the ash scurrying around in the wind, then out of nowhere, “If only my heart were stone.” SOMEONE HELP ME!!!! This book is making me feel stupid. I have to reread, like, everything. Is this guy British?
On to the setting. This setting is depressing! It puts me in that ‘rainy day’ mood. Except not in a good way. It also made me pretty tired. And cold. But my house just might be cold. I’m also still in my Pj’s because I’ve been doing homework all morning and haven’t had time to get dressed. :^)
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21
JanThe Road; Assignment 1…
So I just read the first seven pages of The Road. The quote I found was, “Then they set out along the blacktop in the gunmetal light, shuffling through the ash, each the other’s world entire.”
I’m not quite sure why this got my attention. I like how he describes the light and everything else around them. But my favorite part of this quote is, “…each the other’s world entire.” It really shows the relationship between the father and his son. In this time we’re in, most fathers and sons don’t feel this way about each other, but this family is so dependent on each other and care so much about each other that they’ve become each other’s worlds. They’re whole lives have become about the other. I think it’s very touching; it puts things in a perspective.
Well, 100 words was a lot shorter than I thought it would be! On to the observations of Cormac McCarthy.
The main things I really noticed was how he wrote. The majority of his sentences are HUGE run-ons! It’s driving me up the wall! For example: “He pulled the blue plastic tarp off of him and folded it and carried it out to the grocery cart packed it and came back with their plates and some cornmeal cakes in a plastic bag and a plastic bottle of syrup.” That’s all one sentence! It seems like an eighth grader didn’t know how to process all of his thoughts! It’s always and and and and and and and and and……… AAAGH!!!!! I hope he doesn’t do this throughout the whole book… But who knows? Maybe he’s trying to write like the father would. I’m not sure he would totally remember how to write, so maybe he’s just acting like him. Like all that crap you’re trying to get me to notice in those stupid poems, Mr. Wieck. Ugh. Aggravating. Also, he doesn’t use quotation marks! It’s driving me crazy! Words are just randomly in a paragraph and then your eyes are immediately brought back and you question if someone’s talking! apohg;aljdlijarteopjrfalj.
Another thing was, well, I’m not sure how to word this, but it seems like he’s writing like the father, and then he’s a spectator. I can’t tell who’s telling the story! Is the father crazy and talking in third person or does the author just not sure how he’s going to write this yet? I’m confused.
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10
Jan
