BA#1 McCarthy's The Road

I: In the road there are many secrets that are kept from the reader right from the beginning. One of the biggest secrets kept from the reader is the fact of why so many people are dead. The author does not let you know what disaster was caused so many deaths. What happened could have been man made or environmental. Without knowing for sure how the situation is down south, the boy and Papa are hoping for a warmer and greater place to live.

II: This first secret leads us to another secret of why only the boy, his mother, and Papa were among only the few to survive what happened. If we knew answers to either of these to secrets then we may be able to justify why they survived or what happened. The first secret also leads to another secret of where exactly are they. All we know is that they are on an interstate and they are heading south. If we knew exactly where they were we may be able to justify whether the disaster was man made or not and how they could have survived depending on what kind of disaster occurred.

III: The secrets I chose may not be entirely significant to understanding the narrative but may definately be wanted by some people. If we knew all the answers to the secrets though, the reader would not be on the same level as the characters. It seems as if right now the characters may be just as lost as we are. We, the reader, are on the same path the characters are and we must read/walk on to find out the answers to the secrets.