Dialectic Journal The Road
Dialectical Journal Entry #1
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Quotation:
“Look at me, the man said.
He turned and looked. He looked like he’d been crying.
Just tell me.
We wouldn’t ever eat anybody, would we?
No. Of course not.
Even if we were starving?
We’re starving now.
You said we weren’t.
I said we weren’t dying. I didn’t say we weren’t starving.
But we wouldn’t.
No. We wouldn’t.
No matter what.
No. No matter what.
Because we’re the good guys.
Yes.
And we’re carrying the fire.
And we’re carrying the fire. Yes.
Okay” (128-129).
Response:
(E) The motif of the entire novel revolves around fire. Fire is used as a literal object as well as a symbol for hope and goodness. The man in The Road tries as hard as he can to make sure his son is both good and hopeful in order to prepare him for a life without the man. “Carrying the fire” is used in the book to demonstrate that no matter how hungry, powerless, or tired the boy and man are, they will always be the “good guys” and never be like the bandits who rape, kill, and succumb to the pressers of hunger by converting to cannibalism. (R) In ancient Greek
Mythology, Prometheus gives fire to the humans to help them survive a harsh world. This relates to this novel, for the man literally provides fire for his son in order to survive as well as giving him survival skills, hope, life, and most importantly in the book, morals.
Dialectical Journal Entry #2
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Quotation:
“He walked down to the end of the loft and looked out the high gable window at the country below, the pieced land dead and gray, and the fence, the road” (118).
Response:
(S) McCarthy uses dark and somber imagery in order for the reader to pick up on a sad and depressing mental picture of this world. This type of bleakness also adds to the suspense as well as giving the reader a sense of foreshadowing. The quote being separated profusely with commas makes the road seem more
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Quotation:
“Look at me, the man said.
He turned and looked. He looked like he’d been crying.
Just tell me.
We wouldn’t ever eat anybody, would we?
No. Of course not.
Even if we were starving?
We’re starving now.
You said we weren’t.
I said we weren’t dying. I didn’t say we weren’t starving.
But we wouldn’t.
No. We wouldn’t.
No matter what.
No. No matter what.
Because we’re the good guys.
Yes.
And we’re carrying the fire.
And we’re carrying the fire. Yes.
Okay” (128-129).
Response:
(E) The motif of the entire novel revolves around fire. Fire is used as a literal object as well as a symbol for hope and goodness. The man in The Road tries as hard as he can to make sure his son is both good and hopeful in order to prepare him for a life without the man. “Carrying the fire” is used in the book to demonstrate that no matter how hungry, powerless, or tired the boy and man are, they will always be the “good guys” and never be like the bandits who rape, kill, and succumb to the pressers of hunger by converting to cannibalism. (R) In ancient Greek
Mythology, Prometheus gives fire to the humans to help them survive a harsh world. This relates to this novel, for the man literally provides fire for his son in order to survive as well as giving him survival skills, hope, life, and most importantly in the book, morals.
Dialectical Journal Entry #2
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Quotation:
“He walked down to the end of the loft and looked out the high gable window at the country below, the pieced land dead and gray, and the fence, the road” (118).
Response:
(S) McCarthy uses dark and somber imagery in order for the reader to pick up on a sad and depressing mental picture of this world. This type of bleakness also adds to the suspense as well as giving the reader a sense of foreshadowing. The quote being separated profusely with commas makes the road seem more