Week 3 Post A

Definitions

Cormac McCarthy's writing style uses many unconventional words that I seldom encounter. As a result, I may have more definitions than just two.

Basalt (30)-he dark, dense igneous rock of a lava flow or minor intrusion, composed essentially of labradorite and pyroxene and often displaying a columnar structure.

Piedmont (40)-a plateau between the coastal plain and the Appalachian Mountains, including parts of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.

Penitent (46)-Roman Catholic Church. a person who confesses sin and submits to a penance.

Figurative language

Following a stone wall in the dark, wrapped in his blanket, kneeling in the ashes like a penitent."(46). I didn't know what a penitent was, however using the context I was able to guess that it was some sort of religious person. The word "like" made it a simile which was an easy target for my figurative language section of my blog. Describing the father as a penitent shows the weakness and the vulnerability that he is going through. McCarthy uses small scenes like these to characterize the father and son in unique and interesting ways.

Reflecting back the sun deep in the darkness like a flash of knives in a cave"(35). This quote sounds like a nice and thoughtful simile however, McCarthy is actually describing dead bodies in the bottom of a semi truck and comparing them to knives in a cave. Pretty delicious ehh?

"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, coved with gore and mute as stone"(56). Contrary to popular belief, I didn't use this quote solely because it is a very long quote. The figurative language at the end of the quote is more significant to the reader if it is given in context. McCarthy describes the boy as "mute as stone" to show the state of shock that he is in. His father has just murdered a random traveler and now the two are running for their lives.

Quote

"He wiped the blood from his face and held him. It's okay, he said. It's okay"(57). OMG! The father has just killed his first victim. He is clearly turning into a psychopathic killer who will stop at nothing to drink the blood of others.

Theme

The main theme at this point in the book is simple, run for your freekin lives. Or if you want a more English oriented equivalent of that last sentence, every man for himself.