How Does Mccarthy Use Language In The Road

McCarthy uses language in the road to stir readers emotions. The Road is a story of a father and son fighting to survive in a post apocalyptic world where the basics of humanity have disappeared. The writing is fragmented, sparse and, from the beginning, reflects the barren and bleak landscape through which the father and Son are traveling. McCarthy abandons quotation marks in dialogue, he dispenses minimal punctuation. His toying with the rules of grammar and punctuation in effect emphasises the loss of structure. He leaves the father and son unnamed. His language crafting choice explore the case of identity in a world that is broken down.

The limited punctuation McCarthy uses in the road is used purposefully, this language feature shows
This language feature shows how identity no longer exists in the world they are in, an example of this is how the father discards his wallet with the photo of his wife, shown by the quote “sat holding the photograph. Then he laid it down in the road also and then he stood and they went on.” How he throws this symbol of identity away without a second thought confuses the reader, showing that symbols of identity have no place in their world. Ely the man the father and one meet on the road also enforces this idea when he says “I couldn't trust you with it. To do something with it. I don’t want anybody talking about me… I think in times like these the less said the better.”. Elys refusal of giving his real name not only shows that names have no place, but that there is a fear of true identity. Identity is such a vital part of the society in our world, we greet each other with names, we go to the store and clipped to the cashiers shirt is their name. What would we do if nobody had names? How would we engage with one another? This idea is challenging for the reader to comprehend. McCarthy uses this language feature to draw attention to the basics which we take for granted, like identity, but what if identity wasn't a