The Continuation Into the Dialogue of an Uncertain Future

The pages following those discussed in my previous blog post continue with the Father and Son's narrative of their journey south through the mountains.

One thing that becomes more recurrent as the novel goes on is the increasing presence of civilization and human activity. Also, the conversations between the two characters are slowly increasing and becoming longer. For example, the first dialogue in the book, page 5 is barely three lines long and it's blended in with the rest of the text. In contrast, the conversation on  page 34 takes up almost half of the text space.

It's also possible to say that their few phrases are getting deeper, but in truth,  they have never been shallow. If you just read the conversations quickly and ignore the rest of the text that follows them, then you won't find much meaning. This is due to the fact that what really makes their short and succinct dialogues meaningful are the actions that have taken place before, after and during the conversation. Therefore, the few exchanges that may seem insignificant due to their length are actually much heavier to the text and contribute insight to the Father and Son's relationship.

Referring to a different part of the book now, when both are awaken by the earthquake, a refugee scene is depicted. Once the description of the broken people is done, four short yet very powerful sentences follow: "Look around you. Ever is a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. Ever is no time at all." (28) These sentences seem like a dialogue at first but once you reread them, it's as if though the reader was getting into the boy's mind. Also, the dramatic notion of having all the time in the world by saying that "(e)ver is a long time" makes both of them seem as if they will be there forever, yet "ever" being "no time at all" just destroys that concept and leaves you with a conflicting feeling between which perspective is more positive than the other given the circumstances.

How far would you go looking for survival in a deranged world without becoming deranged yourself?  Or are you already deranged to want to save yourself  there? This question hovers in my head every time I open the book. I'm always considering the reasons why someone would ever go through that experience willingly. It doesn't mean I'd give up, it just means that not only have I began to admire these character's strength, it also means that learning from the experience, I'd never want to be in their position. Basically, I see no point in being the last ones on Earth if there's only crazy people to share it with.

Also, I always wonder what would happen to the boy if they do actually make it to the end. Because of his age, the father is obviously like to die earlier than the boy, leaving him adrift in the crazy land of no one. The Father lives for his son, therefore something leads me to believe that the boy won't make it and they will both die. I suppose I'm hoping for this dramatic ending because I couldn't possibly picture someone living alone in the world, I feel too bad for them. I am welcoming though,  any unexpected encounters with more sane people....