The Road so far...

"Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world." (Page 1)
   - Glaucoma is a disease of the eyes in which vision is gradually impaired until blindness, Cormac McCarthy uses this as a metaphor to describe a number of things and to help establish the tone and mood of the novel at an early stage. Firstly, McCarthy uses the word to describe the dimming of the landscape, it could also be representative of the gradual loss of morals in humanity throughout the novel. Morality proves itself to be a vital element of the novel and questions whether or not morality is inherent in humanity (the boy appears at many times to have a higher moral understanding than the man.) The Road seems to question the morality of present day America by including things already prevalent in today's society, references to grocery carts and cans of coca cola could indicate that the moral decline described was itself inherent in mankind. The word choice also makes the reader aware of the gradual decline and depression of the plot.

"Like pilgrims in a fable" (Page 1)
   - "Pilgrims" is another important word choice from McCarthy, The Road like many of his other works features strong religious themes with heavy sacramental imagery throughout. In a sense the Man and Boy's journey on the road is like a religious pilgrimage; the destination, rather than some deep spiritual realisation, is a journey to the man's death led by the boy. The choice of "pilgrim" also gives the reader insight into the boy's affiliations with God "if he was not the word of God God never spoke." Another thing questioned in the novel is the existence of God in a dead world. Ely becomes an important character in questioning the boy's connection to God and "the fire" and makes the reader question the validity of their pilgrimage to death. The fire becomes a central motif for the boy's sacred nature and the motif adds to the boy's christ like iconography. It is interesting to mention that the novel's draft title was "The Grail."

"Each the other's world entire" (Page 4)
   - This quote is important in McCarthy's characterisation of the man and the boy, it shows that it is their belief in each other that allows them to continue living in a dead world. The question is whether the only reason they mean so much to each other is due to the lack of anything else to be part of their world. They are "each the other's world entire" but that is only because there is nothing else left. 

Tone
   - McCarthy creates an overbearing sense of melancholia throughout the novel representative of the post apocalyptic deteriorating society the man and boy now belong to. McCarthy combines this sadness and mourning with what could be described as a celebration of the world as it is today. This elegiac tone is created through the juxtaposition of the description of the post apocalyptic world in full detail alongside the various analeptic scenes. For example the beautiful description of fishing with the man's uncle in page 11 "His straw hat. His cob pipe in his teeth and a thin drool swinging from the pipe bowl" is placed just after the description of a corpse "A corpse in the doorway dried to leather."

"His hand rose and fell softly with each precious breath"
   - The key word in this quote is "precious" it allows the reader to know that at the heart of this story of declination and hollow morals and a dead world is the story of the relationship between a father and son, it is without a doubt that the boy is "precious" to the man. The real interest in this is a matter of what justifies something as precious in this post apocalyptic world, the man seems to see at least a part of the boy's value in his ability as a ladder to god, one last beacon of hope in a dim, grey world. But his viewpoint is criticised during the section in which the man and boy meet Ely. Ely claims that there is no God, something that a real prophet would surely not do, Ely points out that "there are no god spoke men on the road" it is important not to take Ely's claims too seriously as there is no real proof that his name is Ely and his name is spelt differently from the biblical Eli. 

"He kept constant watch behind him in the mirror." (Page 24)
   - This quote highlights just how inhospitable the environment is in The Road, danger surrounds them in the darkening landscape and it is a matter of vital importance for survival that all corners are watched. Cormac McCarthy is also providing the reader with more evidence for the man's previous occupation, it becomes clear that the man was not an ordinary person before the end of the world. His survival instincts and medical knowledge show that he is intelligent and well trained but also add to a sense of reality to the novel. It is important to remember that in actuality surviving a disaster of this scale would be extremely difficult in such a small group. The mirror attached to the grocery cart also builds a sense of paranoia within the novel, a theme prevalent in fiction of the postmodern genre. The man at many times in the book seems paranoid, it is up to the reader to decide whether or not this is always justified.