THE ROADBY: CORMAC MCCARTHY

Unit 2: Novel Study

Who is Cormac McCarthy?

Cormac McCarthy was born in Rhode Island, NY on July 22, 1933

He is the 3rd child of six (He has 2 brothers and 3 sisters)

McCarthy would have been a child of the Depression, WWII era

These traumatic events shaped his writing to a degree

Father was well to do lawyer, so Cormac came from a good family

Cormac McCarthy (2)

Originally named Charles (after his father), he renamed himself Cormac after the Irish King (another source says that McCarthy's family was responsible for legally changing his name to the Gaelic equivalent of "son of Charles“)

Cormac was raised Roman Catholic. He attended Catholic High School in Knoxville, then went to the University of Tennessee in 1951-52

Cormac McCarthy (3)

McCarthy joined the U.S. Air Force in 1953; he served four years, spending two of them stationed in Alaska, where he hosted a radio show

McCarthy got his start as a writer at University, where he wrote and published two stories, "A Drowning Incident" and "Wake for Susan" in the student literary magazine, The Phoenix, calling himself C. J. McCarthy, Jr.

Cormac McCarthy (4)

McCarthy moved around a lot living in Tennessee, Alaska, serving time in the Air Force, etc

Left University to pursue writing, but ended up living paycheck to paycheck

He was married three times and this could explain why most of McCarthy’s books do not have strong female characters

Cormac McCarthy (5)

Has written ten novels

The one you’re probably most familiar with is No Country for Old Men written in 2005 and a very successful film released in 2007

The work we are going to read is his latest, The Road

This work won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for fiction and is a 2009 major movie release.

The Road

STOP!

Listen to an Introduction to Cormac McCarthy on iTunes and take notes.

Be prepared to write a short biography about McCarthy and pass in for marks based on the notes you took, as well as what you hear on the iTunes introduction.

The Road

STOP!

Let’s listen to the first 10 pages of the Road. Follow along in your book and be prepared to do some questions once the passage is done.

Questions 1: SETTING

In the rough present

Urban Setting (They are living in an abandoned city)

After some sort of end of the world situation

Eg: Destroyed trees, ash everywhere, dead lake, deformed animal, overgrown roads, the condition of their clothes, the food they eat, they wear masks

Question 2: CHARACTERS

The child or the boy, the man

They don’t have names so they can be symbolic of everyman, every boy, every family

By being every person the audience can imagine themselves as the man or boy

123 English Period 1123 English Period 1 Ms. Williams DescriptionMs. Williams Description

No Light (Nuclear Winter)

Destroyed CityAbandoned CityDead LakeBurnt TreesMutated AnimalsLittle light; land is barrenNo ColourRoads overgrownThe planet seems to have

been destroyed

Question 3: Describe the SETTING

Movie Still

STILL FROM THE MOVIE. NOTE THE SETTING, THE ROAD, THE CART, THE MAN AND THE BOY.

IS THIS HOW YOU PICTURED IT WHEN READING?

Movie Still 2

HOW ABOUT LIKE THIS? DO THEY LOOK HOW YOU IMAGINED?

Question 4

Look east for the light everyday because that’s the sunrise

There wasn’t a sunrise, because sun dampened out by ash in air

Light is often symbolic of knowledge, society, civilization, hope and goodness

None of these things are left. He describes the land as “godless”

Question 5

Things have taken place a while ago

Gas station gasoline only has a faint odor, station has already been rifled through by others, condition of roof, floor, etc.

The fact that the water is marking time in years as it drips into flues long abandoned (clock analogy)

The fact that they wouldn’t survive another winter

The overgrown nature of the roads

Hadn’t kept a calendar in years

No trace of civilization, few people, abandoned road works, everything abandoned

Question 6

The shopping cart is what they use to carry all of their life’s possessions.

Little food

Tarp for sleeping

The boy’s book

Lamp, oil

Extra blankets and clothes

Question 7

The mask is to keep the ash out of the boy’s lungs

After nuclear winter, ash in the air would get in your lungs and cause cancer or “black lung”

Question 8

The country now seems to be “godless”

Civilization has broken down

With so little supplies left to forage for, perhaps others may steal what you have

The man carries a gun for protection so obviously they fear others. Also, they are worried if they can be seen from the road. Mirror on their cart to see behind them.

The knapsacks they could run away with if they have to

Question 9

They forage; like at the gas station

They probably search abandoned buildings for anything they can use for food, shelter, clothing, etc.

The fact that they have so little is a good indication that they would “not survive another winter here”

Question 10

Feeling of Nostalgia

Feeling of Normalcy

Time gone by

Habit

Long for the past; life long lost

Of course he didn’t expect an answers, but perhaps he was hoping it was all a dream

Question 11

The father can do so little for his child that this small act is one of tenderness

He was probably read to as a child out of love, and so he longs to do the same thing

He is trying to show the boy that he loves him, and show him that everything is okay

It is also routine. It established a comfort level especially for a child. By reading, he is establishing a norm for his boy.

Question 11

In this scene, the man tries to comfort the boy, and keep him warm.

Question 12

The boy was probably scared

Imagine the dark in a world where civilization is gone. “Pitch Black.”

The father did this to shield his some from the tough realities that they probably face everyday

Father did it to protect his son

Other Topics to Discuss

When he awoke during the night, he always touched his son… why? Probably to reassure himself that the boy was still alive

For the man, the boy was his “warrant” his “word of God.” What does this mean? His sole take left was to ensure safety of his son. The

only holy thing he had left was his son. Each “the other’s world entire.”

They travel the road, but always watch the road ahead and behind for danger. What is “the road?” The road is often symbolic in poetry and literature of life,

choices, the journey of life