Cormac McCarthy The Crossing
This story contains an almost equal balance of good and evil, though it also raises questions of what is truly good. It blurs the line between good and selfish or thoughtless. Characters’ actions sometimes appear impure, but in the long run, are good.
In this story Billy is faced with a wide range of undeserved punishments, but shows good through all of them with his strong will and determination. He accepts the things that happen to him in a levelheaded manner, which works to keep the story from becoming a tragedy. The first instance of undeserved punishment is the death of Billy’s family. Not only was he unable to help them in any way, there was no good reason for it to happen. While Billy could lose
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While Billy and Boyd are trying to get to Casas Grandes, another good-hearted character appears. After an old man draws them a map in the sand, three of the four men sitting on a nearby bench begin laughing at Billy and Boyd. Billy asks if the map is incorrect, and one man says that it’s, “not a question of a correct map, but of any map at all.” While the three men mock the boys, one man actually is kind and helpful to them. The man tells the boys of landmarks on the path, and the duration of the journey. Instead of just agreeing with his peers and mocking Billy and Boyd, the man went against what was expected of him to help them out.
Another character who demonstrates purity in his actions is the doctor who helps Boyd. The doctors initial statement is, “You have nothing to pay of course.” He doesn’t even seem to expect payment for his services. Even when Billy offers him a horse, the doctor won’t accept it. Rather than bettering himself, the doctor is more concerned with helping Boyd. Many modern day doctors would think only of the cost of their time and effort, not of the health of the patient, while the doctor in the story is working for the greater good, rather than money.
Gary Paulsen is the author of the novel The Crossing. The main character in this story is a young boy named Manny. The only family he has is himself and he lives on the streets of Mexico. Many homeless children of Mexico, like Manny, think crossing the border to the United States of America will solve all their problems and life will be good.
Both The Road by Cormac McCarthy and The Empties by Jess Row are apocalyptic stories that describe the state of human civilization after the annihilation of civil society. Whereas in The Road civil society is destroyed and remains defunct after the apocalypse, The Empties tells of a people who are able to bounce back and reestablish their society. Many people today live their lives aimlessly, squandering their time day by day, partaking in life’s pleasures, and living for their own selfish reasons. McCarthy and Row bring attention to the selfishness and self-absorption that plagues today’s teens by showing two different possible scenarios following an apocalyptic event, resulting from a fundamental difference
The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy takes the reader on a journey through Mexico and South Western United States through the eyes of the protagonist Billy Parham, a young cowboy who began the story as young and naive, wishing for an adventure. He finds it when Billy captures the wolf that he and his father were hunting and, instead of killing the animal, he instead decides to take her back to the Mexican Mountains. Along the way, he began to deeply care for it and believe that it’s a “being of great order” that knew “what men do not,” willing to risk his own life to guarantee her safety (McCarthy 59-60). However, on his trip, Billy and the wolf get caught by Mexican authorities who decide to give the wolf to a circus. When Billy is released,
In a world where survival is your only concern, what would you do to stay alive? This is one of many thought-provoking questions that Cormac McCarthy encourages in his book, The Road. McCarthy, a Rhode Island native is a seasoned author, with more than 14 other works in his portfolio. McCarthy is a very private man, and there isn’t a lot known about him. The lack of information on McCarthy does not reflect his writing abilities, which are very strong and not lacking at all.
There are a lot of good in the world, but there may also be a lot of evil that exists. This story written by Rudolfo Anaya discusses about a young man and an elderly lady attempting to end the battle amongst good and evil that is happening through their town during World War II. In the novel Bless Me, Ultima Anaya uses characters to explore the true meanings of good and evil by comparing those that believe and those who don’t believe, death of Lupito and Narciso, and including characters that are both good and bad.
As one is put through times of strife and struggle, an individual begins to lose their sense of human moral and switch into survival mode. Their main focus is their own survival, not of another's. In the post-apocalyptic novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a father and son travel along the road towards the coast, while battling to survive the harsh weather and scarce food supply, as well as avoid any threats that could do them harm. Throughout their journey along the road, the father and son are exposed to the horrid remnants of humanity. As a result, the father and son constantly refer to themselves as “the good guys” and that they “carry the fire”, meaning they carry the last existing spark of humanity within themselves. By the acts of compassion
THEME: The line between good and evil is sometimes unclear, and as a result, people often think that they are doing the right thing when it is actually the wrong action, and vice versa.
Archetypal criticism follows a basic rule of categorizing or relating any work of literature into a set framework. It works from a subjective basis, it is used to determine and grasp the ideas of universal truths messages through literary work. The universal truths and messages are determined by identifying patterns like character types, storylines, settings, symbols. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a novel that accurately exemplifies the principles of archetypal criticism. This narrative account associates the characters of a young minor and his father to encapsulate the ideas of archetypal criticism. McCarthy presents the novel by setting the scene of a death-defying journey through a post-apocalyptic wasteland of America. The young lad
In the excerpt of Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Crossing McCarthy uses literary techniques that convey an impact on the main character. The literary strategies used are the tone of the excerpt that is created by the syntax, diction, and figurative language used in the excerpt. This allows for what can be interpreted as to what the author is trying to impact. The techniques can give the feeling that the main character is one with the wolf and can have similar feelings to a real life passing and funeral.
The peruser is left to consider whether Billy would have been more hopeless in life on the off chance that he had attempted to battle his fate. Vonnegut utilizes the protagonist, Billy Pilgrim, to portray multiple themes to the reader and does it
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is his post-apocalyptic magnus opus which combines a riveting plot along with an unconventional prose style. Released in 2006, the novel has won awards such as the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award (Wilson). Oprah Winfrey also selected the book for her book club ("Cormac McCarthy”). The author, Cormac McCarthy, was born in 1933 in Rhode Island and is said to have wrote the novel because of his son and their relationship. The Road centers around a boy and his father while they try to survive after an unknown disaster occurs. While some people may argue that the unusual style takes away from the novel, it adds to the tone and meaning of the work.
Imagine yourself living in a barren, desolate, cold, dreary world, with a constant fear of the future. The Road, written by Cormac McCarthy and published in 2006, is a vivid and heartwarming novel that takes us through the journey of a father and a son as they travel South in a post-apocalyptic environment facing persistent challenges and struggles. McCarthy proves that love unleashes immense strength to overcome obstacles, even in times of desperation.
As children, many people become accustomed to utilizing the words “good” and “bad” in daily speech. Whether it is to describe how one is feeling or the nature of a decision made, the practice of binary labeling becomes a habit. In the novel The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coehlo and the short story The Lottery by Shirley Jackson, the villagers must choose between what they perceive as good and what is not. The issue presented in both pieces of literature is whether the good of the many is worth the sacrifice of one individual, bringing to light the question of what really is “good”.
Good and evil is an ever present feature of human history. Their presence is reflected through the ages in tales of great heroism and extraordinary villainy. Such tales provides insight into human nature, whether they involve two people or two thousand. The essence of heroism and villainy are found in deeds rather than in numbers. It is the deeds that pique our interest and lead us to wonder what prompts a man or woman to perform such acts.
My impression of The Crossing was that an interesting yet an educational film of American history. Additionally, I was amazed at how the actors played each character, how they portray Washington was an original thinker, and how important his decision was to the American Revolution