McCarthy's use of flashbacks and dreams contributed to the overall plot very much so. Many times throughout the book, the man can be seen occasionally reminiscing about his past, "He stood there.-This is where we used to have Christmas when I was a boy. On cold Winter nights when the electricity was out in a storm we could sit at the fire here, me and my sister's, doing our homework" (McCarthy 39). When the man remembers these past memories, it stages his vulnerability and weakness. These sorts of happy memories prevent the man from focusing on their survival. The man dreaded the day that the pre-apocalyptic world would claim him and these comforting memories would push him to the edge, "He said the right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and death" (McCarthy 18). The man was in such a desperate state that having a good memory or dream is like a tease, so in a way, having these flashbacks and good memories created more conflict as the story developed. I definitely enjoyed the flashbacks, as it was essential to the story. Although the author was aiming to leave the back story as vague as possible, the flashbacks were much needed. The flashbacks gave the story exposition, which displayed the main characters motives and explained their actions throughout the book.
Juliana, I would have to mainly agree! The flashbacks did do a wonderful job on explaining their motives and their actions throughout the book. When the man has a flashback to his wife killing herself, the man thinks, “She would do it with a flake of obsidian. He’d taught her himself” (McCarthy 58). I think that, as you said, this is explaining why the man has his character traits. I think he feels guilty and somewhat responsible for her killing herself, so he does everything he can to protect his son, not only because he loves him, but also because he wants to kind of make up for what he couldn’t do for his wife. Even though I almost completely agree with you on everything, I would have to somewhat disagree with what you said about the flashbacks preventing the man from focusing on his survival; I might even say that they helped him focus on their survival even more. Just as I said earlier, I think that these flashbacks (especially of the mom’s death) show how guilty the man feels about her death, and he wants to make up for it by protecting his son, which actually aided in their survival. I completely agree with what you said about the author intentionally leaving the past mysterious, but the flashbacks still being essential to the plot. I think that the author intentionally left it mysterious because he wanted the reader to come up with their own horrific tale, one that could be individual to the reader themselves. However, I think as you said, these flashbacks were much needed. Without these flashbacks, us readers would be in the complete dark about how the world came to be, and I think we all appreciated the flashbacks!
McCarthy's use of flashbacks and dreams contributed to the overall plot very much so. Many times throughout the book, the man can be seen occasionally reminiscing about his past, "He stood there.-This is where we used to have Christmas when I was a boy. On cold Winter nights when the electricity was out in a storm we could sit at the fire here, me and my sister's, doing our homework" (McCarthy 39). When the man remembers these past memories, it stages his vulnerability and weakness. These sorts of happy memories prevent the man from focusing on their survival. The man dreaded the day that the pre-apocalyptic world would claim him and these comforting memories would push him to the edge, "He said the right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and death" (McCarthy 18). The man was in such a desperate state that having a good memory or dream is like a tease, so in a way, having these flashbacks and good memories created more conflict as the story developed. I definitely enjoyed the flashbacks, as it was essential to the story. Although the author was aiming to leave the back story as vague as possible, the flashbacks were much needed. The flashbacks gave the story exposition, which displayed the main characters motives and explained their actions throughout the book.
ReplyDeleteJuliana, I would have to mainly agree! The flashbacks did do a wonderful job on explaining their motives and their actions throughout the book. When the man has a flashback to his wife killing herself, the man thinks, “She would do it with a flake of obsidian. He’d taught her himself” (McCarthy 58). I think that, as you said, this is explaining why the man has his character traits. I think he feels guilty and somewhat responsible for her killing herself, so he does everything he can to protect his son, not only because he loves him, but also because he wants to kind of make up for what he couldn’t do for his wife. Even though I almost completely agree with you on everything, I would have to somewhat disagree with what you said about the flashbacks preventing the man from focusing on his survival; I might even say that they helped him focus on their survival even more. Just as I said earlier, I think that these flashbacks (especially of the mom’s death) show how guilty the man feels about her death, and he wants to make up for it by protecting his son, which actually aided in their survival. I completely agree with what you said about the author intentionally leaving the past mysterious, but the flashbacks still being essential to the plot. I think that the author intentionally left it mysterious because he wanted the reader to come up with their own horrific tale, one that could be individual to the reader themselves. However, I think as you said, these flashbacks were much needed. Without these flashbacks, us readers would be in the complete dark about how the world came to be, and I think we all appreciated the flashbacks!
ReplyDelete