ipl-logo

Cormac Mccarthy's Perception Of Hopelessness

610 Words3 Pages

Hopelessness is the feeling of desolation, something one would turn to when there’s simply no more options. It haunts the human in a myriad of ways and in Cormac McCarthy’s novel, this topic is traversed. McCarthy’s novel expands upon this topic with many indications of hopelessness. In his tragedy, McCarthy tells the story about a father and son who live on an abandoned earth, which was devastated by fire. Some of the aforementioned symbols include the infant. The flare pistol and the Coca-Cola can. These items are seemingly ordinary in our present day lives, but work to assure the ultimate fall of the characters' hopes. McCarthy’s characters are human, and humans will feel hopelessness much like McCarthy’s characters do. Hopelessness will always recur at the death site of a child, as it is human nature to want to protect our young. Hence why the infant was the symbol with the heaviest effect on both the Boy and the reader. The infant is also the most compelling symbol because it was a fetus, something that had not yet the ability to protect itself when faced with danger. It only instilled more horror and hopelessness because of the …show more content…

The pistol had the potential to provide the characters with hope, but consequently, due to the desolate setting and lack of intelligent (or friendly) life it was the opposite. Flares are often used in cases where one might be in distress - which the characters are. The pistol is to be the thing that leads to your saving, but with no one around to save them. The Boy and the Man leave without saving. The bright light on the pistol symbolizes their hope which they see slowly diminish. This may also have represented the good left in humanity, which seemed only to be possessed by the Boy and his father, but they watch as even that leaves. In all the flare pistol is a symbol of abandonment from everyone, including their

Show More
Related
634 Words | 3 Pages

The cat, the L shaped barn, the red pickle dish, and the elm tree all have an important symbolic meaning to the story. Wharton uses all these objects as a way of creating and developing the theme of failure in this story. One major, but not the most important symbol used in this novel is the Fromes family cat. The cat is used symbolically throughout the book.

Read More
427 Words | 2 Pages

Symbolism uses symbols to represent ideas or qualities, such as loss, grief, or pain. This idea is of utmost importance because, in the novel Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse, two symbols show the suffering of Billie Jo and Daddy. Hence, the author uses symbolism to explain the loss in Billie Jo’s and Daddy’s lives, using the gaping hole that daddy digs and the missing cranberry sauce. Primarily, Billie Jo’s symbol for suffering loss was the cranberry sauce, as it represents her loss of her mother.

Read More
518 Words | 3 Pages

Throughout the entire story, one can perceive many objects as being symbolic. Three in particular are the yellow star that the jews were forced to wear, the captured Jews’ empty homes, and the German officer’s baton. Taking a closer look at the symbols in Night, one can see that the yellow star stands for segregation, the empty homes stand for deprivation, and the officer's baton stands for the social hierarchy.

Read More
521 Words | 3 Pages

Sarah Ryan March 23, 2016 Female Spies in World War II Females were not respected during World War II but they were very successful. The use of spies grew drastically during this war because it was a great tactic for warfare. Many women got involved because women were not allowed in combat, and it was hard for females to find any sort of job in war, so women became spies to be part of the warfare. Female spies were not allowed in combat, so a spy was the perfect fit for women who wanted to be in the warfare, and they ended up being very successful. Military units would not expect a female to be working in the warfare.

Read More
392 Words | 2 Pages

A symbol that stood out the most as a reader of the poem, was the symbolism of the old cars and scrap metal in the junk yard. In the junk yard there are numerous old cars and pieces of scrap metal. Although the pieces of scrap metal and cars are old from the time that they have sat in the junk yard, they are all still alive with their past. The metal and cars represent the two rebellious teenagers because their secret encounters will too soon become a memory like the metal and cars. The only thing that will be left of

Read More
609 Words | 3 Pages

But this time through the nursery. Yet the symbolism of the nursery changes depending on the character. This is because the nursery plays a different role in each of the characters lives. To the children the nursery has the symbolism of protection. To the parents the nursery symbolizes multiple things, such as fear and confusion.

Read More
997 Words | 4 Pages

The images convey to the reader that the black boy and bullet struggle for survival. They are more similar and if they were both people more likely would be friends than enemies. The imagery that the poet uses is that it almost sounds like two boys growing up together with giving personification towards the bullet with it being fast and loud like a song. Other imagery would be the longing for warmth that both have and forcibly attempting to be hard.

Read More
649 Words | 3 Pages

Since the flamethrower killed people, it symbolizes death. For example, in the book, it said that “the Captain’s dead,” (Bradbury 131). Montag said, “he found the audio-capsule, he heard your voice, he was going to trace it. I killed him with the flamethrower,” (Bradbury 131). For instance, the flamethrower represents murder because it killed the Captain.

Read More
731 Words | 3 Pages

The book, All Quiet On The Western Front, by Erich Remarque, tells what happens to a group of German teenagers during World War I. Throughout this novel, Remarque has certain symbols for objects in the book that represent or mean something. For example, Kemmerich’s boots symbolized death. That’s just one example but there are a bunch more symbols and they all have connections to each other.

Read More
183 Words | 1 Pages

Dennis Radar spend his whole life committing heinous acts. As most serial killers, they begin with minor, abnormal acts until they gain more confident and secure with themselves to commit more daring acts. With the influences of killing small animals, violent pornographic and homicidal materials, Dennis developed a sadistic nature towards women and a superiority complex towards others. People were views as interior beings as women were viewed as objects that are to be used for his own sexual pleasure which was to bound them, torture them and kill them. However, the BTK killer wasn’t limited to attacking just women.

Read More
992 Words | 4 Pages

This is just like his children’s obvious rage and hatred towards them, constantly there, beating on their parents just like the sun. At the end of the story, the author says, “The vultures were dropping down from the burning sky” (Bradbury 13). This quote connects back to the symbol of the sun because after the children kill their parents out of anger for being denied something for once in their life, the sun continues to shine. It continues burning the truth into the skin and eyes of all who see or feel it. All of this demonstrates the central theme because it shows how the children have always had technology to take care of them and do everything for them, blinding them to what life truly is, what it could be, and blinding them from the meaning of

Read More
1208 Words | 5 Pages

Because different characters possess different qualities based on their experiences. Symbols are used to illustrate both the beauty and the ugliness in humanity. And the setting in which the character is raised has either a negative or positive effect on the characters actions. This topic is relevant because it is important to understand that the slightest things such as the tone you use to raise a child can have an effect on the way they will conduct themselves in the

Read More
897 Words | 4 Pages

Another symbol is the road, which is a desolate, transient thing full of danger, the man refers to them as "blood cults". The director really emphasises the importance of the fire by the way it contrasts against the gloomy dark post apocalyptic

Read More
1557 Words | 7 Pages

and they later find coordinates to Lost Creek, sending them there to look for their dad. Another symbol would be the dark. Whenever the woman in white strikes it is at night and when Mary and Jess were killed it was a night. The dark represents evil, the unknown, and in most cases death.

Read More
801 Words | 4 Pages

Already in the title she used two symbols, compass and torch, and she I using it as metaphors for helping each other to a good relationship. The compass, symbolize a road to find a better relationship. The torch symbolizes hope because without the compasses they will be lost and how the father and son want their relationship to be in the future. “A torch is for lighting when the time comes, for lighting up the expedition of father and son (p.2 l 51-52). But they both forget their compass so their wishes failed, and when the father takes the torch away, he also takes the hope form a relationship to his son.

Read More

More about Cormac Mccarthy's Perception Of Hopelessness

Related Topics

Open Document