Diction was one of the most powerful devices Cormac McCarthy integrated to present a post-apocalyptic setting and thus creating a dark mood ("Darkness" is not exactly a theme and can be categorized better as a mood or a topic). There is wide variety of vocabulary that the author chose to convey this "darkness", but some words that stood out were "gray", "barren", and "desolate". The author writes, "He pulled his blanket about his shoulders and looked out the gray and barren beach" (McCarthy 244). The color gray is usually associated with gloom and depression, while the word "barren" refers to something being bleak and lifeless. The author combines "gray" and "barren" in the same sentence to create empowering imagery, which in turn helps in creating a dark mood. The word "gray" especially seemed to be a favorite of the author and was used extensively throughout the book to describe the setting. Another instance where the diction facilitated a dark mood was when the author presented the setting of the beach. He writes, "They sat with their heels dug into the sand and watched the bleak sea wash up at their feet. Cold. Desolate. Birdless" (McCarthy 215). Desolate refers to being in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness. This word inspires gloomy, depressing, and lonely feelings which overall contributes to the creation of a gloomy and dark mood. Being a novel about a post-apocalyptic world,a dark mood was expected and the author did a commendable job in using diction to achieve that.
Diction had a strong contribution to the book and the theme of darkeness because this whole book was based on a apocolyptic time. Throughout the whole book there were many words that showed how the story was dark. The author writes, "An hour later they were sitting on the beach and staring out at the wall of smog across the horizon... and watched the bleak sea wash up at their feet. Cold. Desolate. Birdless" (McCarthy 215). There is no beauty in this sentence, when you think of it, there is a dark and gray view of the ocean. The author also adds in the words "cold" and "desolate" to even make it feel that all there is is emptyness in their cold world. The word "gray" is also used many times in this book, that word clearly explains the theme of darkness in the story. The author writes, "He pulled down his blanket about his shoulders and looked out down the gray and barren beach" (McCarthy 244). This also relates to my last quote about how the view of the horizon looks empty and gray. Having these two words in the same sentence says that the beach is barren (too poor to produce much or any vegetation) and gray which is a dark and sad color. The author does a great job to add the right diction into a dark post-apocalyptic novel.
I agree with Harsimrat in that diction was a powerful device in this novel. Cormac McCarthy chose vocabulary to portray the darkness and to create imagery. From the beginning of the story he brought the topic of darkness in his novel, “The blackness he woke to on those nights was sightless and impenetrable. A blackness to hurt your ears with listening” (McCarthy 15). Like Harsimrat said, gray was mentioned very often to be used as sadness and gloom. “He sat by a gray window in the gray light in an abandoned house in the late afternoon…” (McCarthy 28). The author uses gray to show the agony that the man goes through with his son, which shows the dark mood of the novel. Another incident where Cormac uses diction to represent the darkness is when they get to one of the houses on their long journey, “A corpse floating in the black water of a basement among the trash and rusting ductwork” (McCarthy 130). Here, the author uses more imagery combined with the diction to illustrate the dark topic. The man and boy both see things that could be scarring and seeing a corpse floating in water is one. This represents the dark mood because the world is unpleasant. Dystopian novels have societies that are as dehumanizing as possible, which is what McCarthy portrays with his diction. This genre of book being post-apocalyptic and dystopian is expected to be dark and forsaken, but McCarthy did a wonderful job in describing the settings with powering imagery, even if at times it seems as if he repeats himself.
In reply to Harsimrat , Joran and Bailey I agree with all of the evidence given to back up , on how diction helps to contribute a theme of darkness . Hirsimrat : I think that her use of giving actual words and extremely accurate connation to the quotes was amazing .She also had me rethinking the question , and I saw the error I made in saying that darkness is a theme . Darkness is more of a mood or topic but death is more of a theme Joran : He’s focus on the setting was very interesting point of view but I would have liked to see more of a variety of how the author portrays darkness through less noticeable diction . But I do applaud him on the use of the word gray and the repetitive use of that word to illustrate his point . But I do recommend that next time he references the previous comment . Bailey :Baileys by far was the best , she addressed diction in quotes that weren’t so obvious about the topic of darkness. She agreed with Hirsimrat but also had her own thoughts. “A corpse floating in the black water of a basement among the trash and rusting ductwork” (McCarthy 130). Here, the author uses more imagery combined with the diction to illustrate the dark topic. The man and boy both see things that could be scarring and seeing a corpse floating in water is one. This represents the dark mood because the world is unpleasant. Her use of going above and beyond , with the use of both diction and imagery helps to add to her claim. I was also extremely impressive that she used death to portray darkness . I would have liked to see more the responses talk about how the illustrated death and how that diction effected the tone of darkness in the novel . But overall I believe that all of the bloggers answered the question very well
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ReplyDeleteDiction was one of the most powerful devices Cormac McCarthy integrated to present a post-apocalyptic setting and thus creating a dark mood ("Darkness" is not exactly a theme and can be categorized better as a mood or a topic). There is wide variety of vocabulary that the author chose to convey this "darkness", but some words that stood out were "gray", "barren", and "desolate". The author writes, "He pulled his blanket about his shoulders and looked out the gray and barren beach" (McCarthy 244). The color gray is usually associated with gloom and depression, while the word "barren" refers to something being bleak and lifeless. The author combines "gray" and "barren" in the same sentence to create empowering imagery, which in turn helps in creating a dark mood. The word "gray" especially seemed to be a favorite of the author and was used extensively throughout the book to describe the setting. Another instance where the diction facilitated a dark mood was when the author presented the setting of the beach. He writes, "They sat with their heels dug into the sand and watched the bleak sea wash up at their feet. Cold. Desolate. Birdless" (McCarthy 215). Desolate refers to being in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness. This word inspires gloomy, depressing, and lonely feelings which overall contributes to the creation of a gloomy and dark mood. Being a novel about a post-apocalyptic world,a dark mood was expected and the author did a commendable job in using diction to achieve that.
ReplyDeleteDiction had a strong contribution to the book and the theme of darkeness because this whole book was based on a apocolyptic time. Throughout the whole book there were many words that showed how the story was dark. The author writes, "An hour later they were sitting on the beach and staring out at the wall of smog across the horizon... and watched the bleak sea wash up at their feet. Cold. Desolate. Birdless" (McCarthy 215). There is no beauty in this sentence, when you think of it, there is a dark and gray view of the ocean. The author also adds in the words "cold" and "desolate" to even make it feel that all there is is emptyness in their cold world. The word "gray" is also used many times in this book, that word clearly explains the theme of darkness in the story. The author writes, "He pulled down his blanket about his shoulders and looked out down the gray and barren beach" (McCarthy 244). This also relates to my last quote about how the view of the horizon looks empty and gray. Having these two words in the same sentence says that the beach is barren (too poor to produce much or any vegetation) and gray which is a dark and sad color. The author does a great job to add the right diction into a dark post-apocalyptic novel.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Harsimrat in that diction was a powerful device in this novel. Cormac McCarthy chose vocabulary to portray the darkness and to create imagery. From the beginning of the story he brought the topic of darkness in his novel, “The blackness he woke to on those nights was sightless and impenetrable. A blackness to hurt your ears with listening” (McCarthy 15). Like Harsimrat said, gray was mentioned very often to be used as sadness and gloom. “He sat by a gray window in the gray light in an abandoned house in the late afternoon…” (McCarthy 28). The author uses gray to show the agony that the man goes through with his son, which shows the dark mood of the novel. Another incident where Cormac uses diction to represent the darkness is when they get to one of the houses on their long journey, “A corpse floating in the black water of a basement among the trash and rusting ductwork” (McCarthy 130). Here, the author uses more imagery combined with the diction to illustrate the dark topic. The man and boy both see things that could be scarring and seeing a corpse floating in water is one. This represents the dark mood because the world is unpleasant. Dystopian novels have societies that are as dehumanizing as possible, which is what McCarthy portrays with his diction. This genre of book being post-apocalyptic and dystopian is expected to be dark and forsaken, but McCarthy did a wonderful job in describing the settings with powering imagery, even if at times it seems as if he repeats himself.
ReplyDeleteIn reply to Harsimrat , Joran and Bailey I agree with all of the evidence given to back up , on how diction helps to contribute a theme of darkness .
ReplyDeleteHirsimrat : I think that her use of giving actual words and extremely accurate connation to the quotes was amazing .She also had me rethinking the question , and I saw the error I made in saying that darkness is a theme . Darkness is more of a mood or topic but death is more of a theme
Joran : He’s focus on the setting was very interesting point of view but I would have liked to see more of a variety of how the author portrays darkness through less noticeable diction . But I do applaud him on the use of the word gray and the repetitive use of that word to illustrate his point . But I do recommend that next time he references the previous comment .
Bailey :Baileys by far was the best , she addressed diction in quotes that weren’t so obvious about the topic of darkness. She agreed with Hirsimrat but also had her own thoughts. “A corpse floating in the black water of a basement among the trash and rusting ductwork” (McCarthy 130). Here, the author uses more imagery combined with the diction to illustrate the dark topic. The man and boy both see things that could be scarring and seeing a corpse floating in water is one. This represents the dark mood because the world is unpleasant. Her use of going above and beyond , with the use of both diction and imagery helps to add to her claim. I was also extremely impressive that she used death to portray darkness .
I would have liked to see more the responses talk about how the illustrated death and how that diction effected the tone of darkness in the novel . But overall I believe that all of the bloggers answered the question very well