1. The Road By: Cormac McCarthy
Unit 2: Novel Study
The Road
By: Cormac McCarthy

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

9. 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

10. 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

11. Question 3: Describe the SETTING
123 English Period 1
Ms. Williams Description
No Light (Nuclear Winter)
Destroyed City
Abandoned City
Dead Lake
Burnt Trees
Mutated Animals
Little light; land is barren
No Colour
Roads overgrown
The planet seems to have been destroyed

12. 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

13. HOW ABOUT LIKE THIS? DO THEY LOOK HOW YOU IMAGINED?
Movie Still 2

14. 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”

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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”

18. 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

19. 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”

20. 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

21. 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.

22. In this scene, the man tries to comfort the boy, and keep him warm.
Question 11

23. 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

24. 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