The Ending
- Hope- child is in a nuclear family, may be loved and cared for
- Loneliness- the only constant in his life has passed on, abandonment, isolation, no family left
- Luck- throughout the novel they have had no luck, after the mans death the child is left with a nuclear family, sudden alteration of luck
- Deus et machina (God is in the machine)- one thing happens to fix everything, the child meeting the family,
Where does the end begin?
My opinion- the beach
Page 230
'the gray beach'- after the journey throughout the whole book so far still no colour, limited visual imagery, disappointment
'desolation of some alien sea'- empty, bleak
'vast and cold shifting'- the same as the rest of the world, emptiness, death
'gray squall line of ash'- imagery of 'ash' used throughout the novel, emphasizes the similarity of the beach to the rest of the it. All the same, no future
'He could see the disappointment in his face'- visually aware of their disappointment
'I'm sorry it's not blue'- NO COLOUR. Described at the beginning to be scanning the horizon for (page 3) 'anything of colour' still none. Journey is wasted, demoralized, uncertainty
'smog across the horizon'- everywhere is in the same situation, no colour anywhere, world is bleak, death is impending
'bleak sea' - no colour, limited palette.
'Cold. Desolate. Birdless'- links to quote on (page 2) 'Barren, silent, godless' reinforces the similarity throughout whole book. Journey here means nothing as it is desolate as is the rest of the world
'any ships out there?'- the naivety of the child, still hopeful, younger generation hope, bleak reality 'I don't think so'
Links
Loss of hope: mother committing suicide
Lack of colour: throughout whole novel 'gray' 'ash'
Themes
Disappointment, lack of hope, fear, uncertainty, repetition, crushing, monotonous, dejecting, anti-climax, limited linguistic palette.
- Looking for something colourful- hope. That somewhere in the world there is promise of recovery, safety but there is none.
- Whole book has worked towards this journey- arrive and it is exactly the same as the rest of the world. Crushing reality, uncertainty
- Where will they go from here?
- Harsh reality of everything being the same
- Contents of sea is also dead- where life began 'life pool'
- Shortly after man dies- symbolizes him giving up, lost heart the moment they reached the beach perhaps, empty promises, no where to go, lonely
Other Opinions- When The Man Dies
- throughout whole book man has been looking after child- in charge, helping him
- Niave/hopeful child relentlessly positive, moral compass for the man
Quotes
'Old dreams'- past hopes, no longer his, empty
'unknown creatures'- fear, unknown future
'fading light'- end of his hope, the light is fading, fire fading metaphor
Page 300
'point of no return'- giving up, gone too far
'cold corridor'- been travelling long corridor, emptiness, futile
'by the light they carried' pointless, death is inevitable
Page 298
'You said you wouldn't ever leave me'- alters from lack of emotion shown in rest of the book.
emotions being unmasked- true colours, heart wrenching
out pour of grief
loss of hope, no one left
boy prevents the man from killing him- symbol of morals, 'good guys' moral compass