Zooming Out

In a more general perspective the book keeps its reader interested while always maintaining an overall constant tone through the whole work. This tone flows with the context in which it the story takes place. Anguish, solitude and powerlessness remain constant for both father and son. If we continue, we even see that this son and father have something in common with city life. They do not try to live but to survive. As I continued to read through I realized that they became the carcass that used to contain a human being, as society defines it. Now, they are empty, like moving corpses striving to survive.

We can see the state of their mind from the way both characters interact with each other. For example, when they discussed whether they will die or not due to their lack of food, I did not feel fear or even any emotions at all. This type of conversation does not remain unique in the book but repeats itself and continues from beginning to end. This is it:

“Why do you think we're going to die?

I don’t know.

Stop saying I don’t know.

Okay.

Why do you think we're going to die?

We don’t have anything to eat.

We'll find something.

Okay.

How long do you think people can go without food?

I don’t know.

But how long do you think?

Maybe a few days.

And then what? You fall over dead?

Yes.” (100)

In this point I realized they were not trying to reach any goals with their endless walk. They were just fighting for survive but only because they fear death like animals fear death. No longer did they wonder what came after death or what it would mean to the other. It was simply an event that had to happen and that should be avoided if possible but not something to worry about. The reason I came to this conclusion is the neutral tone of the conversation. They analyze their possibilities of survival coldly and don’t show any trace of fear. Death can only be talked about like this if one no longer fears it.

I also realized that there was no small talk between them during their long walking periods. If any, it was concise and greatly composed of monosyllables. Enjoying life no longer interested them, only surviving. This reminded me greatly of the life we have which can sometimes lead us to concentrating so much on obtaining what we need that we forget what we want that makes us happy. The two of them have lost the possibility of achieving happiness from their sight either because they no longer care about it or they no longer believe they can obtain it. Although the setting we see here is post-apocalyptic I believe this can be applied to our current situations. Could this be one of the intended messages this book had? This reminded me that zooming out can be good since we are able to see where we are truly aiming at with out actions.