Combo with "The Road by Cormac McCarthy Character Guide" and 1 other
1) "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" (168). What is Ely talking about?
He is talking about the people who believed in the apocalypse and prepared for it. He claims that preparation was not going to help anyone because tomorrow couldn't be predicted.
1) What evidence is there that the boy is feeling hopeful about their journey?
He knew the names of towns and rivers by heart and he measured their progress daily. He wonders about the ships. Hopes for another father and little boy sitting on the beach carrying the fire.
4) Why does the father let the son play in the surf?
He knows the son has been wanting to see the ocean all of his life. He allows his son to remain innocent and play, trying to rekindle their relationship.
Do you think the disaster was truly worldwide, or might it have been confined to just the one continent? Why? What evidence is there that everything has been destroyed?
I believe it was truly worldwide. People would probably come to help if it was only in one country. There is also no other sign of life or migration.
What does the father find in the barn? Outside of the barn? Why is this significant and what do these items indicate about the setting?
Inside, he finds bales of hay, seeds, grape flavored powder, basket full of masonjars, a drainpipe, a trellis, a broom, . When he goes outside he finds apples and fresh water. These items are significant because they each resemble a possibility of life.
) Explain what this idiom means: "Beggars cant be choosers" (169).
It means that if one is begging for something, they clearly aren't able to chose want they want.
Why does McCarthy continue to avoid specifying where the protagonists are?
Maybe because the protagonists don't even know where they are. It also allows every reader to relate by imagining the setting anywhere.
8) Do you think the old man is as old as he says? Explain your response.
No, he lies about his name. He does not seem to trust others so, I don't believe he is telling the man and the boy his exact age.
What do you think the boy represents?
The boy has the potential of representing a god.
Why do you think the boy cries afterward?
The boy maybe cries because he was cold, and it wasn't as good as he expected. He maybe knew that his father was dying and that the world was falling apart.
3) What does the boy say he threw away? Why do you think he did that?
The boy threw away the flute his father made him. I believe that this symbolizes the maturation and transformation the boy goes through as he becomes less innocent.
1) Locate two examples of foreshadowing in this section. Predict the next developments in the plot.
The boy's dream/ the man's coughing- His father dies
What has happened to, or where are, the crows? What does their disappearance suggest?
The crows have died due to the apocalyptic accident. Their disappearance suggests that the man and the boy are not traveling in a straight line.
The father has already made reference to his son being a god. What does he mean by that?
The father is clearly a religious person, and he believes that his son can make a difference in the post-apocalyptic world.
) What does the father want the old man to tell him? Why?
The father wants Ely to tell him where the world went. He believes that the old man may know the reason for the apocalypse, or where everyone had gone.
What does the father say when he and his son enter the hidden cellar
"oh my god"
In the movie:
-more flashbacks -mother walks away from husband and son -hope of renewal of the planet in a beetle flew from a can of chewing tobacco -clean water not shown -They were able to take so much food that they were able to leave a can for a robber. -more out in the open -not in movie, too harsh?
In the book:
-only few flashbacks -mother commits suicide -Hope of renewal of the planet can be taken from a fish swimming in a stream -they found clean water in a house that helped them survive longer -boy and father had lost their shopping cart and were therefore only able to take the food they could carry. They in fact ran out before reaching the coast. -The fear of being seen was more clearly portrayed. - The boy and father follow a group of two men and a pregnant woman to see if they are safe. The women gives birth - however, in the morning, the charred remains of the baby are found. The group ate the baby, rather than finding food for yet another mouth.
How many bullets does the man have in his gun at the beginning of the story?
2
After the father and son run from the nice looking house and hide, how many people do they see walking towards the house? (from 21-25)
6
"If they saw different worlds what they knew was the same" (180). Compare how the man sees the world with how the boy sees it. What might it be like to never know about the world as it is now - to grow up in ruins and ash?
Boy- Grew up in the post apocalyptic world. - motivated, innocent Man- Knows both the old world and the new world. - depressing, loss hope.
4) What are the boy and the man's "new world standards" (161) for cleanliness?
Cleanliness is not even relevant within the "new world standards." But, when the meet Ely they realize he smells extremely bad. This could be due to his old age as well as the types of climate he has traveled through.
What does Ely mean when he says, "There is no God and we are his prophets?" (170).
Ely believes that God is only present when the world is. But since much of the world is gone, the only part of him left are his prophets.
4) Why doesn't the old man tell them his real name?
The old man has trouble trusting others.
2) Describe what they find when they arrive at the beach.
The ship is named Pajaro de Esperanza, or Bird of Hope, and hails from Tenerife, a Spanish island. The boat has not been ransacked, and while the sea apparently has destroyed most of its contents, it turns out that much remains. The man is able to retrieve some clothes for himself and the boy. He also recovers a toolbox, a bottle of gas, and a sextant, which "was the first thing he'd seen in a long time that stirred him" (192).
2) Why do you think they have not yet seen the sun?
The sky is covered in ash and the atmosphere is extremely polluted.
Suggest reasons for the new distance the father senses between himself and his son.
The son becomes more independent as the father becomes weaker.
) Explain why the wind off the water does not smell like the sea.
The wind smelt like Iodine, due to radiation or nuclear contact?
Why do you think the boy gives some food to Ely, though Ely admits he would not do the same?
They boy is not afraid of others. He wants to help people and knows Ely is obviously struggling.
What do they do when they arrive? Why?
They sat on the beach, staring at the ocean. Then, the boy ran into the ocean, cold and naked. I think the boy did this to experience the ocean and "wake himself up." It gave him a sense of real life.
6) For what reason do they stop for the night with the old man?
They stop with the old man because they boy wants to. They realize he is weak, and the father seems curious about the experiences the man had been through.
5) When the old man asks what the man and the boy are, explain the reason why they cannot answer.
Well, the man and boy know they are not robbers or cannibals, but they do not know how to explain themselves. They know they are the "good" guys. But, what are the good guys? Who are they? They view themselves as survivors and travelers, but those are the standards. Everyone who is alive is traveling to remain as survivors. They have a lack of identity and cannot identify themselves.
What do the father and son do the morning after the father finds the house and barn?
Wrap themselves in blankets, eat apples, and drink the water.
After the father finds his son, who had wandered off while he was asleep, what does the son tell the father he has found?
a train
A few days after meeting the thief, the father and son are walking through a town -- what does someone shoot at the father's leg?
an arrow
After exploring the house the father heads back outside -- what does he find?
apples
What does the father wash out of the son's hair?
blood
What type of vehicle is the road group using who surprise the father and boy?
diesel truck
Finish the line: "Borrowed time and borrowed world with borrowed ____ with which to sorrow it."
eyes
The father carries his son across a field, but he has to stop every _____ steps. (from 21-25)
fifty
Along the road, the father and son spy a group of people climbing out of a truck -- what are the people wearing? (from 11-15)
gas masks
After leaving the nice house, the father and son come to a gas station -- what do they find there?
gasoline
What flavor of drink powder did the man find?
grape
After the father's leg is injured, what does he do in retaliation?
he shoots a flare
The father and son come to a stone wall -- what is hanging from the wall?
human heads
What do the man and boy find roasting on a spit at a camp?
infant
What is attached to the shopping cart that allows the man to look behind him?
motorcycle mirror
What does the wife use to commit suicide?
obsidian flake-medical blade
Ely
only named character, Ely isn't real name, represents Elijah the prophet,
After the confrontation with the man who found their hiding spot, where do the father and son stay for the night
out of sight in the woods
What does the boy accidentally leave on the beach?
pistol
What does the son find in his pocket that the father and son share?
raisins
After setting up camp, the father wakes up and the son is gone; after looking for him, what does the father see the son doing?
rushing across the field
What two supply items does the man worry about the most?
shoes and food
Thief
steals the man and boys belongings, man makes him strip and leave, boy wants to help him
After leaving the hidden cellar and stopping for the night, the son asks the father a question -- how does the father answer? (from 26-30)
the father ask where he has heard such a term (asked about their long-term goals)
It starts raining and storming on the beach -- how do the father and son find their campsite? (from 41-End)
the father hears the rain falling on the tarp
What does the father do when one of the men they are spying on walks toward their hiding place? (from 11-15)
the father pulls out a gun
What happens to the son when the man reaches their hiding spot?
the man gives the son a drink of water
After leaving the gas station, what do the men that stop the father and son want?
the men ask what they have in their cart
After the father and son hide from the people walking towards the nice house, why does the father give the son a gun? (from 21-25)
to kill himself if the people find him
Blood Gang Members
trying to kill everyone, cannibals, the man and the boy are afraid of them
The Man
unnamed, boy's father, one of the good guys, believes son is G-d
The Boy
unnamed, light in father's life, the messiah
The Woman
unnamed, the boy's mother and man's wife, commits suicide at beginning
