Page 227-230
Throughout the novel the characters have a specific destination, they travel south to reach the shore, this destination promises light in a world where there is non, however they are wary and try not to have too much hope
There is happiness in the build up to reaching the shore, they have new clothes and even spares however this mood is kept contained by reminders of the desolate world around them, with reference to death in the past and their lack of food, 'They ate more sparingly.' The reader feels reluctant to believe that the coast will provide light and safety, in a post apocalyptic world in which everywhere is 'gray' I felt great doubt that the sea would be blue, everything else has been destroyed and painted in ash so the sea wouldn't be different. They are met by a 'gray beach'.
'Cold. Desolate. Birdless.' childhood memories of the seaside are of the sun, great crowds of tourists and seagulls, what the man and the boy are met by is the complete opposite. A reminder of the deathscape they are suffering in.
Sarah, it's important to consider the 'end' of the novel. This has always been their destination and their potential place of redemption yet they arrive here and then...nothing. Nothing at all. It's bleak, barren and desolate. Look at Leah's evaluation of this event, it is very good.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the man has held on until he reached the shore, he was careful to not be too hopeful as everything in the dead world is disappointing, He may have waited until he got the boy to the sea, holding on to the glimmer of hope that the sea may provide a little touch of colour within the 'Gray' world,and then let go and allowed himself to die. If the family the boy goes with in the end are the 'good guys' then the sea has provided hope and a new beginning so perhaps although colour and safety together wasn't given, the boy found new hope and the ability to start a new journey- a colourful new start.
ReplyDelete