Rhetoric Study

The most standout and clearly used rhetorical device in The Road was imagery. Throughout the entire novel McCarthy used imagery to convey the feeling of bleak despair in the main character's situation. The text uses words such as bleak, grey, dark and other shadowy, negative feeling words to emphasize the mood and the setting the majority of the book takes place in. McCarthy also uses more positive, godly words when describing or involving the two main characters. instead of 'black' words, he uses 'white' words, such as golden, light, and clean. the difference between these words and the way McCarthy describes the scenes that the characters experience both provide perfect mental visualizations of the author's ideas, they also continue to separate the main theme that the world is bad, and the Man and the Boy are good.

Cormac McCarthy

Cormac McCarthy, the author behind The Road, has also written many other well renowned and reviewed novels. The Road won both the  Pulitzer Prize, and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction. His arguably next most well known book No Country for Old Men was adapted into a movie and won four academy awards. Compared o William Faulkner by many modern critics, McCarthy's works have been published by the same man that published Faulkner's up until his death. Throughout McCarthy's lengthy career he has accumulated a multitude of grants and awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, and the Faulkner Prize, both highly prestigious awards to be given.

Image Study

The Man and The Boy

This photo from the feature film The Road illustrates the Man's devotion and extreme will to protect his son from all of the world's dangers. The gun in the Man's hand shows that he will kill if necessary to protect his son, while the way he is holding the Boy close to him shows his love and paternal devotion to the Boy.

Oprah interviews Cormac McCarthy

http://www.oprah.com/oprahbookclub/Cormac-McCarthy-on-Writing

Cormac McCarthy, the author of The Road, speaks with Oprah Winfrey about the impact, meaning, and success of his book. The two speak about what Cormac sees when he reads the book, and about what critics have read into the story and found. A very interesting interview to say the least.