The Road - Literary Devices
Darkness/blackness is constantly brought up by Cormac McCarthy in the text of The Road. It certainly identifies some key points in the story that relate to literary devices.
"Darkness coming fast. Darkness and cold." pg. 81
"The snow whispered down in the stillness and
the sparks rose and dimmed and died in the
eternal blackness." pg. 97
"Dark and black and trackless where it crossed the
open country... No sign of life anywhere." pg. 202
Question: How does the darkness and eternal blackness symbolize a sign of death and despair? Please explain with a thourougly answered response.
"Darkness coming fast. Darkness and cold." pg. 81
"The snow whispered down in the stillness and
the sparks rose and dimmed and died in the
eternal blackness." pg. 97
"Dark and black and trackless where it crossed the
open country... No sign of life anywhere." pg. 202
Question: How does the darkness and eternal blackness symbolize a sign of death and despair? Please explain with a thourougly answered response.
The word darkness symbolizes many things in The Road. A piece of evidence that symbolizes darkness is “He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it” (McCarthy 110). In this quote, darkness symbolizes the despair of what the main characters go through in the story. In the quote it said “…saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world” (McCarthy 110). This shows the character’s point of view of what they have been going through because throughout the story the boy and the man have been trying to survive. This part of the quote also shows there have been many frightening things that the man and the boy both had saw. For example: seeing dead people. This shows the darkness and the truth of what the world has brought in where the setting takes place in the story. In the quote it says “two hunted animals” (McCarthy 110). This represents the boy and the man. When being hunted down by cannibals, it brings out the dark side of the characters in order to survive when it is needed to. Even when they have to kill someone that threatens them. In the story, darkness has symbolized the character’s actions and the setting of where the story takes place in.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the darkness has many symbols in The Road but I think that the darkness does not only include the main characters but also the minor characters around them. In the beginning the author talked about how “…the days more gray each on than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world” (McCarthy 1). Its reference to the glaucoma shows that the darkness is an overwhelming pressure of despair and death on the minds of these travelers. The “Dark of the invisible moon. The nights now only now only slightly less black” (32) is an example of death because in the day there are “…dead [people] impaled on spikes along the road” (33) as they travel. It shows that, although they cannot see in the dark, they can see the after effects of it in the morning or in light. Another example of the how the dark represents death when “…[the father] ducked his head and then flicked the lighter and swung the flame out over the darkness like and offering…[he found] on the mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt” (110). This time the darkness symbolizes the approaching death of this man and the others in the locked room. The darkness alleviates slightly when the death and despair wanes. People like the legless man are in this darkness hoping for someone to save them but they usually do not. This leads to people being left in darkness and in despair and this pattern tends to occur in the novel in the flat characters and eventually the main character in the end.
ReplyDeleteThe darkness had represented the despair in the book because that’s all there was darkness. Not a shred of light and barely any hope. Death everywhere, “People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn't believe in that. Tomorrow wasn't getting ready for them. It didn't even know they were there.” That’s just one example of the things. “He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running. The crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trembling like ground-foxes in their cover. Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.” Another example to how everything was black. Also that time in the book where they were at the beach and the father had looked up into the sky and started thinking about how the sky somewhat represented hell. “No lists of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes.”
ReplyDeleteThank you Elijah, Felicia and Emily for answering my question, you guys had very insightful comments that deepened my understanding of the book. All of your comments made me see another side to the symbolism of death that was consistently brought up in the book. One particular comment that really caught my attention was Felicia’s that said, “…although they cannot see in the dark, they can see the after effects of it in the morning or in light.” This made me realize that the darkness is much more than just literal thinking; it incorporates a message to me that says these characters carry the darkness within them by surviving through this kind of setting. A quote to follow up this passage says, “They crossed the bridge and continued on down the road and vanish on by one into the waiting darkness” (McCarthy 195). To me, the waiting darkness represents the never ending despair and depression these people have to venture through in order to survive on the road. Another good point was brought up by Elijah when he said “… two hunted animals” (McCarthy 110). Elijah said this brings out the dark side of the characters because to the will to survive is vital. This comment really came to my attention as well because this just shows the desperation and the level of darkness that sets the tone of the book. As McCarthy explained on page 75, “The reptilian calculations in those cold shifting eyes.” When you’re on the brink of extinction and you have cannibals out to kill you, the character of the book changes and that goes along with the symbolism of death and despair.
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