Monday 21 November 2011

Statements to agree with:

'Avoiding emotional language and keeping it simple makes the narrative all the more emotionally engaging.'
The simplicity of McCarthy's language reflects the simplicity of the world in which the characters live; an unknown force has destroyed civilisation as the reader knows it and the goal is now simply to survive, not live. The minimilistic dialogue and description shows the characters' disconnection to the world, especially in the case of the man who has experienced civilisation and is now witnessing a 'cold glaucoma dimming away the world', which could mean he's now seeing the world in a different light and is watching the last remains of his past life disappear. There is simply nothing for the characters to project their emotion at, so the avoidance of emotional language reflects their existances which are devoid of feelings. Initially the simplistic language makes the reader feel disconnected to the novel since there are no dramatic climaxes to hold their attention and have them feeling empathy towards the characters, who are not even given names. However, this sense of dettachment creates a link between the characters and reader since the feelings of disconnection whilst reading the novel link in with the characters feeling disconnected from their world. Therefore, the reader is experiencing similar feelings to the characters so he/she is engaging with the narrative and understanding the charatcers' reactions to events much more than if the language was over dramatic and full of unnecessary emotion.
 If McCarthy had used strong, emotional language, the effect of making the reader empathise with the characters' dire situation would have been ruined because by keeping the language as simplistic as possible, the reader is granted a greater insight into their lives than if McCarthy had used hyperbolic language full of emotion;  then he would almost be lying to the reader since the characters' numbness and apathy towards the world would not be portrayed effectively. One example is during the wife's suicide. There are no desperate pleas from her husband and she does not even say goodbye to her son; 'the coldness of it was her final gift' and that sentence makes the scene significantly more emotionally engaging than if the man had shown his true feelings. It shows the reader that the characters actually want to be as cut off from emotion as possible and ironically this makes the reader engage with the narrative because it's inconcievable to the typical reader  why a man would not stop his wife killing herself and then why their only child would simply ask 'she's gone isn't she?' At this point in the novel, the reader feels imense pity for the characters, despite them not being able to experience this emotion themselves.

1 comment:

  1. Wonderful work Meg. You capture McCarthy's style and intention perfectly, you pick apt references from the text to support your points and write with great clarity

    Like many of your peers my request now is that you speak up in class.

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