McCarthy's Limited Palette

Statement	Example
The limited linguistic palette and repetitive techniques echo the monotony of the post-apocalyptic world that is described.	‘Long gray dawns, the long gray dusks’ shows a sense of monotony and the lack of change across the day. McCarthy also lists methodical processes and repeats ‘and’ to show the almost ritualistic process that is continually repeated.
The pared down language of the narrative reflects the pared down life the characters have to live – essentials only.	This is show through the listing of essential items ‘Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned ham. Corned beef.’ Food is marked out throughout the book as essential and they are often lacking in. The language is also like this as it can sometimes be very technical, ‘glaucoma’ and other times be very simplistic.
The limited palette makes the story more universal, a fable for all time, rather than pinning it down with lots of elaborate details describing specific places	McCarthy never gives the novel a specific time period and only mentions certain events before the apocalypse allowing it to have the fable quality. If it wasn’t for the mention of the ‘state roads’ on the map and the references to American culture it would be hard to place the story in any recognisable country. This is because it is irrelevant how they got there the focus is primarily on where the man and the boy go next.
There’s something rather dulling about the style that makes it hard to read and difficult to distinguish one part of the book from the next. All the events seem to merge together	McCarthy hasn’t used chapters to separate the different events in the book and the repetition of the movements make it hard to mark out certain actions. This also shows the continuous journey along the road and how everything merges together.

2. McCarthy also uses very poetic language, such as 'pilgrams in a fable', 'gunmetal light', 'each the other's world entire, 'ashes of a late world... if only my heart were stone'. These illustrate key motif's surrounding the characters and the world and are fairly cryptic.

How does Browning tell the story in the Laboratory (21 marks)

In an apothecary a women is paying for a poison to kill a woman who she believes has ‘ensnared’ a man that she likes. She appears obsessed with their beauty in comparison with herself and fantasises death as she watches the apothecary make the potion.

The voice used is very specific to the dramatic monologue form. The character is the only speaker but responds to the reactions of an implied auditor, in this case the apothecary. While the implied auditor never speaks the reaction is implied through the use of a dash and a response from the woman, ‘- I am not in haste’. This adds to the enjambment to allow the speech to resemble a natural rhythm however underneath the hidden iambic pentameter controls the mimics the background sound of the apothecary’s pester and mortar. As the woman appears to get more excited as she imagines the deaths of the other woman the pace of the monologue increases to emphasis the character’s psychotic nature.

Browning has characterised the woman as being an obsessive, insecure and psychotic. These traits are evident when she is case building against killing the woman. Her obsession stems from the man mentioned in the story; ‘He is with her’ and she appears jealous of the woman who has ‘ensnared him.’ However she is also obsessed with beauty, first with the things around her such as the ‘soft phial’ and the ‘exquisite blue’ then her insecurities appear through the comparison of her to the other woman as ‘she is no minion like me’ and ‘her head and her breast and her arms and her hands’. The continual uses of ‘and’ are typical of case-building but could also be obsessive thinking. Her psychotic nature can be inferred through her romantic views of death and the lack of remorse she shows even though she is planning to kill. She relates ‘pure death’ as an ‘invisible pleasure’ we she can carry with her and although she imagines her ‘shrivelled’ she even tells the apothecary  to not ‘spare her the pain’ and to leave ‘proof’ and scars which suggests a very violent character. The only remorse she appears to feel is in self-preservation, ‘besides, can it ever hurt me?’ and it can be inferred from this that she is an immoral person.

The setting emphasises the sin the character is committing, or going to commit, as it is described as a ‘devil’s smithy’ which refers to the Christian attitudes of the time and shows commitment the woman has made. This is also shown through the way she romanticises the setting through the mysterious ‘smokes curling whitely’, ‘treasures’ and ‘soft phial’ which reflects her views on death being an ‘invisible pleasure.’ There are many colours also mentioned, ‘whitely’, ‘gold oozings’ and ‘exquisite blue’, which suggest a rich and seductive atmosphere. 

The Roadrat

 

What element of foreshadowing is employed in this section and why?	The boy’s toy truck foreshadows the coming of the men and their truck. “The truck tooled along slowly.” This directly mimics the movement of the truck that appears and the inevitability of its appearance. Structurally in the novel these are the first other people met and they pose a large threat to the man and the boy, this helps to create tension and suspense.
What does the description of the men teach us about them?	The appearance of the men is very menacing and implies that they are a threat to the man and the boy. They are dressed in “canister masks” and one in a “biohazard suit” which both looks threatening but is another suggestion that there is something wrong with the air. This is brought up as they are “coughing” just like the man. The equipment appears to be very specialist however the weapons; “clubs in their hands, lengths of pipe” shows they are not completely equipped. The description of the men “shuffling” and “casting their hooded heads from side to side” is similar to the creature dreamt of at the start that “swung its head from side to side” making the men look like animals.
McCarthy describes the truck as “Lumbering and creaking like a ship.” Why?	The ship could be reference to Noah’s Ark however instead of being a symbol of salvation it is a threat to the man and the boy. It also shows how disjointed this world is, the ship on the road doesn’t fit and neither do the men.
Why does McCarthy describe the Road Rat in such detail	The description fits into the low culture reference in the book and is over the top in some instances such as the “blood bubbling from the hole.” It could also be interpreted as mimicking the man’s reaction to the threat as he watches the Road rat. The Road rat is a significant character, being the first person the man and boy have met face to face in the story.

Why is the Road Rat’s character so explicit whilst the man is so implicit?

The free indirect speech used in this section as the man takes control of the situation. The man therefore is more explicit about what he is seeing and not focusing on himself.

What do we learn about the man through his exchanges with the Road Rat?

An enigma surrounding the man’s past is formed as he shoot the man. Prior to this he talks about the impact of a bullet on the man’s brain so that ‘they’ll just be soup’. This is very detailed and while the man doesn’t confirm that he’s a doctor it does suggest that he had a specialised job. The way he shoot also suggests this as he manages to hit the man in the head, and missing his son, while turning which suggests training.

“A single round left in the revolver. You will not face the truth. You will not” Who is the man echoing here? How do you believe these words are uttered?

The woman is echoed here as she earlier said ‘you wont face it.’ And ‘you have two bullets left.’ The idea that the bullets were to protect them and also to kill them along with the woman’s voice shows here the temptation of death. The words appear to be said in a tone of disgust and anger towards the man.

Why don’t the other men chase after the boy and the man following the shooting

Later in the story the man and boy find the remains of the roadrat, ‘the bones and the skin’ that show the cannibalism that the group have resorted to. This is one reason why the men didn’t chase the man and boy. However the group would have not known that the man and boy only had a pistol and may not have chased in fear of being shot themselves especially seeing as they were only armed with clubs and pipes.

It is not until page 77 that the man finally cleans the “gore” and “dead mans brains” from the boy’s face. Why?

In the world the novel is set in being clean is not a priority. Instead the man focuses on food and warmth and makes sure that they are secure before he washes the boy.

Write about the ways Browning tells the story in ‘My Last Duchess.’ 21 marks

Write about the ways Browning tells the story in ‘My Last Duchess.’ 21 marks

My Last Duchess involves the Duke of Ferrara recounting memories of his last wife and her perceived flaws. He is showing her covered portrait to a servant who is there to arrange his next marriage.

The Duke is characterised through his obsession with power and beauty. His obsession with beauty is depicted through the art work that he is surrounded by and the many references to the physical appearance of the Duchess such as the ‘half-flush that dies along her throat. However this could also be interpreted as a confession to killing her, although this isn’t confirmed in the poem the Duke says several other confusing lines; ‘looking as if she were alive,’ ‘I gave commands,’ and case builds. The obsession with power comes across when he believes she is being disrespectful to him and calls on his ‘nine-hundred-years-old name’ and when he is angry he doesn’t talk to her about it because he would see that as her ‘stooping’ instead he ‘gives commands’ to stop her smiling at others. The Duchess however is characterised in her portrait, the idea that she is ‘looking as if she were alive’ could be a reference to her beauty but could also related to the way the Duke describes that ‘she liked whate’er she looked on’ which is why he has to keep her behind ‘the curtain’ and hide the picture. This connects back to the Duke’s obsession with controlling her by painting her ‘on the wall’ but he can’t stop her ‘looking’ and so has to cover it up.

Browning’s use of voice, typical of a dramatic monologue, focuses on the Duke and could be reflective of his power and status. While the Duke suggests that he has no ‘skill in speech’ he is the only voice and the language, aimed to mimic natural speech, points to a relaxed and confident character. The Duke is made more powerful through his voice as he is dominant over the implied auditor, in this case a lower class servant who does not speak. The punctuation and use of enjambment quickens the pace of the voice to imply a growing anger towards his wife and to allow the Duke to case build which is another technique used in dramatic monologues.

The subtitle of the dramatic monologue; ‘Ferrara’ shows that the poem is set in Italy. This is significant to Browning as the Victorians were obsessed with foreign places. There is however representations of Victorian collectivist behaviours in the Duke who has surrounded himself with artwork from famous artists. The idea that the Duchess is ‘painted on the wall’ was one of the ways that the Duke tried to control her and the statue of ‘Neptune… Taming a sea-horse’ also connects to the obsession of power and control.

Post- Apocalypse

The Road's Post-Apocalyptic setting is typical of many others post- apocalypse novels.

Protected bastions of humanity in a sea of inhospitable waste or wilderness or danger, such as enclosed cities, underground caverns, and bunkers	The man and boy find themselves alone in the wildness constantly hiding from the dangers presented by other humans. The cities are said to have been taken over by scavengers and too dangerous to venture into yet there are bunkers (p. 146) preserved that suggests that people were preparing for this eventuality even if many have not survived.
Marauding gangs of bandits	P. 96 ‘An army in tennis shoes’ force the man and boy into hiding where they notice the weapons, ‘three foot lengths of pipe with leather wrapping’ and the slaves, ‘slaves in harnesses and piled with goods… women’ and a ‘consort of catamites.’ The boy asks if they are the ‘bad guys’ and the man confirms it.
‘Apocalypse’ derives from the Greek word for ‘revelation’	The characters go through many revelations in the book however for the reader very little is revealed. For the man he realises to let go of the past when he is forced to leave the pictures of his wife on the road, he also realizes that he needs to distance himself from the boy. The boy is a revelation in himself as he refers to himself as ‘the one’ which suggests a saviour like role which creates a sense of hope, he also brings a moral message as he tries to help all of the travellers they see.
Fall of civilization	Through the man’s flashbacks there is a sense of a civilisation and of a world before the one the book is set in. This suggests that in some way that civilisation has fallen and has been replaced with this new world. The man hears ‘low concussions in the distance’ and when the woman gives birth to the boy the ‘cities burn.’
Mythologizing of the past	The past is rarely mentioned in this novel that focuses on minute by minute survival. The few mentions of the past are done so through the man’s eyes with flashbacks and memories as well as his actions. In some ways the past is mythicized by this vagueness however to the man it is still alive and part of him, shown when he rings his father’s number even though the phone wouldn’t work. To the boy there is no past as all he has ever known is this world and any stories from before would all be legends to him.
The thoughts and actions of the survivors are what counts	Here the actions and thoughts of the man and the boy are the main drive of the story. However the thoughts and actions of the other characters are also relevant. The man splits the survivors into ‘good guys’ and ‘bad guys.’ The ‘bad guys’ are the ones who created tension through their actions causing conflict. Eli is the only name in the book and his thoughts emphasis the hardship the man goes through with the boy. The boy’s thoughts and actions are unique because he is very humanitarian whereas the man is more conservative.
Humanity has always imagined its own destruction. Each generation believes the end is somewhere round the corner, and our catastrophic fantasies are a good barometer of what’s currently troubling us	There is no confirmation of how the world was destroy however it can be interpreted as a manmade apocalypse. The low concussions could suggest bombs. However the bunker is specifically related to this point as it shows that people were prepared for the end of the world. McCarthy may have taken inspiration from the nuclear scares of the Cold War specifically in the 1950’s and 1960’s.
Post-apocalyptic novels are a dark, bleak and often illuminating genre	McCarthy’s simplistic writing style depicts a world drained of colour, with only the mention of ‘gunmetal silver’ ‘grey’ and ‘black’. There appears little hope for the characters who are surviving for the sake of survival and there appears to be no good outcome. It is also illuminating in the way it shows the new societies that have formed in place of the old one. Most of the people the man and boy encounter come under the name ‘bad guys’ that makes the reader question human questions and the fragility of morals especially as it is only the boy, who hasn’t known the world before, who still has moral ambiguities to help other.
Punishment for our wicked overreaching	McCarthy has made many references to American Low culture, such as movies and Cola. The cola and the shopping cart that reflects ‘Dawn of the Living Dead’ suggest society’s obsession with consumer goods and brands. The idea that people over shop and over reach is overturned in the novel because the man and boy constantly have to eat as much as they can because there is no room to take it with them only for them to run out.
A chaotic dark age, in which robber bands, bizarre millenarian religious sects, nomads, hunters and foragers of all sorts are found.	The man and boy encounter a lot of different characters, from fellow travellers to cannibals, victims and militia-like groups. Each one presents a different sort of threat to the man and boy. While the boy wants to help the fellow travellers the man is conscious of their supplies but doesn’t want to upset the boy while the cannibals and armed gangs pose a more physical threat.
The remains of the industrial society – its rotting industrial plants, its collapsed cities – litter the landscape, archaeology rather than evidence of recent catastrophe.	While the novel doesn’t explore industrial society as much except to mention the abandoned cities where scavengers and thieves live. The houses that they visit are in very bad disrepair, mostly raided and broken down for firewood and other survival essentials.

Opening

The opening is a key part of any story. Introducing character setting and tone.

Key Feature of the first 28 pages

'pilgrams'- Introduces the characters as travelers. Religious connotations are suggested and link in with the boy being the "word of God"

'Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth and the hours and the days of it and the years without cease.'- While time appears to go on it appears to be unaccounted for except for by this dripping. The tolling is reminiscent of death and shows that death the only thing left next to count the time. It could also be interpreted as a countdown to a slow but inevitable event. The whole novel is written with very little concept of time, as it is irrelevant to the man and boy who focus on minute-by-minute survival.

'If he is not the word of God then God never spoke'- Begins a religious connotation around the boy. Shows love and devotion despite the man's later mannerisms towards the boy. There is a deep bond between them. Later shown through 'each the other's world entire'

'Grocery cart'- Symbolism of the man's old life. Also seen when he rings his father's phone. Links to American culture and 'Dawn of the Living dead'

Long sentences only separated by 'and'- Shows methodically processes and routines that they go through without any thought. This structural device takes up a lot of the book and shows how simplistic their life has become.

'This was not a safe place.' Short blunt sentences evokes danger and unease. There is very little emotion in this and shows how much they have changed in order to adapt. There is no room for over-thinking things and everything is about survival.

'Hi, Papa, he said.
I'm right here.
I know.' - Short dialogue. Appears to be no emotion. Contradicts the earlier thoughts about the man and boy with the man's devotion.

Streams of Consciousness- Part of the narrative that focuses on sight, there is no emotion, it is detached and methodical. Occasionally shows the hardship of the situation- 'If only I had a heart of stone'

'long gray dusks, the long gray dawns' shows that there is no change over the day. Everything looks the same. This is significant as it helps lose the sense of time and creates a world of bleakness, where "gray" is the only colour.

'If you died I'd want to die too' Shows the bond between the father and son and that life is only dependent on each other.

'He coughed for a long time' A problem occurs and creates questions. The reader knows that something is wrong with the man but they do not know what. It does not seem curable though especially in the situation.

'You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget' Slightly prophetic sounding it suggests that the man has a lot of regrets. In context he is trying to protect the boy from the sights around him however he soon goes on to remember his wife, specifically her death and the boy's birth.

Memories Flashbacks and Dreams- Dreams appear at the start with a monster. He has vague flashbacks starting with his fathers phone then his uncle's farm. Another dream depicts a skeletal bride and a flashback reveals all of the refugees on the road.

'No one traveled this world.' A sense of isolation is created, enigma surrounding what happened to everyone else is brought up again. This is brought up again when 'there was just silence'. There is an ominous mood created and a sense of hopelessness.

'It was the first that he'd seen the boy smile in a long time' Shows the state of the world and the simple things like smiling are hard to do unless distracted. Sympathy is created for the boy who has grown up in the world and who has not experienced many things, as shown when he drinks the coke.

'There's nothing in the lake' Enigma extends from other people to life. The dam is the only thing remaining. 'No sign of life' More sense of isolation and abandonment.

'Coca Cola' American culture and something else taken for granted but it significant to the boy.

'Constant watch behind him' There is a link between the flashbacks and his constant need to look behind him for danger, suggesting that the memories of the past are also dangerous. Shown again through his eagerness to go into his childhood home.

Quote Analysis

This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man's brains out of his hair. That is my job.
Dead man's brains- Connotations of Violence, Horror
My job- Suggests an obligation and a regular task.
Genre- Horror
Story- A man trying to protect a child
Themes- Responsibility, Death, Violence
Characters- A man 'I', and a his son 'child' 'his'
Narrative- Short simple sentence, monosyllabic, dramatic

Yes I am, he said. I am the one.
The one- Special, Christ- like connotations.
Genre- Spiritual
Story- The boy worries about his father. He is also special as there is no other children
Themes- Responsibility, Religion
Characters- Special figure, in the boy
Narrative- Short simple sentence, monosyllabic, dramatic

Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned ham. Corned beef.
Genre- Everyday life/ Survival
Story- A list of basic foods. Normally easily acquired
Themes- Food
Characters- Suggests that food is scarce and they are hungry
Narrative- Listed, simple everyday words

Are we still the good guys?
Still- Suggests that there has been a change and there is a need for reassurance
Good guys- Childlike, simplistic view of the world but gets across the point. If there are good guys there must be bad guys.
Genre- Children's
Story- The boy asks for reassurance and identity, this is the only identity left.
Themes- Identity, Good vs Bad
Characters- Protagonists. The man is protective of the child yet still needs him to understand.
Narrative- Childish language, simplistic, generalizing.

We should go, Papa, he said. Yes, the man said. But he didn't.
Papa- Childlike language. Son speaking.
Genre- ?
Story- Although they know they should continue to move they are reluctant to.
Themes- Travelling, Moving South.
Characters- The child is young 'Papa.' The reluctance to move is clear 'but he didn't'
Narrative- Monosyllabic, simple dialogue not much is said. Blunt.

The snow fell nor did it cease to fall.
Genre- ?
Story- The weather gets worse as winter moves in.
Themes- The cold
Characters- ?
Narrative- Doesn't appear to make sense at first. "cease" does not fit in with the language used previously.

Okay? Okay
Genre- ?
Story- There little communication between the two characters, most of it is reassurance
Themes- Reassurance. American Culture
Characters- Short dialogue, not much left to say. Reassurance through question.
Narrative- Cultural, American slang. Short. Never sure who is speaking.

They sat on the edge of the tub and pulled their shoes on and then he handed the boy the pan and soap and he took the stove and the little bottle of gas and the pistol and wrapped in their blankets and they went back across the yard to the bunker.
Genre- Survival 'bunker'
Story- The man and boy continue their monotonous chores despite having found a safe place.
Themes- Routines, Safety, Hiding
Characters- Continues sense of routines. There is no dialogue despite all of the actions.
Narrative- Repeated 'and' shows a methodical process and lack of punctuation shows that there is no stopping until it is all done. There are cultural references through 'slang' and 'bunkers'

Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth.
Tolling- Bell like, reminiscent of death.
Genre- Thriller: 'silence' of the 'earth' eerie feeling
Story- A dead world with only a bell ringing.
Themes- Death, silence, time
Characters- ?
Narrative- Mix of disyllabic and monosyllabic words.

She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift.
Genre- ?
Story- The boy's mother has left, (killed herself) and left the boy and the man alone.
Themes- Coldness, Death, Isolation
Characters- The man and boy are left alone.
Narrative- Oxymoron 'coldness' and 'gift'