Page 270-278
'Then coming back to the camp late in the day he saw bootprints in the sand' this sentence allows the reader to know they have been robbed before they find out, this is a form of dramatic irony, it creates suspense as we wait for the scene before them to be described.
Short sentences are used to quicken the pace as the man is quickly realising that their chances of surviving without these things are low. 'The tarp was gone. Their blankets.'
'They took everything' not just referring to the loss of belongings and food but to the loss of hope and of life. Whoever took the cart took with them all chance of the man and boy surviving, the thief left and replaced the camp with death in his wake.
The man is determined, he has been through moments within the book where he has wanted to just die because it's the easiest thing to do however when faced with the prospect that they will die he is determined to right the situation. Almost heroic?
They turn into detectives- 'It was a half teaspoon of beachsand' the boy also shows an eagerness to help, he finds such a small amount of sand even though he's exhausted.
'A pace he thought he'd be able to keep up but he couldn't' -incredibly weak, they really need their supplies.
The image of the thief's right hand as a 'fleshy spatula' is quite gory and helps create a feeling of disgust as this man had a chance of surviving but acted selfish and lost that chance. the removal of his hand symbolises the removal of his ability to stay human and stay one of the 'good guys'.
repetition of everything being taken.
'I'm going to leave you the way you left us' Justice.
The boy is like a God as the man said earlier in the book, he wants to help anyone he meets and looks for the good in everything even if there is none, this angelic personality is presented through the theft of their belongings. 'Just help him, Papa.' they leave the mans clothes in the road- they still have humanity within them.
'I am the one.' he believes he's the one with the guilt, everything bad that happens appears to affect the boy more as he is young and thinks about al the little details.
In the book it is not considered stealing when the man and boy take things, the boy always makes sure in his mind that the people they are taking from are dead so don't need the things, this is for his conscience, they are good people, however the thief steals from them when they still need the items therefore he is a bad person.Slightly ironic.
Chapter title- The loss of everything.
I'd have called this chapter Vengeance. Why?
ReplyDeleteBecause the man wants to leave the thief as he left them, with nothing, however the man goes one step further and leaves him a humiliated victim, this act is evil and he needs the little boy (Possibly his God) to reign him in and help him hold on to his integrity and his hold on humanity. The boy claims revenge when he wants to help the thief, in a world where everyone is desperate people are selfish, the thief wouldn't have expected to be shown kindness therefore the boy treats him badly by being nice, the shock of kindness is a punishment as the thief would feel great guilt when realising he had doomed a child to death, then for that child to show him compassion would have been a slap in the face.
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