Reading Questions part 4-6

McCarthy compares the open hatchway to a grave - what might be his reasons for doing this? What might it - the shelter - represent?

Although the hatchway meant incredible respite for the boy and man, it was a dead end. They were trapped beneath the ground with no light. They could stay for a while but could not stay there indefinitely. If they stayed, they would die there.

Explain the meaning of the phrase, "[W]eʼre carrying the fire." (83)

Carrying the fore meant that in the cold and wet climate, they had a way to warm themselves. Carryng the fire was as important as carrying protection. Fire afforded them an added protection against the elements.

Why do they agree not to kill the dog?

Dogs were few..... and the dog had most likely been someone's pet. The dog was a remembrance of civilization..... it needed to live.

Explain the reasons for bathing and cutting oneʼs hair - why does it matter in a post-apocalyptic world?

For once the boy and man find respite. They are in a safe place at the time and had plenty to eat. They wanted to feel like people again so they washed the grime off that symbolised the hell they had gone through. The man shaved and they cut their hair. At least for a awhile, they felt like people again.

According to the father, what do the good guys do? Why does he say this?

Good guys help other people. Good guys, like the people who owned the bunker, offer respite to other good people.

When the old man asks what the man and the boy are, explain the reason why they cannot answer.

I don't really think they know who they are. There is no context in the world for them anymore. They simply exist until the next day. There is no sense of purpose or meaning to life anymore. The man just wants to keep the boy alive as long as he can.

What kind of global disaster would require the mass removal and burning of bodies?

It is hinted that there was a nuclear war. Images of a nuclear winter are included as well as the masses of burning bodies indicate a nuclear attack.

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.

"All these things he saw and did not see." (109) What does this mean?

Walking into house they looked for signs of danger but failed to see the signs of life that had once lived within those walls.

Do you think the son actually saw another boy, or did he imagine it? Why?

I think he saw another boy. The character of the boy is not the type of child to imagine things. His sense of innocence and fantasy has been eroded because of his intensely harsh circumstances.

When the father and son have conversations, the boy frequently ends their talk by saying "Okay." Does that mean that he believes what his father tells him? What else might it mean?

I think it is just the constant validation that comforts the boy. Perhaps the boy does not believe that things will be "okay" but the constant reinforcement is what he is looking for.

Why do you think they have not yet seen the sun?

I think that, perhaps, the fallout from the nuclear explosions were hiding the sun.

Does the boy believe that they will live? How do you know?

I'm not sure. I believe the boy feels the impending doom of death, but he asks his father point blank, and his father tells him they will not die. I believe the boy would have taken his father at his word..... they have honesty between them.... and their honesty cannot be broken.

If the bad guys are on the move, why is it not a good sign for the man and the boy?

If the "bad" guys are on the move' they're looking for something... likely food. Cannibalism was widely practiced and the man and the boy remnants left behind. Discovery could mean slavery... or it might mean being served for dinner

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.

"Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it." (130) What does this mean?

Really, they should all be dead. All that remains of the gasping world are the remnants of human depravity and desperation. The man and the boy are living on borrowed time. Everything they do and experience is on time that has basically run out. They live on the fumes of a world that has died.

Why is it important for the father that his son keep talking? What is wrong with not talking? Explain what it means about the boyʼs character.

Talking kept the boy aware, awake, distracted, and engaged. They needed to keep moving, and bitter cold is known to put one to sleep when exposed too long.

Explain the manʼs reasons for only taking one grocery cart.

That is all they have the energy to push. Both the man and the boy are sick. Also, having two grocery carts makes them a bigger target for thieves.

What are the boy and the manʼs "new world standards" (161) for cleanliness?

The "new world standards" would have been to clean-up and dry off. It was too cold to bathe, and things like soap and shampoo were impossible to find.

What has happened to, or where are, the crows? What does their disappearance suggest?

The boy and man have a conversation about crows. There are none to be seen. This is perhaps a sign that nature has been irrecoverably destroyed by the apocalypse. We can guess there are lethal amounts of radiation in the air from, perhaps, an atom bomb.

Why does the boy ask about their long term goals, at this point in the story?

The boy is tired of travelling. He is thinking of an end game, even if it means death.

Why does the boy wish that the other little boy was with them?

The boy longs for innocence in the world. He hopes the boy might still retain goodness that has been killed in the world. He also feels badly that a child might be alone.

What does the boy say he threw away? Why do you think he did that?

The boy threw away his flute. It is a sign that he was loosing hope and ceased to believe in a better future.

What does the boy do before eating? Why? To what other, traditional act is this similar?

The boy wants to thank whoever left behind all of this food, but he thinks he does not know how. "Yes you do. You know how to say thank you" (123). Finally, the boy offers a kind of prayer: "Dear people, thank you for all this food and stuff ... We're sorry that you didn't get to eat it and we hope that you're safe in heaven with God" (123). This is similar to the tradition of giving thanks before a meal.

Explain the boyʼs reaction to the truth about the people in the cellar.

The boy was sick and horrified. He is an empathetic boy to begin with. He cried and the father had to keep his son quiet until they could get away into the woods.

How realistic is this section- do you think a find like this would really be possible? Why? For what reason does McCarthy include this solution to their starvation?

The bunker is an oasis in Hell. Most readers have lost all hope that anything good will happen for the boy and the man. I think plausible looses its meaning when there is no future. The bunker changes nothing about the world in its last gasps of life. The bunker is there and it offers some respite and dignity for the father and son: that is enough for most readers to accept.

Why does the man take the flower seeds?

The man doesn't even know why he has taken the seeds..... possibly in hopes that someday he might plant them..... maybe to use someday for food.

What was the fatherʼs mistake in approaching the house?

The father fails to realize that although the house looks desserted, a box near the road allows people to watch for those like himself approaching the house, so that they can warn the others of the newcomers' arrival. The newcomers are then trapped in the padlocked room and kept for food for the cannibals.

When the father reassures his son - "They wont (sic) find us." (148) - why does he say this? Is he telling the truth?

The father is trying to console his terrified son. He does not know if the cannibals will find them but the father wants to reassure his son. His son is terrified and the father wants to ease his fears.

Why doesnʼt the father go back to search for the other boy?

The father knows that the boy is not alone, that there is another group of questionable size hiding.

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.

Why is the boy afraid of empty houses?

The houses reflect the emptiness of the world. The boy clings to the traditional idea of mirth and family in houses. Empty houses remind him that the world is dying and depravity is all that is left.

How does the father know that the town has been empty for a long time?

The letters on the signs had been faded for many years.

What do they find buried in the yard?

The man and the boy find the door to a bunker buried under the ground.

Why donʼt they stay in the shelter?

The man and the boy only stay in the bunker a few days because it is dangerous to stay any longer. They do not want to be tracked by the bad men, so they give themselves enough time to rest, eat well, and regain some of their strength. Then, they get back on the road.

How does the man keep them going when the boy cannot walk anymore?

The man carries the boy.

"Is there such a being within you of which you know nothing?" (114) Explain the meaning of this quote.

The man laments the idea of not being able to shoot and kill his son when the time comes. He questions his gun,"What if it doesn't fire?" He wonders if he has the stuff in him to bash his son's skull in with a rock. If he is to show mercy to his son, he might have to do that.

Describe what they do after getting away. Suggest at least one reason for the lack of action. Is this part anticlimactic? Why?

The man pretty much carries the emotionally and physically exhausted boy. The man struggles to put distance between the horrid house and themselves. Leaving the previous house was the man's main priority. As well, there was nowhere to run to until they actually saw the farm.

Why is the man concerned about his coughing?

The man was constantly trying to stiffly his coughing so that no one would hear them. He was afraid that his coughing would put them in danger.

Explain how McCarthy uses suspense and creates foreboding on page 105-106, with regard to the mansion.

The mansion is strangely intact which, in this setting, is kind of creepy. The boy also pleads not to go. If there is anything of value in this place, there are probably scary people guarding it. The emptiness of the place becomes and extension of the emptiness of the world yet still there is the possibility of danger yet unseen.

How is the next house different? Why is there no menace or foreboding with the abandoned farm?

The next place was a farm. Although the place seems empty, it is not as menacing. They can see more; there are not hidden rooms where horrible things wait for them. There were bails of hey and seed laying around which the man thinks must contain some nutrition.

Why do you think the original owners did not use it?

The original owners weren't able to use it because they had died.

List the supplies that they find. Why do you think there is no gun?

The people probably had the gun and died before they could get into their shelter. There were kitchen utensils, canned food, cartons of pears, water, ammunition, coffee, ham , biscuits, whisky.....

Suggest reasons for the physical appearance of the armed group of men and women. What is the purpose of the red scarves?

The people wore clothes of every description, all ragged and tattered. Many had makeshift weapons. To the man and boy, the red scarves symbolize the "bad guys."

How do they escape?

They escaped by walking through the woods by the dim light of the moon. The father hoped that they weren't circling without direction.

When they stop by the orchard, what does the man see that he has seen before? Why is it significant?

They find an orchard with "a frieze of human heads, all faced alike, dried and caved with their taut grins and shrunken eyes" (76). This discovery alerts the father to the presence and act of cannibalism, it signifies great danger.

Why doesnʼt the man help the people in the cellar?

This is such a disturbing scene. Really there is not anything the man can do without rendering himself and his boy in the same cellar. He also refuses to expose his boy to any more depravity than he has to.

Why does the father have to explain what to do with the butter and the biscuits?

This is when they find the underground bunker with all the stores of food and clothing. Some of the food, the boy had never experienced. It is implied that much of the boy's life was lived post-apocalypse. Fresh butter and biscuits, as well as the can of Coke from earlier, were items that were hard to get during the boy's short life. This is why the father had to explain to the boy what to do.

"Heʼd had this feeling before, beyond the numbness and the dull despair. The world shrinking down about a raw core of parsible entities. The names of things slowly following those things into oblivion. Colors. The names of birds. Things to eat. Finally the names of things one believed to be true. More fragile than he would have thought. How much was gone already? The sacred idiom shorn of its referents and so of its reality." (89) What does this mean?

This quote is all about the fragility of memory and things of the past. It also speaks to the importance of human language..... the loss of the meaning of words. In a world where everything disappears..... what happens if the miracle of language disappears with it?

What happens at night in the house?

Upon awakening, the boy finally enjoys a proper meal of coffee, ham, and biscuits. The boy wants to thank whoever left behind all of this food, but he thinks he does not know how. "Yes you do. You know how to say thank you" (123). Finally, the boy offers a kind of prayer: "Dear people, thank you for all this food and stuff ... We're sorry that you didn't get to eat it and we hope that you're safe in heaven with God" (123).

What is the significance of the old Man's name?

Various clues point to the conclusion that the character of Ely, the only named figure in The Road (though he claims this is not his true name), is an allusion to Elijah the prophet. In biblical references, Elijah signifies the coming of the Messiah, the savior who will bring people out of their suffering. In the novel, this figure could be the boy, although Ely denies that the boy could be a god. Maybe Ely chose the name because of its similarity to "Elijah."

Do you think the detailed descriptions of physical setting are necessary for this story? Why?

We need to see our world within the context of death and decay. It is an alien-like world that man has created by his own doing. We are not completely sure why the apocalypse took place, it is hinted a nuclear war happened, but the man has rendered his plane into an unrecognizable death zone.

Why does the father tell his son, "...sometimes I might forget to be on the lookout?" (151) Explain the meaning of the manʼs dream, on page 154-155.

the boy has a bad dream and wakes up his father. He has dreamt that he was crying and the man would not wake up. The man misunderstands and thinks his son is speaking of the present. The man and the child have a conversation about whether his son believes what he says

Describe the fatherʼs strategy after he believes they might be followed. Why is this important?

the father kicked snow over the fire and left a maze of tracks to cover their steps. Then they headed in the opposite direction (north) without getting back on the road. They hurried, leaving a mze of tracks and then they set out back north throuhh the woods keeping the road in view.