"The boy lay with his head in the man's lap. After a while he said: They're going to
kill those people, arent they?
Yes.
Why do they have to do that?
I dont know.
Are they going to eat them?
I dont know.
They're going to eat them, arent they?
Yes.
And we couldnt help them because then they'd eat us too.
Yes.
And that's why we couldnt help them.
Yes.
Okay.
They passed through towns that warned people away with messages scrawled on the
billboards. The billboards had been whited out with thin coats of paint in order to
write on them and through the paint could be seen a pale palimpsest of
advertisements for goods which no longer existed. They sat by the side of the road
and ate the last of the apples.
What is it? the man said.
Nothing.
We'll find something to eat. We always do.
The boy didnt answer. The man watched him.
That's not it, is it?
It's okay.
Tell me.
The boy looked away down the road.
I want you to tell me. It's okay.
He shook his head.
Look at me, the man said.
He turned and looked. He looked like he'd been crying.
Just tell me.
We wouldnt ever eat anybody, would we?
No. Of course not.
Even if we were starving?" (65)
This passage astounds me. The boy, who was born into this world of charred remains and death and survival of the fittest, still manages to care for life other than his own. I think this symbolizes the care for life humans should respect and uphold. No matter how dark things seem to get, the boy shows worry for those in need. The boy he spotted in the small village. He offered to feed the dog that followed him home half of the food he had. Now the people locked in the cellar by the cannibals are burdening him. He knows what will happen to them, but he wishes he could help them.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Environment - The Road - Blog Entry 4
"They pushed out through the back door, the boy hanging on to him. He shoved the
pistol in his belt and stood looking out over the yard. There was a brick walkway
and the twisted and wiry shape of what once had been a row of boxwoods. In the
yard was an old iron harrow propped up on piers of stacked brick and someone had
wedged between the rails of it a forty gallon castiron cauldron of the kind once used
for rendering hogs. Underneath were the ashes of a fire and blackened billets of
wood. Off to one side a small wagon with rubber tires. All these things he saw and
did not see. At the far side of the yard was an old wooden smokehouse and a
toolshed. He crossed half dragging the child and went sorting through tools standing
in a barrel under the shed roof. He came up with a longhandled spade and hefted it in
his hand. Come on, he said.
Back in the house he chopped at the wood around the haspstaple and finally jammed
the blade under the staple and pried it up. It was bolted through the wood and the
whole thing came up lock and all. He kicked the blade of the shovel under the edge
of the boards and stopped and got his lighter out. Then he stood on the tang of the
shovel and raised the edge of the hatch and leaned and got hold of it. Papa, the boy
whispered.
He stopped. Listen to me, he said. Just stop it. We're starving. Do you
understand? Then he raised the hatch door and swung it over and let it down on the
floor behind.
Just wait here, he said.
I'm going with you.
I thought you were scared.
I am scared.
Okay. Just stay close behind me.
He started down the rough wooden steps. He ducked his head and then flicked the
lighter and swung the flame out over the darkness like an offering. Coldness and
damp. An ungodly stench. The boy clutched at his coat. He could see part of a
stone wall. Clay floor. An old mattress darkly stained. He crouched and stepped
down again and held out the light. Huddled against the back wall were naked people,
male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. On the
mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened
and burnt. The smell was hideous.
Jesus, he whispered.
Then one by one they turned and blinked in the pitiful light. Help us, they
whispered. Please help us." (page 56)
Starving and in desperate need for food, shelter, and water, the boy and his father continue down the road and come across an abandoned house. Inside the father discovers a locked trapdoor and eventually breaks the lock and ventures into the darkness. In this cellar the father and son discover a man and a woman cowering in the corner of the room frightened for their lives, while a badly burnt and legless man lays on a mattress.
This passage seemed to be filled with symbolism. The locked cellar represents the needed protection from the dangers of the outside world. The darkness of the cellar represents the same darkness that covers the world from the fires and destruction that nearly killed it. The people inside, desperate for help represents the cost of humans mistreating and damaging the environment. It only kills us in the end. These depictions about the future reveal that we are slowly approaching the possibility of humans throwing ourselves into an apocalyptic and dead world with the rate at which we burn through fuel and treat the environment as if it were our own personal dumpster.
The way Cormac McCarthy uses imagery to bring detail to the events truly makes it easier to grasp the idea of how terrifying the possibility of this future can be. The horrid smell, gore and darkness about it all acts as a warning to prevent the environment's health from plummeting.
pistol in his belt and stood looking out over the yard. There was a brick walkway
and the twisted and wiry shape of what once had been a row of boxwoods. In the
yard was an old iron harrow propped up on piers of stacked brick and someone had
wedged between the rails of it a forty gallon castiron cauldron of the kind once used
for rendering hogs. Underneath were the ashes of a fire and blackened billets of
wood. Off to one side a small wagon with rubber tires. All these things he saw and
did not see. At the far side of the yard was an old wooden smokehouse and a
toolshed. He crossed half dragging the child and went sorting through tools standing
in a barrel under the shed roof. He came up with a longhandled spade and hefted it in
his hand. Come on, he said.
Back in the house he chopped at the wood around the haspstaple and finally jammed
the blade under the staple and pried it up. It was bolted through the wood and the
whole thing came up lock and all. He kicked the blade of the shovel under the edge
of the boards and stopped and got his lighter out. Then he stood on the tang of the
shovel and raised the edge of the hatch and leaned and got hold of it. Papa, the boy
whispered.
He stopped. Listen to me, he said. Just stop it. We're starving. Do you
understand? Then he raised the hatch door and swung it over and let it down on the
floor behind.
Just wait here, he said.
I'm going with you.
I thought you were scared.
I am scared.
Okay. Just stay close behind me.
He started down the rough wooden steps. He ducked his head and then flicked the
lighter and swung the flame out over the darkness like an offering. Coldness and
damp. An ungodly stench. The boy clutched at his coat. He could see part of a
stone wall. Clay floor. An old mattress darkly stained. He crouched and stepped
down again and held out the light. Huddled against the back wall were naked people,
male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. On the
mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened
and burnt. The smell was hideous.
Jesus, he whispered.
Then one by one they turned and blinked in the pitiful light. Help us, they
whispered. Please help us." (page 56)
Starving and in desperate need for food, shelter, and water, the boy and his father continue down the road and come across an abandoned house. Inside the father discovers a locked trapdoor and eventually breaks the lock and ventures into the darkness. In this cellar the father and son discover a man and a woman cowering in the corner of the room frightened for their lives, while a badly burnt and legless man lays on a mattress.
This passage seemed to be filled with symbolism. The locked cellar represents the needed protection from the dangers of the outside world. The darkness of the cellar represents the same darkness that covers the world from the fires and destruction that nearly killed it. The people inside, desperate for help represents the cost of humans mistreating and damaging the environment. It only kills us in the end. These depictions about the future reveal that we are slowly approaching the possibility of humans throwing ourselves into an apocalyptic and dead world with the rate at which we burn through fuel and treat the environment as if it were our own personal dumpster.
The way Cormac McCarthy uses imagery to bring detail to the events truly makes it easier to grasp the idea of how terrifying the possibility of this future can be. The horrid smell, gore and darkness about it all acts as a warning to prevent the environment's health from plummeting.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Environment - The Road - Blog Entry 3
"He woke in the night and lay listening. He couldnt remember where he was. The
thought made him smile. Where are we? he said.
What is it, Papa?
Nothing. We're okay. Go to sleep.
We're going to be okay, arent we Papa?
Yes. We are.
And nothing bad is going to happen to us.
That's right.
Because we're carrying the fire.
Yes. Because we're carrying the fire."(page 42)
"The boy was sitting on the steps when he saw something move at the rear of the house across the road. A face was looking at him. A boy, about his age, wrapped in an out-sized wool coat with the sleeves turned back. He stood up. He ran across the road and up the drive. No one there. He looked toward the house and then he ran to the bottom of the yard through the dead weeds to a still black creek. Come back, he called. I wont hurt you. He was standing there crying when his father came sprinting across the road and seized him by the arm. What are you doing? he hissed. What are you doing?
There's a little boy, Papa. There's a little boy.
There's no little boy. What are you doing?
Yes there is. I saw him.
I told you to stay put. Didnt I tell you? Now we've got to go. Come on.
I just wanted to see him, Papa. I just wanted to see him.
The man took him by the arm and they went back up through the yard. The boy
would not stop crying and he would not stop looking back. Come on, the man said.
We've got to go.
I want to see him, Papa.
There's no one to see. Do you want to die? Is that what you want?
I dont care, the boy said, sobbing. I dont care.
The man stopped. He stopped and squatted and held him. I'm sorry, he said.
Dont say that. You musnt say that." (Page 43)
I think these are some of the most significant events in the first half of the book that critiques the human condition in a possible future compared to today's world. The symbolism of the father and the son "carrying the fire" shows how the menacing tool of the world's near destruction doubles as a source of light and life. Fire not only destroys but it also provides light when there is dark, and life when there is death. The second passage comments on humanity during troubling times. Human beings need to care for one another in order to survive. The son is worried about what will become of the supposed boy he saw in the little town. Will he die? Will he live? The son shows true compassion for others despite his own needs.
I was shocked to see the son, who was born during a terrible time of crisis, put away his needs and desires to show affection and worry about the mysterious boy. Even in such times as this, people should still look after one another.
thought made him smile. Where are we? he said.
What is it, Papa?
Nothing. We're okay. Go to sleep.
We're going to be okay, arent we Papa?
Yes. We are.
And nothing bad is going to happen to us.
That's right.
Because we're carrying the fire.
Yes. Because we're carrying the fire."(page 42)
"The boy was sitting on the steps when he saw something move at the rear of the house across the road. A face was looking at him. A boy, about his age, wrapped in an out-sized wool coat with the sleeves turned back. He stood up. He ran across the road and up the drive. No one there. He looked toward the house and then he ran to the bottom of the yard through the dead weeds to a still black creek. Come back, he called. I wont hurt you. He was standing there crying when his father came sprinting across the road and seized him by the arm. What are you doing? he hissed. What are you doing?
There's a little boy, Papa. There's a little boy.
There's no little boy. What are you doing?
Yes there is. I saw him.
I told you to stay put. Didnt I tell you? Now we've got to go. Come on.
I just wanted to see him, Papa. I just wanted to see him.
The man took him by the arm and they went back up through the yard. The boy
would not stop crying and he would not stop looking back. Come on, the man said.
We've got to go.
I want to see him, Papa.
There's no one to see. Do you want to die? Is that what you want?
I dont care, the boy said, sobbing. I dont care.
The man stopped. He stopped and squatted and held him. I'm sorry, he said.
Dont say that. You musnt say that." (Page 43)
I think these are some of the most significant events in the first half of the book that critiques the human condition in a possible future compared to today's world. The symbolism of the father and the son "carrying the fire" shows how the menacing tool of the world's near destruction doubles as a source of light and life. Fire not only destroys but it also provides light when there is dark, and life when there is death. The second passage comments on humanity during troubling times. Human beings need to care for one another in order to survive. The son is worried about what will become of the supposed boy he saw in the little town. Will he die? Will he live? The son shows true compassion for others despite his own needs.
I was shocked to see the son, who was born during a terrible time of crisis, put away his needs and desires to show affection and worry about the mysterious boy. Even in such times as this, people should still look after one another.
Environment - The Road - Blog Entry 2
"He came forward, holding his belt by one hand. The holes in it marked the
progress of his emaciation and the leather at one side had a lacquered look to it where he was used to stropping the blade of his knife. He stepped down into the roadcut and he looked at the gun and he looked at the boy. Eyes collared in cups of grime and deeply sunk. Like an animal inside a skull looking out the eyeholes. He wore a beard that had been cut square across the bottom with shears and he had a tattoo of a bird on his neck done by someone with an illformed notion of their appearance. He was lean, wiry, rachitic. Dressed in a pair of filthy blue coveralls and a black billcap with the logo of some vanished enterprise embroidered across the front of it.
Where are you going?
I was going to take a crap.
Where are you going with the truck.
I dont know.
What do you mean you dont know? Take the mask off.
He pulled the mask off over his head and stood holding it.
I mean I dont know, he said.
You dont know where you're going?
No.
What's the truck running on.
Diesel fuel.
How much do you have.
There's three fifty-five gallon drums in the bed.
Do you have ammunition for those guns?
He looked back toward the road.
I told you not to look back there.
Yeah. We got ammunition.
Where did you get it?
Found it.
That's a lie. What are you eating.
Whatever we can find.
Whatever you can find.
Yeah. He looked at the boy. You wont shoot, he said.
That's what you think.
You aint got but two shells. Maybe just one. And they'll hear the shot.
Yes they will. But you wont.
How do you figure that?
Because the bullet travels faster than sound. It will be in your brain before you can hear it. To hear it you will need a frontal lobe and things with names like colliculus and temporal gyrus and you wont have them anymore. They'll just be soup.
Are you a doctor?
I'm not anything.
We got a man hurt. It'd be worth your while.
Do I look like an imbecile to you?
I dont know what you look like.
Why are you looking at him?
I can look where I want to.
No you cant. If you look at him again I'll shoot you.
The boy was sitting with both hands on top of his head and looking out between his forearms.
I'll bet that boy is hungry. Why dont you all just come on to the truck? Get something to eat. Aint no need to be such a hard-ass.
You dont have anything to eat. Let's go.
Go where?
Let's go.
I aint goin nowheres.
You're not?
No. I aint.
You think I wont kill you but you're wrong. But what I'd rather do is take you up this road a mile or so and then turn you loose. That's all the head start we need. You wont find us. You wont even know which way we went.
You know what I think?
What do you think.
I think you're chickenshit.
He let go of the belt and it fell in the roadway with the gear hanging from it. A canteen. An old canvas army pouch. A leather sheath for a knife. When he looked up the roadrat was holding the knife in his hand. He'd only taken two steps but he was almost between him and the child.
What do you think you're going to do with that?
He didnt answer. He was a big man but he was very quick. He dove and grabbed the boy and rolled and came up holding him against his chest with the knife at his
throat. The man had already dropped to the ground and he swung with him and
leveled the pistol and fired from a two-handed position balanced on both knees at a distance of six feet. The man fell back instantly and lay with blood bubbling from the hole in his forehead. The boy was lying in his lap with no expression on his face at
all. He shoved the pistol in his belt and slung the knapsack over his shoulder and picked up the boy and turned him around and lifted him over his head and set him on his shoulders and set off up the old roadway at a dead run, holding the boy's
knees, the boy clutching his forehead, covered with gore and mute as a stone." (Pages 32-34).
At this point in the story, the father and the son come across a group of nomadic cannibals. The father and the son take cover in the forest near the side of the main road as they wait for them to pass. Unfortunately, one of the cannibals ventures too far and spots the father and the son. This passage shows the underlying message about the environment and the possibilities that could appear if it isn't treated respectfully. Due to the fires tearing through the world and leaving ashes and remains in it's path as I said in the previous post, people revert to their instincts of survival. Some turn to cannibalism just to have a meal once in a while. The cannibal in this passage attempts to coax the father and the son towards the truck where they will most likely be eaten by the other cannibals. I can't believe that people would become cannibalistic so easily. If an apocalypse-like event were to hit us in our time, I doubt I would have the mental and physical capabilities to consume another human being.
progress of his emaciation and the leather at one side had a lacquered look to it where he was used to stropping the blade of his knife. He stepped down into the roadcut and he looked at the gun and he looked at the boy. Eyes collared in cups of grime and deeply sunk. Like an animal inside a skull looking out the eyeholes. He wore a beard that had been cut square across the bottom with shears and he had a tattoo of a bird on his neck done by someone with an illformed notion of their appearance. He was lean, wiry, rachitic. Dressed in a pair of filthy blue coveralls and a black billcap with the logo of some vanished enterprise embroidered across the front of it.
Where are you going?
I was going to take a crap.
Where are you going with the truck.
I dont know.
What do you mean you dont know? Take the mask off.
He pulled the mask off over his head and stood holding it.
I mean I dont know, he said.
You dont know where you're going?
No.
What's the truck running on.
Diesel fuel.
How much do you have.
There's three fifty-five gallon drums in the bed.
Do you have ammunition for those guns?
He looked back toward the road.
I told you not to look back there.
Yeah. We got ammunition.
Where did you get it?
Found it.
That's a lie. What are you eating.
Whatever we can find.
Whatever you can find.
Yeah. He looked at the boy. You wont shoot, he said.
That's what you think.
You aint got but two shells. Maybe just one. And they'll hear the shot.
Yes they will. But you wont.
How do you figure that?
Because the bullet travels faster than sound. It will be in your brain before you can hear it. To hear it you will need a frontal lobe and things with names like colliculus and temporal gyrus and you wont have them anymore. They'll just be soup.
Are you a doctor?
I'm not anything.
We got a man hurt. It'd be worth your while.
Do I look like an imbecile to you?
I dont know what you look like.
Why are you looking at him?
I can look where I want to.
No you cant. If you look at him again I'll shoot you.
The boy was sitting with both hands on top of his head and looking out between his forearms.
I'll bet that boy is hungry. Why dont you all just come on to the truck? Get something to eat. Aint no need to be such a hard-ass.
You dont have anything to eat. Let's go.
Go where?
Let's go.
I aint goin nowheres.
You're not?
No. I aint.
You think I wont kill you but you're wrong. But what I'd rather do is take you up this road a mile or so and then turn you loose. That's all the head start we need. You wont find us. You wont even know which way we went.
You know what I think?
What do you think.
I think you're chickenshit.
He let go of the belt and it fell in the roadway with the gear hanging from it. A canteen. An old canvas army pouch. A leather sheath for a knife. When he looked up the roadrat was holding the knife in his hand. He'd only taken two steps but he was almost between him and the child.
What do you think you're going to do with that?
He didnt answer. He was a big man but he was very quick. He dove and grabbed the boy and rolled and came up holding him against his chest with the knife at his
throat. The man had already dropped to the ground and he swung with him and
leveled the pistol and fired from a two-handed position balanced on both knees at a distance of six feet. The man fell back instantly and lay with blood bubbling from the hole in his forehead. The boy was lying in his lap with no expression on his face at
all. He shoved the pistol in his belt and slung the knapsack over his shoulder and picked up the boy and turned him around and lifted him over his head and set him on his shoulders and set off up the old roadway at a dead run, holding the boy's
knees, the boy clutching his forehead, covered with gore and mute as a stone." (Pages 32-34).
At this point in the story, the father and the son come across a group of nomadic cannibals. The father and the son take cover in the forest near the side of the main road as they wait for them to pass. Unfortunately, one of the cannibals ventures too far and spots the father and the son. This passage shows the underlying message about the environment and the possibilities that could appear if it isn't treated respectfully. Due to the fires tearing through the world and leaving ashes and remains in it's path as I said in the previous post, people revert to their instincts of survival. Some turn to cannibalism just to have a meal once in a while. The cannibal in this passage attempts to coax the father and the son towards the truck where they will most likely be eaten by the other cannibals. I can't believe that people would become cannibalistic so easily. If an apocalypse-like event were to hit us in our time, I doubt I would have the mental and physical capabilities to consume another human being.
Environment - The Road - Blog Entry 1
"They walked through the dinningroom where the firebrick in the hearth was as yellow as the day it was laid because his mother could not bear to see it blackened. The floor buckled from the rainwater. In the livingroom the bones of a small animal dismembered and placed in a pile. Possible a cat. A glass tumbler by the door. The boy gripped his hand. They went up the stairs and turned and went down the hallway. Small cones of damp plaster standing in the floor. The wooden lathes of the ceiling exposed. He stood in the doorway to his room. A small space under the eaves. This is where I used to sleep. My cot was against this wall. In the nights in their thousands to dream the dreams of a child's imaginings, worlds rich or fearful such as might offer themselves but never the one to be. He pushed open the closet door half expecting to find his childhood things. Raw cold daylight fell through from the roof. Gray as his heart.
We should go, Papa. Can we go?
Yes. We can go.
I'm scared.
I know. I'm sorry.
I'm really scared.
It's all right. We shouldn't have come." (pages 13-14)
Fire has burned through the world and left a trail of death and destruction. Humanity is struggling to survive with what remains from the burned ashes and remains. A father and his son trudge through this post-apocalyptic world as they travel south to avoid the fridgid winter that is slowly creeping up behind them. This passage is from the point in the story where the father and the boy find themselves at their old house from before the great fires. The house has been damaged beyond repair as they walk through the house. McCarthy used imagery such as "the bones of the small animal" and the "firebrick" to give the reader the feeling that everything is lost. The farther traces through his memories of the house and its former self as it is compared to what it is now. The purpose of this is to show how far deep this catastrophic event has gone. I got the feeling of sadness while the father walked through the house, remeniscing about his childhood although now his hopes of survival and keep his son alive are bare.
Our depictions of the future reveal the way humans mistreat the environment and nature and how we take things for granted. When the fires tore through the world, everything changed and people were forced to either starve or find their own source of food which even leads to cannibalism. In today's time we tear down trees and plant-life, pollute our own air, and contaminate our own water in order to take some of the daily complications out of our lives. Humans should take care of the environment they are in if we are to live on; else we find ourselves in a burnt world with no way out but death.
We should go, Papa. Can we go?
Yes. We can go.
I'm scared.
I know. I'm sorry.
I'm really scared.
It's all right. We shouldn't have come." (pages 13-14)
Fire has burned through the world and left a trail of death and destruction. Humanity is struggling to survive with what remains from the burned ashes and remains. A father and his son trudge through this post-apocalyptic world as they travel south to avoid the fridgid winter that is slowly creeping up behind them. This passage is from the point in the story where the father and the boy find themselves at their old house from before the great fires. The house has been damaged beyond repair as they walk through the house. McCarthy used imagery such as "the bones of the small animal" and the "firebrick" to give the reader the feeling that everything is lost. The farther traces through his memories of the house and its former self as it is compared to what it is now. The purpose of this is to show how far deep this catastrophic event has gone. I got the feeling of sadness while the father walked through the house, remeniscing about his childhood although now his hopes of survival and keep his son alive are bare.
Our depictions of the future reveal the way humans mistreat the environment and nature and how we take things for granted. When the fires tore through the world, everything changed and people were forced to either starve or find their own source of food which even leads to cannibalism. In today's time we tear down trees and plant-life, pollute our own air, and contaminate our own water in order to take some of the daily complications out of our lives. Humans should take care of the environment they are in if we are to live on; else we find ourselves in a burnt world with no way out but death.
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Surrogates
This is the trailer for the 2009 movie "Surrogates". With the pace and rate of technological development in the field of robots, the idea of controlling a robot that looks like you, or is customized to look and operate however you want it to doesn't entirely sound like a fantasy. Operating a robot from the comfort of your own home with nothing but a thought process is an interesting and amazing concept to think about. A lot of good can come out of something like this. Wars can be fought without the grim idea of losing hundreds, if not thousands of lives. People who are handicapped can simple plug in and walk around as if their disability never existed. Although such a fantastic technology such as this might exist in the future, it can also bring about negative and scary things for society. A robot has no finger prints, DNA, or any way of identifying who is behind the metal. Terrorist can use these surrogates to attack people and places without even worrying about death. Criminals can exploit the robots to commit crimes without the real person ever being captured and brought to justice. Having a robot that can jump really high, run super fast, and feel no pain sounded like a video game wonderland to me, but when I really delved deeper into the idea and how it can be taken from it's intentional usage and forced to be used for evil acts scares me and I start wondering what our future will really be like with easy access to all of this advanced technology.
Even if this technology could be used for good and bad purposes, who has access to it? Would the robots be available to the highest bidder, or will they be sold to the man with the incredibly deep pockets? Who knows. Anyone who manages to obtain a powerful object such as a surrogate robot shows how corrupt and irresponsible humans are with the technology presented to us. Even in today's time, we use our own technology against us in every way shape, or form. Wars with guns and bombs and other weapons to kill, the internet where people often bully each other and other infinite ways to harm people, and video games that promote violence and negative aspects of the real world are just a few examples of how people can hurt others with technology that is available to even the most innocent of people.
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