Wednesday, January 26, 2011
The Winder Wasn't Turning
In The Road by McCarthy, there is a passage that stuck out to me, it was the scene when the little boy had a particular nightmare, the nightmare with the little wind-up penguin that came around the corner in a house, but it hadn't been turned. This scene displayed an enormous amount of dismay through the text. The boy had woken up scared from in because "the winder wasn't turning" yet it kept on coming towards him. This could possibly mean that even though the man and the boy hadn't asked for all this world to come about and the boy didn't asked to be born in such a world, that it happened anyway. A sense of hopelessness and inevitability came across in this passage that brought a wave of emotion pouring out. Also, as the father tries to comfort his son, he says "sometimes dreams can be scary". Which is referring to his own misfortune with experiencing nightmares just like his son, but his are a little more frightening as we found out right off the bat with the first page of the book. The father dreams of monsters in a cave, while the son dreams of wind-up toys that work without being wound up. This contrast, I think shows the audience that even though they both have nightmares they are portrayed in a different light with each. While the Father's dreams are masked with horror and disparity, the boy's are a little more innocent, even though still scary, with "possessed toys". But also, the father has good dreams which I think he is even more afraid of, because he knows that he can't stay there and that it's not real. The boy doesn't have these sort of dreams because he was born in darkness and if he does it's probably only because his dad tells him stories of the "old days".
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This passage stuck out to me as well. Personally, just growing up, I've had terrifying dreams that when you wake up and think about it, they weren't scary at all. The boys fear was so vivid and he was so shaken you could truly feel the loneliness and lack of hope in this "new world". I like your contrast of both the father and the son's dreams in that they can both be very frightening, yet one really is less than the other.
ReplyDeleteThis passage does a great job of recreating that kind of vague unpleasantness found in childhood dreams, where things aren't obviously threatening or menacing but are frightening because of their simple WRONGNESS. The image itself is harmless by the light of day but that feeling of uneasiness you had in the dream stays with you. It's interesting how children react in such emotional, intuitive ways to situations. The novel often highlights the differences between the two characters, and I think this passage does it in a very clever way.
ReplyDeleteThis passage raises several questions for me about the boy. It's interesting how he trys to explain to his father how his dream to him had more meaning. He quickly trys to ensure his father that the dream was scarier despite how it sounded. This makes me wonder what other dreams does the boy have. If he has nothing but a world of darkness, what could he dream about? Through the book, we are bombarded with dreams from the father, but what about the son. And why is he reluctant to express himself to his father?
ReplyDeleteThis passage really stuck out to me also and I like your analysis of the passage it makes a lot of sense when you put it like that. I think in this part that it shows how the boys fears may be small but to him they are a bigger deal and that the dream meant something to him.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about the boys dream. It gave me a creepy feeling because the toy did seem possessed. Under possession, I wonder what force was behind the toy, like what force was drawing the toy closer to the boy? I would think that in a time where the boy probably did not have the luxery of playing with childish toys like the wind-up penguin, it is wierd that a toy coming to "play" with him would creep him out. I guess what is dark in the child's mind are the things that he is afraid to because he has never done it before. (i.e. PLAY)
ReplyDeleteI believe this is a part that caught my attention as well. I find it interesting that most likely the child's past experiences in his own world is not the world he envisions like his father tells stories about the pre-apocalyptic world. Everyone has weird dreams once in a while, but the dream when the winder is not turning that the child dreamt is a sign that in his world, its not peaceful and the father and the child struggle for constant survival heading to the south for hopes of a habitable place.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, how did you get your background template to be black and white? Its custom is it not?
ReplyDelete