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.