The Road by Cormac Mccarthy

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The Road by Cormac McCarthy review

Cormac mccarthy style:

no punctuation for dialogue

short sentences, dialogue

short, choppy paragraphs

no chapter/division

matter of fact, no frills-> minimal

simple diction

flashback:

- “She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift” - 56, 60

- Referring to the past, including the use of flashbacks, emphasizes how the past is affecting the man’s thought, due to his experience. It emphasizes emotions and feelings, and the contrasting of the past to the current time. It expresses his remembrance to his wife and how he still loves her. Knowing his inevitable death, the man is not looking. e.g.s He didn't answer. He sat beside the small figure wrapped in the quilts and blankets.”“I wish I was with my mom. -The book is mostly written in chronological order so time flows as normal. However, there are some scenes, particularly important events, where time appeared to have stopped or be suspended. Examples include flashbacks. The suspension of time serves as a break from tension from other events in the book, controlling the flow of the book. It is important to note the events before and after these flashbacks and see how the mood/atmosphere was changed by them.

little mention of time

a lot of questions

cormac McCarthy uses limited palette of words e.g. dark, gray, black.. it all sums up (all style ) so to help us understand the tone, characters of the book and give us the knowledge of their insight.

limited palette---and the effects

minimalist language= minimalist world. allow the readers to “ fill in the blanks” he tries to communicate that their world is of full of blanks, what is on their way? -the road.

Repetitive language = reflects the repetitive nature of their lives. Monotonous ( repetitive, boring, dull, without excitement).

Repetitive language reflects- travel. Echoes the journey of the boy and man.

how he change the style to convey a change happening in the book for e.g. adventure

“deadness” of language - the death of everything living ( very few animals, plants, trees, humans).

impact - simple language , less flourishes.

Minimalist - only mention of the “essentials” - they gathering the essentials- their lives are based on surviving. throughout the plot they don't seem to confront or find fancy watches, fancy clothes so only the essentials. the essentials for e.g peaches, coca-cola, stash of food

Dull style makes it difficult to distinguish different parts of the novel from one another.

lack of hyperbolic language ( exaggeration ) = reflecting the basic nature of their situation.

Lack of Emotive language = dulled emotions, indifference of the man, numbed by so much suffering.

very precise visual details

mostly active verbs ( describing action ) more than stative verbs ( describing being)

- Contrast in how time is presented. ( specific and nonspecific = this communicate different things as time is described in nonspecific e.g. october, winter.. yet in other parts of the novel time is described in specific e.g. minute by minute, morning, day… this all -> but still not as clear as it meant to be therefore it does points out that time is important but at the same time not important in other words not in their priority list.

Symbols heart= love

sun=happiness, hope

shadow= evil, depression

dove= peace

Road = road in literature in general represent: journey. (the journey could be physical or emotional journey or both), self -discovery, Epic journeys( could include adventure, struggle, overcoming obstacles, cementing of friendship.

Themes;

could be used in the conclusion

-familial love and the relationship: “he'd reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him” - the intense relationship between the father and the son.

- Narrative voice in the first paragraph - “can I ask you something? … okay” - the relationship between man and boy. it is third person focalising on the boy looking at the man,

- third person with a focaliser on the father and then it shifts to the first person. the effect on the reader is that we can relate to the character, to their feelings, gives an insight in to the characters inner thoughts, McCarthy does this to intentionally represent a lack of rules in this book stylistically,

Intrusive narrator: at some points it even also leaves us guessing working out which character is talking while focalised, we are left frustrated as well because we don’t understand what the character feels all the time. for ex. he turned, his face -> the question is who is being narrator the man or the boy? we don’t know.

sacrifice (man death) - protecting his son from the evil society despite the circumstances. the man tells the boy to leave him behind and the boy meets the new family. The books ends in a perhaps hopeful way, throughout the whole book the man and the boy looking for the good guys but it’s until the last last section with the boy meets the new family and that is the end - maybe a suggestion also that the society will re-built itself.

- perhaps its a book of forgiveness cuz no there isn’t complaining even until the very last moment before the man passes away due to the breath disease but the boy keeps going.

Final paragraph in a storytelling, “This paragraph shows that while the old world remains a story, there is a future — and the boy is a part of it

-good vs.evil - violence - /+ violence a novel of praise of childhood innocence: maybe he is innocence but is he naive?, he has an empathy perhaps cuz he represents God compassion, morality, forgiveness. the boys asks the man innocence questions: such as reaching the other boy but the man doesn’t let him or the thief… the boy doesn't think about the consequence but the man does. and the when boy thinks of humanity is good but the man thinks evil ( good vs evil).

- beautiful description of trout - re-emphasize the beauty of the past memory in this evilized society,

“. He portrays a beautiful soft trout much like the beautiful soft world the way it once was prior to the catastrophe. No matter how down the humanity went, the good stayed good and bad got evil. so the boy's survival representing that the good not necessarily always win but never going to accept to be defeated the same way as his did who run till his last precious breath.

.

note: the mother is neither evil or bad because she hasn't come so far. she kind of left so we don’t really know, she decided to leave.

-survival and essentials priority:

- the man “ precious breath” interesting connection of this towards the end. a forshadow of the mans death, so he survives solely to rescue the boy.

- “are we going to die” - the boy is afraid afraid. and the man's response “sometimes not now” he accepts death.

- Lack of narrative comment - effect: grabbing the readers's attention page 1-2 “when he woke in the woods..”

The very first two passages of the book bring up the lack of narrative comments in Mccarthy’s book. First of all, there is a lack of comment about the place in the beginning paragraph. The narrator describes the “place” being cold and invaded by darkness, but does not ever comment on the exact place where the events take place, leaving the readers to use their imaginations and guess about the possible places where it could have taken place. In Other words it lets the reader to fill in the blank gaps by trying to guess; where is the road? which country is it? What is there in the south? Why wouldn’t they survive for one more year? All these brings up to the idea that the writer is minimalist and included only the essential things. For example he tries to bring up the idea that in this book only, the essentials matter, rather than the details, which completely reflects the lives of the father and the son who used to survive only on the essentials through the events of the book.

- “He thought the month was October but he wasn’t sure

- Another lack of narrative comment in this passage is the absence of the information about the main characters’ past and how they ended up in this situation. even though, with the help of flashbacks, the narrator partly fills this missing through the book, it adds value to the style of the book by making it more interesting and mysterious as the readers strive to find out about their past. Therefore by adjusting the style with lack of narrative comments, the author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s attention.

- Repetitive timing → reflects the nature of the general everyday life of the man and the boy. Thier day is based on getting food and other specific survival acts. The author portrays that in such a chaotic world where there are no more values, the only thing which is important is survival, just like in the animal world.

isolation:

- the monster “creature” in the beginning of the novel represents humanity. as trapped in this "cave", "blind" reflecting the humanity not being able to see the reality. It's ’ brain described as “ dull” a reference to the humanity's ignorance, all it’s description is deterioration of the humanity. illustrates the theme of isolation of the world against the companionship of the man and the boy.

The road by Cormac McCarthy

McCarty illustrates the irreversibility of the past by exploring the themes of hopelessness versus hopefulness throughout the novel by focusing on word choice ( he chooses a limited usage of word pallete), tone and atmosphere, clear details associated with other literary devices.

the reason behind why McCarthy chooses to start the novel with a depressing tone is for readers to get a clear description of the whole plot. author wants you to feel something, the atmosphere to feel what they feel. The tone affects us the tone is depressing and we get this feeling while reading.

importance of boy to the man: the reason man is living to take care of him.

boy reaction: after the man's death the boy clearly appreciated all the things that his dad; the man did to him clearly sacrificed his life and was the only reason for the man's survival no matter what the situation was. and feeling of the boy is revealed to us at the very end why the boys states that he tried to talk to the God but the best thing was to talk to his father"... and hid so "

hostile, aggressive, desperate, fear, unflinching, heatless:

- reflection of the boy growing up/independence.

- empathy ( understanding the feeling of others ). the man represented the past because he is doing and he passes over to the boy so the boy is the future and the boy is empathetic representing the future. but the man not empathetic. basically there are contrasting tones.

Personal pronoun to refer to the main characters' name: “he --> child “ , and "the man ". both characters don’t have a name this could suggest that anyone of us could be in their situation and it makes the novel atmosphere dark.

“nights dark beyond darkness” hyperbole.

loving-sweetness-softness ); there is a very sweet tender moment between the man and child; this is the first time we are exposed to this mood and a positive shift in mode: and it is because for the first the child having the coca cola… there is no negative imagery that moment. in contrast with usual style of the novel this time here not hopelessness but rather and exciting mood established. however this sensation of excitement is somewhat ironic to the readers given the context of the situation.

At the beginning of the novel the monster “creature” representing humanity and that creature is not described nicely- such as sightless, eggs of spider, crouching,

- using of the words “dark, darkness, gray” the whole passage a lot of negative words, and wandering during the whole book.

The urgency of the man to get the son out of the evil world: “ they’d be no surviving for another winter here”

No clear reference to the time and date but rather general as it is not their primary concern “hours...days...years...October” highlights the boy and the endless misery time date doesn't matter, cavemen didn't have time, what they had was just light and dark so this brings us to conclusion that this use of time and date by cormac mccarthy symbolizes civilization establishment

“softly with each precious breath” foreshadows the man death ( particularly the word breath-as the man has a breath disease.

in contrast with the Gatsby the road: “stinking robes and blankets” shows they have been there for long time.“ until the stood in a great stone” inferring they are not in a good place.

Tone of “ The Road “ is hopelessness, hope, depressing, hope, uncertain through the whole novel interchangeably mainly due disintegration of the humanity in that time.

End of The Road by cormac McCarthy

Ending End of the book:

although the novel ends in an ambiguous way there is still some evidences supporting that there will be hope and that unlike his died father he will be safe. for example lots of descriptions of living things, there is colour ( white edges, ) we see hope opposite to the start of the book.there is a lot of reference to god in the last bit representing the idea of rebirth while at the beginning there used to be just a figure of speech out of their anxiety god, god , god but the end it’ like perfect God however in this instance the bey prefers to talk to his Death dad not the God perhaps this is due the boy realizing the fact that it was his dad the man who regardless of the extreme situations survived only to take care of the son.

hopeful: even if the boy's mom abandoned him at the beginning by killing herself believing that there won't be a way out of the disaster, nonetheless, at the end the mom in the new family that the boy joins is in opposite to the boy's early mentioned mom who ended her life having to hope. what is also interesting is that from the main characters in the novel the boy is the main character who survives. both the boy's mom and dad dies. from my understanding I think that the boy represents the generation that comes after the man and more importantly throughout the novel he was be directly or indirectly carrying the " fire" which is a representation of hope.

- Hopeful: at the end the new woman " put her arms around him and held him" clear contrast to his mother who has ended her life in hopelessness. also to some extent clarifying that the new woman is not part of the evil society judging on her kind and caring actions.

-in the very last paragraph of the novel the word "once" there was followed by description of the past is perhaps one of the most important words in the whole novel ( sums up the whole novel ) mainly because the proceedings are all description of the past ironic to their present world in many ways. more specifically, the implication of "once" there were brook "trout". here McCarthy uses a living things for the first time. furthermore, description of living color " white " opposite to the beginning darkness, grey, Black very limited word pallete. so we can see signs of hope towards the future here for the first time in opposite to the beginning where there was always build in tension, anxiety and finding a way to surviving.

in other words: “once there were” -> meaning not it’s not.

- elegy tone ( look how beautiful the world were) where the present is in also in contrast all those colors and lights and hope and rainbow

- McCarthy uses very limited word pallete in this novel mostly with lacking living descriptions, and colors and hence the word choice is very important in the very last paragraph of the novel starting with the word "once" proceeded by the description of the past for instance " once there was" there seem to be two different interpretations and that readers could judge either way for themselves does suggests the idea of the rebirth, the world was there before and there will be after, however however "once" emphasizes all the beautiful description of living things, colors in Utopian society in the past nothing to the with the present. the second interpretation of this establishing the fact that even if this disaster can't be undone but can still have some hope - somehow the world may be rebuild from the patterns, " vermiculate patterns " described on a "living" trout.

Others: comparison to G.G:

the only excitement moments are those creepy things ( baby, shooting the man on the head, people eating, hiding from the men on the road ) -basically most of the excitements in the book is negative which is says a lot of the life they are living.

The Great Gatsby by F.Scott Fitzgerald review Explorations of The Great Gatsby for Revision

Themes

aspirations and the American dream

appearance and reality

artificiality

dreamers vs. realists

identity

perception (sight and insight)

nostalgia and the past

love and desire

the nature of the good life.

Structure (including voice)

the retrospective first-person narrative ( retrospective: looking back or dealing with past situations )

the modifying of the first-person narrative to include other people’s stories, and how this is done

frame narrative – Nick setting himself up as author of Gatsby’s story (between one and two years after the events he is narrating)

conclusion? ->the episodic structure, with a filmic quality (for example, cutting between scenes, by the narrator Nick) so even if we rely on Nick's narration however we can't always be hundred percent sure because he is the one who chooses what to put in.

the scrambling of chronology -

the use of flashback ( through the narration Jordan, Wolfshiem, Dan cody, )

Characterisation

the construction of Nick’s character through his narrative voice

the construction of other key characters (for example, Gatsby, Daisy, Jordan, Myrtle, Tom, Wilson, Wolfshiem) through telling ‘selective’ details and dialogue

contrasting groups of characters (for example, rich women v. working-class women, male v. female, cynics or realists v. optimists).

Setting

The vivid evocation of a range of settings (often with metaphorical significance) and allusions to other settings:

the valley of ashes

Gatsby’s house, garden, library and swimming pool

Nick’s house

Tom and Daisy’s house

Myrtle’s New York apartment

the Plaza Hotel

Symbolism

the valley of ashes

eyes, seeing and looking

light

journeys

clothes

weather (especially heat)

colours (for example, white, green, silver, gold)

trees and leaves

Class

Nick’s class – his family’s history and standing; the importance of his family name

Tom and Daisy as incarnations of ‘old money’

Gatsby as nouveau-riche

Catherine (and Jordan?) as ‘new’, independent, self-created women

Myrtle (particularly in contrast to Daisy)

George Wilson as a failed entrepreneur.

The paper 2 Essays

(1) “Successful characterisation involves taking the reader to the heart, to the inner core, of an imagined person.” In at least two works in your study, discuss by what means and with what degree of success authors have tried to take you to the heart of their characters.

Two works in which the author’s use of taking you to the heart of their characters is significant are The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald and “Indian Camp” by Ernest Hemingway. In The Great Gatsby, the characters whose heart Fitzgerald exposes are those such as the eponymous romantic

hero of the novel, Jay Gatsby, the establishmentarian antagonist Tom Buchanan and his femme- fatale wife, the beautiful object of desire Daisy Buchanan. Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Indian Camp” also contains a number of characters with whom the reader becomes intimately engaged.

Written in the third person, the young boy Nick Adams is, nevertheless, the main focaliser of the story. His father, Dr Adams, a character symbolizing Western oppression and his Uncle George, a catalyst for the events are, however, characters who we get to know well. However, the more seemingly minor characters, the Indian husband and wife are characters who viscerally expose themselves to the reader. It is interesting to note that the main voices in the both texts are outsiders.

One of the means by which Fitzgerald takes you to the inner core of his characters is by focusing on

their physicalisation. For example, when the reader is first introduced to Gatsby, we see his hand

“tremble” as he “reaches” for the light. This seemingly innocuous gesture takes on enormous

significance on a second reading of the novel, as the reader understands that his action symbolises

Gatsby’s intense desire to recreate the past in the guise of Daisy Buchanan. Fitzgerald also describes

him as having a “smile” of “eternal reassurance,” demonstrating that at the core of his being he has

an unshakeable faith in his ability to create a future where he achieves all of his dreams. It is a

romantic vision that is central to understanding the true character of the man. Tom Buchanan is also

characterised through physical details. Fitzgerald describes him as having “two shining arrogant

eyes.” Not only does this establish the supercilious behaviour of Tom in his relationships with others,

but the “shining” eyes are also suggestive of the financial power that he wields. A particularly

significant episode in the novel is when he breaks Myrtle’s nose. Fitzgerald writes that he uses a

“deft movement,” implying that he is experienced in matters of brutality. His action here exposes

him as violent, misogynistic man, with no sensitivity towards others.

However, Fitzgerald also takes us to the inner core of his characters through the settings which they

inhabit. For instance, Gatsby’s mansion is described as a “factual imitation” of “some Hotel de Ville

in Normandy.” This description of his residence insinuates his need to appear rich, with a heritage

grounded in the Old World, but because it’s an “imitation,” the reader understands that this is just a

veneer for his nouveau riche social status. Moreover, the house is described as having a “thin beard

of raw ivy” spread over its façade. The thinness of the vegetation again exposes the newness of his

riches and his need to create a deceptive identity. When the Buchanans’ place is described,

Fitzgerald notes that it is “a cheerful red-and-white Georgian colonial mansion.” There is no

suggestion of imitation here. The French windows are described as “glowing” with “reflected gold,”

which, synthesised, perhaps, with Tom Buchanan’s eyes reinforces the message that this is a family

of old money, rooted in a long and illustrious past.

Actions are also a technique that Hemingway uses in order to take the reader to the heart of his

characters. For example, at the beginning of “Indian Camp,” Uncle George “gives cigars” to the

Indians. This seemingly hospitable gesture, when examined, actually exposes George’s inherent

sense of superiority over the Indians. His giving is actually symbolic of him being from a dominant

culture. Once the doctor begins to operate on the Indian woman, it is significant that George is

“holding her still.” Again, he is taking control of the Indians, his overpowering action showing that he

is an accomplice in the doctor slicing the woman apart. The Indian woman’s response to this is to

“bite” Uncle George on the arm. This bite, possibly poisonous in nature, seems to tranquilise Uncle

George, implying that subjugated cultures can still be dangerous, even when they appear to be

defeated. Interestingly, in this story, the husband of the Indian woman cuts his throat. However,

Hemingway uses the words “His throat was cut,” conveying the idea that, regardless of who killed

the Indian, it was in fact the invasion of his living quarters (and the symbolic rape of his wife) that

has led to his death.

Hemingway also focuses on sound in order to take us to the heart of his characters. The only sound

that the Indian woman makes is the “scream.” Through this noise, the reader understands the

implacable pain that the woman feels about her existence. However, from another point of view, the

reader could also interpret her “screams” as a narrative perspective on a lack of the Indian’s ability

to express herself through language. But this idea that the Indians are, somehow, a primitive

civilisation actually uncovers the notion that the focalised point of view in the story (Nick’s) is racist.

Uncle George, in fact, makes this concept seem a valid one, when he shouts at the Indian woman

“Damn squaw bitch!” This statement, interestingly, exposes him as not only racist, but as a

misogynist and a blasphemer. After the doctor’s barbaric operation, the doctor is described as being

“as talkative as footballer players are in the dressing after a game.” Hemingway’s implication here is

that the doctor is proud of the primitive way in which he has abused the Indian woman through

cutting her open with a jack-knife and sewing her up again. The woman’s suffering has no more

emotional effect on him than would a scientific specimen.

In conclusion, both Fitzgerald and Hemingway do indeed use actions and physical descriptions in

order to get to the heart of their characters. However, Fitzgerald’s approach seems to be focused

much on the external attributes of his characters, which though mirroring their inner core also,

ironically, shows them to be obsessed by appearance. Hemingway’s characters, on the other hand,

seem to subjugate their feelings. Hemingway’s use of rather simple verbs in order to get to the inner

hearts of his characters forces the reader to work much harder to try to uncover the subtext of his

critique of human greed.

2 ) Some writers select a narrative voice that sharpens or clarifies their stories. Others choosea narrative voice that mystifies or misleads. How, and to what effect, have at least two of the writers you have studied employed narrative voice?

Two works in which the author’s use of narrative voice is significant are The Great Gatsby by

F Scott Fitzgerald and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Gatsby is told in the first person,

through the medium of Nick Carraway. However, as he tells his story, there are other

narrative voices that intrude. For example, Wolfsheim tells of Gatsby’s return to the USA as

a poor soldier; Jordan Baker tells of the romantic liaison between Daisy and Gatsby; and

Gatsby tells of his own miraculous exploits throughout life. On the other hand, The Road is

told in the third person. Nevertheless, McCarthy uses free indirect style to communicate the

thoughts of his protagonists – the Man and the Boy – to the reader. At the end of the novel,

McCarthy somewhat shockingly moves into the third person omniscient narrator. As we can

see in both these novels, the narrative voice is an immense part of an author’s armoury. An

author is never limited to one or other narrative voice. In my opinion, Fitzgerald and

McCarthy use their narrative voice to both mystify and clarify their stories.

One effect which Fitzgerald achieves through narrative voice is portraying Gatsby as a

romantic hero. Jordan Baker is the most significant narrator in achieving this effect. Jordan

tells us that Gatsby “looked at Daisy the way every girl wants to be looked at”. This proves

that Gatsby has tremendous romantic magnetism. Moreover, Wolfsheim portrays Gatsby in

his narration as a forlorn hero who has returned from the war, unappreciated by the society

which he served. Even Carraway, the main narrator describes Gatsby in a romantic pose,

“stretch[ing] out his arms” towards the green light, which is a representation of his

aspirations for Daisy. Gatsby also “trembles” as he does so, demonstrating his intense

passion for the girl he loves. It is no coincidence that Carraway compares Gatsby to an

“intricate machine” – a seismograph. This use of a scientific simile shows that he has an

unfathomable connection with the Earth. However, these voices are somewhat misleading

in the way in which they romanticize the redneck bootlegger that is James Gatz.

The effect of Fitzgerald’s use of narrative voice is also to demonize the American society. For

example, Nick describes the Valley of Ashes as being a “desolate stretch of land” where

“grey cars crawl”. The very use of a phrase such as “The Valley of Ashes” to describe this

urban wasteland symbolizes for the reader the moral decay of American society. That the

cars are described as “grey” suggests, moreover, that the working class has been drained of

vitality. Furthermore, Tom Buchanan who represents the aristocracy of the USA is portrayed

in a somewhat negative light by Carraway as having a “cruel body” and “arrogant eyes”.

Clearly, appreciating The Rise of the Coloured Empires shows his racist inclinations. Also,

breaking Myrtle’s nose with one “short deft movement” of his hand shows his misogyny. In

addition, the fact that George Wilson describes the advertisement for T.J. Eckleberg as being

the “eyes of God” implies that the new God in America is in fact, materialism. Moreover,

Carraway’s reference to the “fresh green breast” of the New World when it was first

explored by the Dutch sailors being juxtaposed with the pathetic picture that is the corpse

of Myrtle lying in the middle of the road with her breasts “swinging loose like a flap”

suggests that the paradise that was America has been corrupted by Man irreversibly. This

vision seems to be a sharp portrayal of Fitzgerald’s convictions.

On the other hand, The Road uses narrative voice to get across the idea of the insignificance

of Man.

The memorable impact of novels and short stories arises from the careful and often brilliant creation of detail by their writers. Using at least two writers you have studied, explore the role and impact of some significant details in the narratives.

Two novels that use detail to memorable effect are The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald

and The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Interestingly, they tend to use detail for similar reasons.

For example, in The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald focuses his detail on his descriptions of

character, the illustration of setting and through important symbols. Meanwhile, McCarthy,

in The Road, also focuses his details on character, setting and important symbols. However,

whereas in Fitzgerald’s 1920s realist novel, the details tend to focus on areas such as

romance and technology, McCarthy comments in his post-apocalyptic science fiction

Bildungsroman more on areas such as hope and primeval violence.

In The Great Gatsby, the role of Fitzgerald’s details is to bring out the sense of magical

possibilities in the world. For example, when Nick Carraway first comes across Daisy and

Jordan Baker, he describes them as “buoyed-up as on an anchored balloon.” Fitzgerald is

suggesting by this metaphor that there is a fairy weightlessness about these aristocratic

women. Indeed, later on in the novel, Daisy is described as being a fairy-tale princess

“entrapped” in her “white palace”. Through this allusion, Fitzgerald is implying that Daisy

lives a luxurious lifestyle. Moreover, her voice is described as “thrilling”, which brings with it

connotations of an exciting life beyond what the common man might live. Furthermore, the

citadel in which Daisy and Tom reside is described as having “white flowing curtains” and a

“frosted wedding cake” of a ceiling. These descriptions of the house suggest that their lives

are frozen in a picture of perfection. The green light is clearly a symbol for Gatsby’s

aspirations in wanting to move into this enchanting world. Like a puppet, he feels himself

drawn to this light as he extends his arm towards it. This green light is a replication of a time

past, when the American pilgrims first laid eyes on the “fresh green breast of the new

world.” In a sense, when the USA was first discovered, it was seen as a paradise.

However, the reality is that the world is a superficial place. Take the green light, for

example: it is an artificial, industrial manifestation of a natural world that man has, in fact,

destroyed. Indeed, the Valley of the Ashes seems to be the consequence of man’s

destruction of the world. In his imagery, Fitzgerald ironically describes it as a “fantastic farm

with grotesque gardens”. This almost biblical landscape is one that Fitzgerald equates with

death. He also concentrates on the death of values in 1920s Jazz-Age society. Wolfsheim, for

example, wears human molars as cufflinks. Both through his name and through the savage

nature of his apparel, the reader senses that the world has become predatory in character.

T.J. Eckleburg, an advertisement for a spectacle company in New York, is seen by George

Wilson, as he looks out of his window every morning, as a divine figure with “all-seeing”

eyes, essentially communicating the idea that America has become obsessed with

materialistic values, a trend which transcends to an almost complete devaluation of human

life, which the readers realise as they see Myrtle’s breast “swing[ing] loose like a flap” after

being murdered by man’s creation – the automobile.

In The Road, rather like The Great Gatsby, there is a positive vision of our world. The

positive visions of both worlds are, not surprisingly, represented as being in the past. When

the man searches through the boat, he finds an “intricate brass sextant”- a relic of the past,

preserved in a “wooden chest”, and is “struck” with its beauty, which reveals the virtue of

craftsmanship in the bygone epoch of humanity. Moreover, in the final paragraph, the

reader is left with an achingly stunning vision of the world where all things older than man

“hum”. Through this use of personification, McCarthy suggests that the world has a

beautiful, yet, mysterious voice. Also at the end of the novel, McCarthy makes reference to

a trout on whose back there are “vermiculate patterns” of “maps of the worlds in its

becoming”. The poetic language that is used to describe the trout conveys the inherent

beauty that exists within all beings for all time. Likewise, through characterization, the boy is

portrayed as a divine figure, as a “golden chalice”. The use of colour exemplifies the hope he

carries within. In an epiphanous revelation the boy says “I am the One.” an allusion to him

being a Messianic figure, a figure of hope and innocence in a desolated world.

Conversely, McCarthy also implies that the world is intrinsically evil place. For example, the

road is ruled by roadrats – malicious men who eat babies and capture young boys as

catamites. McCarthy describes one of these roadrats as having “grey and rotting teeth” that

are “claggy with human flesh.” This revolting reference to his cannibalistic nature shows a

world that is rotten to the core, devoid of any moral framework. Nonetheless, McCarthy not

only argues that evil is rampant in the future, but has always existed. A memory from the

man’s past describes a group of men pouring gasoline over a bolus of serpents. In

McCarthy’s description, the snakes “twisted horribly” and “with no screams of pain.” The

silence created by McCarthy emphasizes the degeneration of the world because it is not

what the reader has anticipated. Serpents are traditionally symbolic of evil, yet man is seen

as even more wicked. Perhaps on a universal level, McCarthy is suggesting that to be on the

road (in other words, following social conventions) in fact exposes us more readily to vice. In

my opinion, the road is an allegory, advising the reader to seek independence from social

and political norms.

In conclusion, though these novels are written in different centuries, the details they use,

though focused on small and seemingly insignificant aspects of life, are actually conduits for

much larger issues. Both The Great Gatsby and The Road are polemics on human nature and

critiques of the cynicism of American society. In The Great Gatsby, for example, Fitzgerald is

attacking hypocrisy, whereas The Road is attacking conformity. Both novels carry a nihilistic

message, though perhaps there is a glimmer of hope beneath the deep and dark

devastation of the universe.