Pages 73-130

Binoculars, half pint of gas, pair of pliers, bottle of water, two spoons, five cans of food, can opener, parka, blankets.

Not much time left. Little to eat, nothing for warmth, etc

Without food the cold will kill them, no energy to travel south, etc

Like an anointing (oil, part of baptism)

Ritualistic (forms) Ceremonial

Author describes this religiously to reinforce the Christ-like qualities in The Boy

Man would see it that way as The Boy is all that is good he has left

The Man probably used to love God, now angry at God if there is one.

Chalice is a cup usually for holding something very important or holy

The Boy’s hair is his head. Inside the head is all that is holy, all that is good left in the entire world for The Man

The Chalice is often associated with the Last Supper, the wine glass (blood of Christ)

First human he had talked to in over a year, other than The Boy

Calls him a brother (fellow survivor)

Brother turned evil (Cain and Abel)

This evil has made every part of the old world a lie! ( the man was a cannibal)

Sorry they were discovered by the truck people

Sorry that The Boy had to see his father kill a man

Sorry The Boy was covered in brains

Not his fault, he defended The Boy and did his best to avoid people throughout the novel

Made the Boy a flute

Did so because Boy unhappy, in shock, and not talking to The Man

Did it to make Boy happy, normalcy, make him forget about the truck people, pass the time etc

Boy liked it, played it

Man thought this might be the last music in the world, or the birth of a new kind of music for a new world

They have to risk it as they are virtually out of food

They have to risk it as they are freezing and have little blankets and shelter materials

Given the recent experience with the truck people seeking out a place where there is people may lead to their death

Risk is great but so is reward. If they go they might die, but if they don’t they WILL die

Found nothing, everything rifled years ago; nothing even in the trash!

Some dusty suits, no shoes Supermarket had no food left, no vitamins Nothing in the houses’ cupboards either Found baking soda but no food Did get a blanket off a corpse in a bed Without finding food no better off there

Without finding much more than suit jackets and one blanket not much better off there

Without finding anything of use they are just as desperate as they were before

On verge of death if they don’t find something soon

Man tried to catch the dog to kill and eat it

Boy didn’t want anything to happen to the dog

Felt bad for the dog, alone like him (except parents)

Shows he is a caring, empathetic boy for someone in the ‘end of days’

By forgetting where he is all the worries of the day to day life gone for just a moment

Perhaps he might have thought all the bad stuff was just a dream, he will awaken with his pregnant wife

I’ve had this, wake up thinking it’s Saturday but then realize you have school

Dreamt won lottery, wake up realize nope, still broke

They are the good people

They carry within them all that is good

Hope, religion, spirituality all inside of them

The old society has died in so many but not them, at least not yet

They are trying to keep alive the old ways, the old society

Cornmeal with rat droppings in it

Grain from a hopper dust and all

Shriveled up and dried apples

Ditch water strained through a rag

Handful of dried raisons from his pocket

Plodded on, when camped didn’t even talk Man had bad feeling, beyond despair Names of things disappearing as they died off Birds, things to eat, the names of things one

used to think was true, in time all things will wink out forever

Slept through the night letting fire go out b/c exhausted

This sounds like he is almost given up hope Will still struggle on for The Boy, but losing hope

quickly!

The truck people The town with smoke The feeling they are being watched Finding evidence of cannibalism in the woods

(guts and bloody grass) The army of people on the road with wagons,

slaves, and captured women Wagon tracks in the snow See two guys on the road, one looks in their

direction The people in the house for food

Shapes of dried blood in grass Guts in the grass Wall strewn with human skulls with

dried skin, tattooed by an amateur Some skulls flailed of skin, others

bashed in Omen is a sign something bad to

happen Next day army of the bloodcult walk by,

and shortly they find the house where people kept to kill and eat

Four abreast, all wearing “red” scarves Some carried pipes with leather straps,

and chain bludgeoning devices at the end

Wearing masks, shabby clothes Phalanx carrying spears or lances with

ribbons on them Slaves in harnesses pulled wagons,

behind them women (some pregnant) and catamites (boys to rape)

The trees begin to fall over due to weight of snow

After the apocalypse the burnt dead trees stood for awhile, but with no roots, the dead wood begins to fall

The world is dying even more.

Eventually no woods for shelter, no wood for fire

He’s very tired Post traumatic stress (truck people)

Army of the blood cult, the people in the house

Lack of food, no sugar to brain (hurts learning etc)

He’s getting sicker, coughing more Does not bode well. If the man can’t

walk they can’t go south. They will die. If The Man dies The Boy will too

If cannot concentrate may make mistakes leading to their death

Left cart behind

Left it behind b/c could not push it in the snow

Means they would have to carry less with them

Means they are in desperation mode

Means they may soon die

Means they may be starting to give up

Starving so have to find food Freezing so need to find clothing/blankets Go inside, see clothing piled up, soup

cooked, trash everywhere including excrement, and a locked room

Go outside to find way to break lock (food in there) and see the wagon that made the tracks in the snow and ash days before

See cauldron used for rendering hogs (people)

Smokehouse for smoking the meat

Back inside and open basement In basement naked people (explains cloths) Man with legs cut off (cauterized) on a mattress These people had been captured, and kept as

food storage The bad people were eating them a little at a

time Civilization and humanity GONE for so many Inhumanity to fellow humans. Capture, torture,

eat

Man was going to run drawing the four bad people away form The Boy

The Boy would have the gun to kill himself if needed

Couldn’t go through with it as couldn’t leave The Boy

If couldn’t leave him doubt he’ll be able to kill him

Would die to defend him, and maybe kill him at last moment, but cannot give up on keeping his child alive

In running from the house, got lost. Losing sense of direction and memories of how to navigate the woods

His mind was betraying him (sugar, stress) Boy had to be carried, but The Man couldn’t

carry him far (stopped to rest every 50 steps) Wakes up and stands up only to almost fall

(head rush from BP) Head slumping forward (tired) Boy didn’t wake for hours, looked like

deathcamp survivors so thin

Grape flavoured powder drink (Kool Aid) TOOLS: Spoon, boxcutter (utility blade),

screwdriver FOOD: old dried shriveled apples, more

than he could carry Mason jars, and a cistern full of clean water Most imp obviously apples and water. Could

keep them living for a few more days Not enough for long term survival, but

enough to keep them going!

Cows no longer can live without man Chickens, most other domesticated

animals Some may have gotten out (pigs, horses,

dogs, cats) but they would have a hard time finding food and died off, or been killed for food

Lice would be virtually extinct as well This would bother him as the old life gone

yet again, and could NEVER come back

Gave them energy to go on

Gave them sugar rush (little)

Prevented dehydration

Gave them a bit of hope

Not much of anything, but enough for a few more days

Now they just have to find more

Long a night as he could remember

Cold beyond cold

Wet ground, rain storm, and no lighter for fire (dropped it running from the house with the food people)

Coughing again, louder (woke the child)

Soaked and lost (had map, but didn’t know where they were)

They are starving, and everyone The Boy has seen who is starving has turned to cannibalism

The Man would not, He is Good

The author repeats carrying the fire to tell us THEY ARE the hope of the world (along with others like them)

Assignment You need to identify one or more significant

symbol. This is out of 5 therefore you need 5 key

points related to symbols found in the book. You can use comparison, contrasting ideas

etc. Symbols: the road, trees, sky,

landscape, snow/ash houses, people, towns, countryside, father, son, grocery cart, wheels, tarp.