Without a Plot

When an author doesn't spend time planning out how the book is going to be writtenbeforehand, you can tell. Like Slaughterhouse 5, this book is all over the place. There is a train of thought, but you can tell that the author didn't really plan out what would happen next and instead just went out and wrote whatever came to mind.

If there is one thing that this book has taught me so far is that you must enjoy life while you can. They mentioned in the last interview that people take the idea of an apocalypse far

more seriously than they did about 20 years ago. It is now a far more real possibility. That is part of the reason why this book was so successful; it has become more of a theory of what

might happen instead of some little bedtime story. People like looking at serious things that might happen. It's not so they can prepare for it so that it can happen, but to just have a little taste of what it will be like if it came.

You need a certain passion in order to stay alive. If you become rich in the process, then great. This is the sort of thing that McCarthy said during the third part of the interview with Oprah. And it applies in just about every type of world that will every excist. The man in The Road needs his son in order to give him motivation. McCarthy needs his own son to do the same. And whether it's another human that keeps you moving or the fact that you're doing what you love, it will always help.

Note: I had no plot for this blog

Canary in the Coal mine

I say canary in the coal mine because it is an old method of sending down a canary to a mine and then bringing it back up. It it comes back dead, it means there is too much CO2 and they workers can't go down. It is a form of early warning system. The same thing is true about finding a headless child in the road as you walk by. This serves as an early warning system them simply means "you're a long way from the coast so you might want to hurry".

This just so happens to be the sharpest, most graphic scene so far and it isn't even put into so much detail. It's like reading A child called "it" where there is very little detail in terms of the setting and the events but it is not hard to picture what is going on.

Another early warning system I noticed earlier was the falling ash. Even though they did not make very much of it, it may have been the most dangerous piece in the story. If this turns out to be radioactive material, then they will not live very long at all. The only warnings that these tow are actually taking into account are those that affect them inmediately. Like a seeing a group of people walking in the distance or that dead kid on the floor. They want to avoid human contact as much as possible and with good reason. But that doesn't meant it's the only thing they should avoid.

Continued faith

If I was ever in this sort of situation where the world was simply......dead, I would simply tell myself that god self it a long time ago and loose faith completely. However, the boy and the son still show signs that they remain persevering, and actually faithful to god. And i have no idea why.

This idea had been developing along with the story but I never really noticed it until around page 61 in the word document version. They had just found plenty of food and the father made the kid say a thanks to the people who had provided such feast for the two of them. What caught my attention was the last line of the prayer from the boy that said "we

hope that you're safe in heaven with god" (61p.). Due to the lack of detail and feel in the book, I don't really know well how the man reacted to this last quote. But by the looks of it, they were indeed blessed with what was yet to come. The boy was able to take a bath with warm water at last and they washed their clothes as well. They were almost living like an ordinary family in the house. Does faith and hard work to get the things you want really get you things like these in the worst of situations? Apparently yes in this case.

Looks life fortune really does favor favor the bold. I say this because I don't really think there are too many people like these in the world they are living in now. They are probably the only father and son within 10000 miles. Even an old man says "I never thought to see a child

again (71 p.). If this man old man is saying something like that, then there hasn't been achild anywhere near for quite a long time. So looks like they really are a very bold pair. They act as one instead of two individuals who depend on each other. They make sure the other one is Ok before moving on. They get their act together to mover forward. But most importantly, the love each other.

Register exercise

1. His sir sorry for not attending your class last week but I was very sick. I arrived today from a trip I was for the puente. I wanted to let you know that all my blogs are completed until last week. Furthermore I will talk to you tomorrow for anything else i am missing. Please take a look at them so you can grade them.

thanks, (this is a informal that was trying to be formal)

2. And tonight, let us think back to the sense of unity that prevailed on 9/11. I know that it has, at times, frayed. Yet today’s achievement is a testament to the greatness of our country and the determination of the American people. The cause of securing our country is not complete, but tonight we are once again reminded that America can do whatever we set our mind to. That is the story of our history. Whether it’s the pursuit of prosperity for our people or the struggle for equality for all our citizens, our commitment to stand up for our values abroad, and our sacrifices to make the world a safer place. (definitely ceremonial)

3. OMG! I love lit. Holy mole, I want to be a poet, yo. J (Very informal)

4. In Brooklyn days, I wanted to be Carlos Ortiz, lightweight champion
of the world from Ponce, Puerto Rico. I gazed at the radiance
of the black and white television till it spoke to me in tongues,
a boy spellbound by the grainy spirits who stalked each other in the ring. (Informal/ ceremonial)

5. I pointed out that his force had overthrown the government that issued visas. But, in this kind of a stalemate, the guy with the gun wins. And that was Ayman.

Eventually, he came up with a solution. I would give him a ride to his hometown, Zawarah, and the visa requirement would disappear. I gritted my teeth and told him to jump in.

That incident points to a fear that many Americans have of the Libyan rebels. Are they just goons who will create their own tyranny or chaos?

Particularly after we embraced Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, only to see him engulfed by corruption, it’s fair to ask whether the Libyan rebels will do any better. The uncertainties are real. But, after my recent visit to Libya, I’m guardedly optimistic. (Informal)

What if?

Considering that the man has a son to raise in such conditions, the sight of another human being is the last thing he wants to see. This is especially true in pages 46-49 in the word version of the story. They enter a house to find a multitude of people all naked, cold and scared. He first instinct was to get his son out of there. He had no idea what these peoples' intentions even though they did seem desperate.

Now, i was wondering how the man would have reacted if his he had no son. How would he have reacted if it was only him against the world? Firstly, I don't think he would have been so kind and defensive in situations like these. All he has to loose is his own life and no one else's. So, he would probably take advantage of these people by searching if they have anything of value and then leave. Now, if he were to find himself with people of his own standard (or even higher), he would probably just run for it like he did with his son.

I notice that there are many forms of individualism in this story and in the general world they are living in. The kind the boy and the man are having is trying to isolate themselves completely from any other human contact in fear that something might happen. The type the people in the house had was a little more open since they had absolutely nothing and would have to rely on someone that passed by. The last one I noticed was that of the people outside the house just before the man and the son left running. This type of individualism is more of a "gang" if you will. They depend on each other and probably share everything equally in order stay alive as a one. It's far more efficient but when it comes to conflict decision making, they will have to be very flexible with their peers in order to survive and stay together.

"Will they kill us papa?"(47.) just so happens to be the very evidence that this kid knows well the world they live in. He is still innocent but knows what to look out for and what to expect. Either he has found that out for himself, or his father has trained him over time to know what might happen and how to rect to it. This is a vital element to survive in any world either alone or in a group.

Gray Snow

This is good enough evidence to know that the world is practically dying. We don't really know what has happened to the earth but there are certainly some theories. The term "nuclear winter" refers to the earth after a large amount of nuclear weapons going off in the earth. The amount of radiation is big enough to block all the light from the sun from warming the surface of the earth. And every time that the radiation starts to settle on the ground, the wind picks it back up into the atmosphere. Therefore, it will be an infinite cycle in which the earth will never really have any life. And the idea of "grey snow" is the very description of radioactive material falling from the sky after a nuclear explosion.

But the real definition of grey snow to me is desperation and the fact that even if the man and his son get through this, they won't be living very long at all. Radiation wears off a person't body. It is the very reason that nuclear power plants are being shut down worldwide. However, so far these two travelers haven't really met anyone that is still alive. This means that it has been a while since the event happened and the human race is at the point of dying.

Forget and Remember

In psychology, it is well known that an ugly thought lasts longer in the human mind than a pretty one. In a setting like that of The Road, it especially hard to keep that fact out of the mind. In cases like these, people can either keep thought of desperation and remorse in mind until they eventually die, or choose to think in a more positive form and increase their chances of survival. "You forget that you want to remember and you remember that you want to forget"(P.5) is the very thing that caught my attention to this idea.

Now, it's pretty obvious that the man and the son haven't been in this situation for all their lives. Typically, the things that people "want" to remember are the good memories form when things were not the way they are now. My theory is that these two have been so tied in their purpose to survive through the dark world that they have forgotten to look back at the way things were. This may be with good reason since it might cause a stir of sadness to remember a nice time in the middle of a horrible one. That, or it might only motivate then to move forward for the idea that remembering the nice times brings happiness. And there is nothing that helps you move forward than a happy thought and the hope of even slightly going back to the way things were.

The second part of the quote is not exactly a complete opposite. There is little to know of what is that they want to forget. It could be what happened that made them they way they are now, the good memories that might taunt them, or the memory of loosing someone very precious to them like a mother. But remembering that you don't want to think about something just sticks it in your mind more. So in a way, they are dragging the memories of the bad times in their backs instead of the happy feeling that might help them keep moving.

I find it hard to imagine that while trying to forget, they don't even have a small glimpse of the happy times. Back to the idea of psychology, the bad memories last more than the good. They choose to push the good memories aside. You choose how you want to think knowing that it will probably affect the way you act. But gladly, that's not the entire case. The man has a very good source of motivation. His son. And even though he might choose to think in the most negative form and have all those things on his shoulders slowing him down, he will not stop in sight of giving his son a better future.

An intact gas station

"The windows strangely intact". These are the words that caught my attention in The Road. Something violent has happened in the world and they cannot deal with it. They have to struggle to search for food and when they come upon a good window, it's as if they were seeing hope. They is slowly creeping over them like a shadow. But this man has to do a lot more than just brute force to keep himself and the boy alive. He has to think of everything as an opportunity to survive. Even though the gas station had no food, they were able to retrieve oil to keep themselves war. In these times they have to shift their way of thinking so that everything is a vital tool to survive.

Fortune favors the bold. That is what hopefully will happen to these two. But why is it that life beats down the innocent in the moment of greatest darkness? Even though we all know that it is truly a cruel world, why is it that it has to be especially cruel with those who are already wounded on the grown?

A dying earth

It is well known that there have been countless predictions of the end of the world. Each one has been more embarrassing than the one before that and the one before that. So instead of risking getting embarrassed in front of the rest of the world, writers attempt to imagine what it would be like if it actually happened. The Road just so happens to be one of those stories that attempts to create a possible scenario. But instead of simply how it happens and how everyone is affected, it concentrates on a small scenario about a man and his son struggling to survive the best they can.

Now, they carry a cart with them wherever they go and make sure that if necessary, they

can just grab it all and make a run for it. The first thing I noticed about this was the in idea of individuality. In harsh times, people (through human nature) tend to think only about their own survival. And in the case of this man and his son, he has to take care not only of himself but also the thing he cares about most in the world. The world just so happens to be destroyed and you need to raise your kid as best you can. Life might hit you in the head with a brick. Sometimes you have to make the most out of it when you can. This story is a harsher version of the real life responsibility of raising a son.