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Entry I: First Impressions & The Unique Style of McCarthy



The works of Cormac McCarthy have remained on my to-read list for many years now, and I am finally delving into his last novel, The Road. The novel is narrated by a nameless father trekking across the post apocalyptic United States with his son, trying to survive the barren and ashen land in search of something, anything. While the plot of this novel is interesting, what drew me in as I began reading was McCarthy’s unique style. Throughout the beginning of the novel, the landscape is described repetitively as being blind. McCarthy repetitively describes the grayness of the Earth, but even one of the first sentences of the novel garners a description of both the monochrome and sightless surroundings, “[Days] [l]ike the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world,” (1). This unsettling simile shows the world as both an opaque wasteland and a sightless Earth. Due to McCarthy’s descriptions of this setting as Godless as well, I believe the blindness McCarthy describes could be symbolic of a Godless Earth. In The Bible, “the LORD opens the eyes of the blind,” (Psalm 146:8 NIV) and Isaiah frequently refers to those without God as blind. I was driven to believe this could be a religious symbol due to the narrator’s frequent communes with God, as he often asks “why?”.


“...he just knelt in the ashes. He raised his face to the paling day. Are you there? he whispered...Have you a heart?...Oh God, he whispered,” (10). This quote also shows an interesting stylistic choice of McCarthy in this work to not use quotations in dialogue, making the work seem more like a stream of consciousness from the narrator than a recounting of the story. One of the most pertinent stylistic choices made by McCarthy is one that is consistent throughout his other works as well; his use of nature to convey emotion. McCarthy describes the land as barren and ashen, “Charred and limbless trunks of trees stretching away on every side,” (6) and “The raw dead limbs of the rhododendron twisted and knotted and black,” (40). The descriptions of the nature surrounding them set a mood of foreboding and a sense of despair for a lost world. This is further reflected in the ephemeral descriptions of the narrators past, how he dreams of “a flowering wood where birds flew before them...and the sky was achingly blue,” (17). The contrast between the luscious, fertile woods of the past and the stalks of dead trees now is a strong indication of the shift in tone between the two time periods.





So far I’ve found McCarthy’s style to be absolutely stunning, and I think the way he uses words and so many of the descriptions he uses are just incredible. I’ve really loved reading this book so far for how beautifully it is written. Tune in next week for updates on this family road trip!

Comments

  1. Ms. LaClairFebruary 9, 2020 at 8:41 PM

    Good observation of the stylistic choices in the novel, as well as their effects on your reaction to the text. What do you make of his choice not to include chapter breaks?

    Also, I fixed your formatting. Ask me how in class.

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    1. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2020 at 12:06 PM

      I enjoyed the fact that he doesn't use chapter breaks because I think it makes more sense stylistically as a stream of consciousness type of book. It also contributes to the narrators disorentation in relation to time, as they no longer have calendars or reliable ways to know the definitive date.

      Delete
  2. AnonymousFebruary 11, 2020 at 4:03 PM

    Hey Sanne, I liked your first post! I also analyzed McCarthy's style in my post. Your connection to the bible was thoughtful and interesting. I would have never made that link.

    How did you like layout of the novel? Do you think it emphasizes the emotions of the characters?

    -EB

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    Replies
    1. AnonymousFebruary 13, 2020 at 12:07 PM

      Yeah, I think it does emphasize the emotions really well! I like the layout because it has no real beginning or end, just as the story itself seems to have no real beginning or end.

      Delete

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