Comments on: Passage http://www.steveersinghaus.com/archives/854 Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:51:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: susan http://www.steveersinghaus.com/archives/854/comment-page-1#comment-12487 susan Wed, 23 May 2007 04:01:43 +0000 http://steveersinghaus.com/archives/854#comment-12487 The cataclysmic event that begins the book is one point, the journey from where it begins for the man and the boy through an unchanging landscape to where it ends at a border--the coast, may be a passage of time and space. But I would think that the cycles are measured in the changes within the characters; the man weakens, the boy becomes stronger. The catalyst for the changes are not real events--although I suppose they could be called such--but meetings with other people or things people have left behind. After each interaction, things are learned, reactions are stored and adjustments are made. So yes, I'd agree that The Road could be seen in sequences totally aside from the present and backstory as timelines. The cataclysmic event that begins the book is one point, the journey from where it begins for the man and the boy through an unchanging landscape to where it ends at a border–the coast, may be a passage of time and space. But I would think that the cycles are measured in the changes within the characters; the man weakens, the boy becomes stronger. The catalyst for the changes are not real events–although I suppose they could be called such–but meetings with other people or things people have left behind. After each interaction, things are learned, reactions are stored and adjustments are made. So yes, I’d agree that The Road could be seen in sequences totally aside from the present and backstory as timelines.

]]> By: Steve http://www.steveersinghaus.com/archives/854/comment-page-1#comment-12482 Steve Wed, 23 May 2007 02:43:26 +0000 http://steveersinghaus.com/archives/854#comment-12482 In Beowulf and the Arthurian stories I tend to emphasize the notion of cycles because, it seems to me, the power of the stories themselves depend a lot on the perception, articulation, and rituals of change. I wonder if we can read The Road in this light, where passage still happens and, at the end, there is the slight hint of hope. In Beowulf and the Arthurian stories I tend to emphasize the notion of cycles because, it seems to me, the power of the stories themselves depend a lot on the perception, articulation, and rituals of change.

I wonder if we can read The Road in this light, where passage still happens and, at the end, there is the slight hint of hope.

]]> By: susan http://www.steveersinghaus.com/archives/854/comment-page-1#comment-12468 susan Tue, 22 May 2007 18:43:49 +0000 http://steveersinghaus.com/archives/854#comment-12468 Very interesting and complex; questions and answers opening more avenues of thinking. As an ending can bring grief or joy, so too a beginning. I suppose then it matters more on the perception of an event as a beginning or an end. Food for thought; thanks--it can always be taken personally as relative as I guess all close reading can be. Very interesting and complex; questions and answers opening more avenues of thinking. As an ending can bring grief or joy, so too a beginning. I suppose then it matters more on the perception of an event as a beginning or an end. Food for thought; thanks–it can always be taken personally as relative as I guess all close reading can be.

]]>