My map focuses on the symbol of the road.The symbol that I think the road is giving is a Post-Apocalyptic vibe.I think McCarthy’s intent in making this symbol is to show the reader how much life has changed and how hard it has gotten after the apocalypse.Everything the man and the boy did was based on survival.The road is like a never ending road to problems such as shelter,food,and regular life as they knew it.On page 158 it states “They sat for a long time.They sat on their folded blankets and watched the road in both directions.No wind.Nothing.After a while the boy said there’s not any crows are there?”McCarthy is showing what life has came to.On page 159 it states”Sketched upon the pall of soot downstream the outline of a burnt city like a black paper scrim”.This shows that something drastic has happened that changed the whole planet around.The man and the boy wish that they can have a peaceful life.They are the only ones who didn’t turn to cannibalism even though they see it all around them.It must have been very hard to not turn into a cannibal when you are very hungry and can’t really find any food.I also think McCarthy’s purpose of this post-apocalyptic symbol of the road is to prove that if you stay strong and stick together then you will survive and to not give up. I brought this map together by putting together quotes in order that tie into the road being a post-apocalyptic symbol.I used Canva and I added images that matched the quotes of the book that I chose.

In the first episode of “Turning Pages”, our hosts Amber, Hawa & Faith came together to talk about the themes and symbolic elements in the first 100 pages of the novel ” Americanah” by Nigerian Author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vwIQ2zq27xvOCZJ8msWCn6QdGIXdw_6y/view?usp=sharing

LATE GROUP

In this episode of the Paradise Podcast, we go over certain ideals about the different characters and the fact that one of the main characters can be seen as munilipative and/or pushy about wanting everything done their way. There is some arguing back and forth, so grab your popcorn and enjoy!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-3epOwMsnr8Oak5Dg77E-VdDBYgbG6Zg/view?usp=sharing

In the first episode of our podcast “Reading Between the Lines” we will explore the characters, themes, symbols, and storylines emerging in the first few chapters of Yaa Gyasi’s “Homegoing,” focusing on the two families followed by this book, connected by their common matriarch Maame.

https://www.wevideo.com/view/3286382298

In this episode, we review the literal and figurative themes and ideas of The White Tiger, a novel by Aravind Adiga. We delve into figurative themes, including but not limited to religion and liberation, and more literal ideas—such as the formatting of the book and Balram’s characterization. The first two chapters were covered in this episode.

Google Drive Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1b2NE12QEjufCviFhSryE3EvQ_EM4dq6Y/view?usp=sharing

In this episode of “Dear God”, our hosts Caleb, Gabi, Miracole, Fatima, and Grace sat down to discuss “The Color Purple”. The main protagonist Celie and her tumultuous life and relationships are at the center of the conversation. The hosts conversed about literary elements, dynamic characters, and complex relationships.

In this episode of Newspeak, we talk on how much we have read int the book. We delve into the initial chapters, world building. Wait till the end of this episode, where we talk about our hot takes.

My project focuses on many of the people that the man and boy have encountered on the road. There are many occurrences of the man and boy throughout the drawing. The man is visualized in a purple shirt, used to represent his personal battle between good (blue) and evil (purple), and the boy is wearing yellow as he is hopeful and optimistic, therefore being one of the shining lights left in a dark world. There are four obstacles on this map, in chronological order. The first one classified as “the rat”, is on page 61, where a man kidnaps the boy and the man threatens to shoot him. The rat “dove and grabbed the boy and rolled and came up holding him against his chest with the knife at his throat. The man […] fired from a two-handed position balanced on both knees at a distance of six feet. The man fell back instantly and lay with blood bubbling from the hole in his forehead.” The picture shows the man firing at the rat while the rat has a knife in his hands and is in hot pursuit of the boy. The next thing on the timeline is multiple people in “the bunker” that the man and the boy end up stumbling upon on pg. 103, where they find “naked people, male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. On the mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt. The smell was hideous. Jesus, he whispered. Then one by one they turned and blinked in the pitiful light. ‘Help us, they whispered. Please help us.’” The picture shows the despair on the face of the people in the bunker, while the man and boy are expressionless in shock. The second to last occurrence is “the thief”, who ends up stealing the man and boy’s cart, and the boy breaks the news to the man on pg. 250, where they follow the tracks of the cart and chase the thief. After they find him, the man tells the thief to “Get away from the cart. He looked at them. He looked at the boy. He was an outcast from one of the communes and the fingers of his right hand had been cut away. He tried to hide it behind him. A sort of fleshy spatula. The cart was piled high. He’d taken everything.” The man holds out his gun and threatens the guy, telling him to give everything to them, even the thief’s own clothes. And then the last one is where the boy encounters his new family after the man dies. “Someone was coming. He started to turn and go back into the woods but he didn’t. He just stood in the road and waited, the pistol in his hand. He’d piled all the blankets on his father and he was cold and he was hungry. The man that hove into view and stood there looking at him was dressed in a gray and yellow ski parka. He carried a shotgun upside down over his shoulder on a braided leather lanyard and he wore a nylon bandolier filled with shells for the gun”

In Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” the story unfolds in a world affected by post-apocalyptic desolation, where religious themes weave through the narrative, offering glimpses of divine presence amidst existential hardships. The novel is steeped in an overarching sense of spiritual absence, creating a shadow of existential despair on its characters, specifically Papa and the boy. The quote, “If he is not the word of God, God never spoke,” alludes to a deep bond between a figure, most likely the boy, and a higher being, a bond that gives life and hope to an otherwise godless and desolate environment. The journey of the father and son is seen with moral ideas, prompting reflections on goodness in the sense of somewhat religious guidance. The father’s endeavors to impart a moral compass to the boy is all seen throughout the book, “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God.” This underscores the father’s belief in having a purpose and reflects the ongoing struggle for morality and meaning in their dark society.

Symbolic elements, like the sailboat named “Pájaro de Esperanza” ( translating to the bird of hope), are introduced, evoking religious imagery from the Old Testament. The image of the bird of hope set against the harsh facts of the outside world suggests that, despite hardship, there may be hope for restoration and a better life in the “South”. The father’s final revelation to the boy—”It’s inside you. It was always there. I can see it”—serves as a poignant conclusion. This moment underscores the innate goodness within the boy and implies a connection to a divine spark that transcends the surrounding desolation.

In conclusion, “The Road” explores religous and spiritual topics including the moving tale of a father and son traveling through a failing world. The religious overtones deepen the story and invite readers to consider morality, faith, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of overwhelming hardship

The story of the father and son is complicated, yet simple. Their relationship is stranded, yet as close as it can be. This is all because of the dad’s actions. He consistently put his son first, trying to protect him from the outside world, but the son sees through it. On their journey, the son finds out what the harsh reality of the post-apocalyptic world they live in is, and the reality of who his father is. They encountered a lot of danger throughout their journey. There were several times they had to run away from danger as a result of the people coming to take their stuff. The dad told his son, “Dont look back there. Look at me. If you call out you’re dead.” (pg. 63) as when you stop to assess the situation, that’s when you’ll get caught. This was the first moment of reality for the son, as before that, his dad had successfully kept him in a bubble. The pressure of living in this world was immense. The constant looking over their shoulders to make sure no one was following them or hiding from loot seekers so they didn’t take their stuff was getting to the father. “If you’re on the lookout all the time does that mean you’re scared all the time? Well, I suppose you have to be scared enough to be on the lookout in the first place. – Do you always expect it? Papa? I do.” (pg. 151) This was the first real look into the mindset of the father outside of thinking about his son. It’s the first thing he shared with his son that opened to door to the real world, and it made me wonder; if he’s so scared of letting his son in on the truth about society, why tell him this? It made me realize that the dad was trying to teach his son how to live on his own but in a P.G. kind of way.
When a man tries to steal everything they own, the father catches him in the act. He puts a gun in the man’s face and tells him to strip, giving them everything he had on him. The son realizes that the dad wanted to do more than just take back what was theirs. He begged his dad to just let the man go, but the dad let his anger win (at least I think he killed him). The son is devastated, unwilling to speak to his father about anything. This is when the son came to a conclusion about the kind of man his father was. He realized that his dad had become a victim of society and that he wanted to be nothing like his father. Throughout their journey, the father had been sick. He was constantly coughing and taking breaks to catch his breath, and eventually, it came to a head. The father knew he was dying, and the son didn’t know what to do. He was overwhelmed with emotions, and couldn’t imagine his dad leaving him. “He slept close to his father that night and held him but when he woke up in the morning his father was cold and stiff.” (pg. 281) The son stayed by his father for days but finally decided to venture up the road. He ran into a man on the road and when they went back to where his father laid to rest, the man from the road told the boy he needed to keep moving. The son wanted to bring his father with him, but the man told him how unrealistic that was. He said his final goodbyes and off he went. These moments shaped the way the son views the world because of the son’s connection to the events. Everything the dad was doing was for his son, and the son knew that which I think is part of the reason he was so upset with a lot of the things his father did. He was protected from the bad things in the world for so long that when he encountered them, he didn’t know how to handle them. He looked up to his dad when the book started, and at the end, he couldn’t have wanted to be more different.