Along The Road - Grace & Miracole

The element we chose to explain further and analyze would be Memories. The closest thing to a clear explanation provided in this book is what we learn through flashbacks and dreams. Using our map for guiding this landscape, we chose six stops that each took a look into the aspect of memories, showing the author’s intention to observe how a human mind would work in a world like this.

“Early Memories of His Wife,” takes us back in time to introducing to a past character. A character who must have played an important role in the father’s life is introduced to us on page 18 “In his dreams, his pale bride came to him out of a green leafy canopy. Her nipples pipeclayed and her rib bones painted white.” This quote shows how memory is very limited. Through this dream, we can get a glimpse of the man’s brain as we see flashes of a world that was once vibrant with life but is now only a memory.

Stemming off from that is the “Introduction to Boy Dreams” we enter the boy’s dream world, which is primarily shaped by scary dreams. We believe that McCarthy purposely did not include details of these dreams to point out the Boy’s resistance to telling his father about them. The boy’s character is then deemed weaker but it also shows how truly alone these two characters are in the relationship that they have formed.

The boy’s dreams and the man’s memories clash at the third stop, “Intersection of Memories and Dreams,” which creates a connect between the past and present. This is an important spot that influences not only the characters bond but also the path of their difficult journey across The Road. The quote “The cold of it moved something in him long forgotten. Make a lot. Recite a litany. Remember.” (31), shows the connection to their emotions. The “cold” stands for the bad reality of their situation, something that has a constant sense of suffering. And the phrase “moved something in him long forgotten” refers to an awakening of his memories, a part of him that had been buried by survival and time.

“Flashbacks to the Past,” is where McCarthy uses flashbacks to piece together bits and pieces of the man’s past and then connect to the present. The character’s current state of emptiness is very different from these flashbacks. The way the author writes acts as a way of shifting readers from the depressing present to the happy past where everything is in good shape and not the constant battle of survival.

“Colors in Dreams vs. Reality,” shows the author’s difference between the colors in dreams and the dark and gloomy world. McCarthy does this by using expressive language and vivid imagery. We come across a quote in the book that says, “and the dreams so rich in color. How else would death call you?” (21) This quote mixes the deep meaning of reflecting on death with the life of dream colors.

Finally, and at “EndPoint”, dreams and memories both serve as a deeper look of human nature and story elements. After exploring the challenging roads of a world in collapse the characters find themselves standing at the endpoint, which is the point where the past and future meet. Here, the detail of dreams and the depth of memories combine to provide a window into the strong human spirit.