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The Road

This passage from The Road shows an interaction between the man, boy, and an old man. The boy wants to give the old man some food, though his father does not think he deserves it. When the boy sits down disappointed, his father realizes the boy's kindness. This moment is significant as it highlights the boy's humanity and optimism despite their bleak circumstances, and foreshadows a potential challenge from helping the ungrateful old man.

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233 views3 pages

The Road

This passage from The Road shows an interaction between the man, boy, and an old man. The boy wants to give the old man some food, though his father does not think he deserves it. When the boy sits down disappointed, his father realizes the boy's kindness. This moment is significant as it highlights the boy's humanity and optimism despite their bleak circumstances, and foreshadows a potential challenge from helping the ungrateful old man.

Uploaded by

api-302574650
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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The Road: Text Rendering

We have already discussed the unique writing style that Cormac McCarthy uses in
The Road. Today we are going to look at sections of the book and determine the
significance of specific sections of the book. By close reading and thoroughly
investigating small portions of the text, I hope that you will gain an appreciation for
the language used throughout the book as a whole.
Purpose:
To understand the significance of small moments in a larger work and how each
moment build on previous moments in the text.
Task:
1. Select a passage from The Road.
a. By a passage I mean an isolated segment of the text the way it is represented in
the book.
b. You may choose any section that you have read so far.
2. Write an essay ( page - 1 page) where you explain
a. why you think this passage is isolated in the text,
b. a single sentence in the passage and why you think it is important to the passage,
c. a single phrase from the passage and why you think it is important to the passage,
d. a single word from the passage and why you think it is important to the passage,
e. and finally, the importance of this passage to the works a whole.
Format:
Begin by typing the passage from the book and citing the page number on which it
appears. For example,
They dressed shivering and then climbed the trail to the upper river. They walked
out along the rocks to where the river seemed to end in space and he held the boy
while he ventured out to the last leg of the rock. The river went sucking over the
rim and fell straight down into the pool below. The entire river. He clung to the
mans arm.
Its really far, he said.
Its pretty far.
Would you die if you fell?
Youd get hurt. Its a long way.
Its really scary. (39)
Follow this passage with your double-spaced text rendering.

Write your essay on this page. It should be double spaced.


Passage from the text (single spaced):

Your text rendering (double-spaced):

In the morning they stood in the road and he and the boy argued about
what to give the old man. In the end he didnt get much. Some cans of
vegetables and of fruit. Finally the boy just went over to the edge of the
road and sat in the ashes. The old man fitted the tins into his knapsack and
fastened the straps. You should thank him you know, the man said. I
wouldnt have given you anything.
Maybe I should maybe I shouldnt.
Why wouldnt you?
I wouldnt have given him mine.
You dont care if it hurts his feelings?
Will it hurt his feelings?
No. Thats not why he did it.
Why did he do it?
He looked over at the boy and he looked at the old man.
You wouldnt understand, he said. Im not sure I do. (pg. 173)
This is a stand out segment in The Road for many reasons. First off,
the old man is the only non harmful person theyve come to encounter.
Which makes himself look suspicious is this he really non harmful? The old
man's actions show what kind of person someone can become in hard times:
unhopeful, ungrateful, and unhappy. He was so far gone, he couldnt even
appreciate a considerate act of a young, innocent boy. This portion of the
text is quite a wake up call for the boy. The sentence the old man said,
Maybe I should maybe I shouldnt. does a great job summarizing the
attitude of the old man. I feel that with that I dont care attitude the old
man portrays, we as readers come understand the strength and kindness of
the boy as well as his father. They together have overcome their selfishness
for the sake of each other. A phrase in this text that shows significance is

when the boy's father says, You wouldnt understand. Im not sure I do.
This phrase is one of the few personal thoughts we hear from the man. He
doesnt understand his sons actions or reasons, because despite that this is
the dark world the boys grown up in, he still has the traits of someone living
in the pre-apocalyptic world. In other words, he brings light in this dark
world. The question on the table is: how long until the boy doesnt bring that
light, and what will break him? I believe that the word that has the most
significance in this text is feelings. Very rarely does the feelings of either
the boy or man have an effect on what they do. They dont feel like waking
up and walking all day but they do it. They dont feel like going in creepy
houses, but they do it anyway. Up until this point feelings have not played a
huge role for either the characters in terms of actually listening to their
feelings. I think this is the first time in the whole book they allude to both of
them actually feeling. This whole text is significant because it brings many
things to our attention and poses many questions. The boy was his normal
considerate self, but now that he put it to action and got nothing in
response, will he do it again? Is the old man a pawn and the boy and his
father are to face some other challenges following him? When you come to
question the security or stability of the characters, mentally and physically,
you know then that the text was important.

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