Big+Bertha

1. How do we feel about the man stopping in the camp site to die? Think it was wise because he might not have found the other man

2. Why do we think the boy came back to his father's corpse repeatedly? Wants to see his father maybe some last times, and that it felt safe as a place to return to out of fear.

3. How do we feel about the ending? Liked it because it provided him the perfect situation and fulfilled the father's wishes, but I personally didn't like the ending.

Literary Luminary: “When the light broke over the beach again he saw that the boy was bent and was whispering to himself.” Q: Why did the boy whisper to himself? What was the meaning of that? Make a guess, what did the boy whisper to himself? Sometimes the boy just seems lonely, so he talks to himself. “He shook his head. I don’t know what we’re doing, he said. The man started to answer. But he didn’t. After a while he said: There are people. There are people and we’ll find them. You’ll see.” Q: why did the man start to answer then he do not? Does this action show anything about the man changing? Why did the man say about there are people and they want to find them? The man is giving the boy hope(because he doesn't haave any left) that even after he dies there will be other to help him.

Literary Luminary: "On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery" (241). -What is McCarthy using the trout as a motif for? Why is the trout significant? As they are traveling through the world, they are learning different things that are always going to be a part of them. It is also saying that the values in the world will always be present as long as humanity is on the Earth.

"You have to make it like talk that you imagine. And you'll hear me. You have to practice" (235). -Why would the dad encourage his son to talk to him after his death? So the boy didn't feel alone b/c the father didn't know if the boy would find other.

"If I'm not here you can still talk to me. You can talk to me and I'll talk to you. You'll see" (235)... "that the breath of God was his breath yet though it pass from man to man through all of time" (241). -Why is the woman so accepting of the boy talking to his dad over God? She realizes that the dad is the only thing he has ever believed in. Ely even asked the dad who the boy believed in and the boy didn't know. Also, at that time people started to forget there religion due to the situation of the world. Discussion 5:

Why is the boy being so nice to strangers? It goes back to him feeling lonely. If he is more accepting, maybe they will stay. He wants to be around more people then just his father. He wants to also interact with others. How are the boys morals being tested? Even when the robber took all of the man and the boys stuff, after they got it back the boy made the man track the robber down to give him back his shoes and clothes. And even when they didn't find him they still left it on the side of the road. Do you think this is because of his religion? No, its solely based on his morals and his kind heart. The boy hasn't really been exposed to religion or church. Why does the man leave the robbers stuff for him? The boy basically makes him. We dont think it was b/c of the boys was upset. The man doesn't really have high morals, he just cars about surviving and making sure his son is ok.

Connection Master: 1. “They lay in a field until dark watching the road but no one came.” (p186) From this quote, I can tell that this world already had no one except the man and the boy. Darkness is everywhere and around them; the road only had the man and the boy. It remains me that they were facing the end of the world, and they had no choice to do. Also, they had to face the death, struggle with surviving.

2. “Years later he’d stood in the charred ruins of a library where blackened books lay in pools of water. Shelves tipped over. Some rage at the lies arranged in their thousands row on row.” In this quote, I can tell that this world already lose the control. Everything was out the control. People had riot, and lose their minds. It remains me the scenes from Disaster Movie which everything was on fire.

Integrity: Even though no one was watching them and they weren't saying this for glory they still said a pray for the people who didnt make it. "Dear people, thank you for all this food and stuff. We know that you saved it for yourself and if you were here we wouldnt eat it no matter how hungry we were and we're sorry that you didnt get to eat it and we hope that you're safe in heaven with God" (146). Honesty: A great example of honesty is when the boy asked the man straight forward if they will die. Even though it may have been a harsh thing to do, the man was 100% honest with the boy. "Are we going to die?" "Sometime. Not now" (10).

Discussion 4:

Literary Luminary: "We have to take a look. We have no choice. I dont want to. We havent eaten in days. I'm not hungry. No, you're starving. I dont want to go there Papa. Q: why is the boy so hesitant to go into the house? A: Because from the house before, the boy was pretty much scared to ever go into any house.

"But they didnt get to use it. No. They didnt. They died, Yes. Is it okay for us to take it? Yes. It is. They would want us to. Just like we would want them to. Q What does this show about what the man is teaching the boy about people in the world? A:The man is just trying to find an excuse to make the boy eat and he does not want to be straight forward. A:There are good and bad people in the world and the man wants the boy to be a good person.

Discussion Director: 1) Discuss the event from this section 2) What would you do if you were in the position of the man and boy and you saw the men and pregnant lady coming? 3) Do you think there will be consequences for the boy swimming in the ocean? -- If so, what? 4) What do you think McCarthy was trying to point out when he wrote “When we’re all gone at last then there’ll be nobody here but death and his days will be numbered too. He’ll be out in the road with nothing to do and nobody to do it to” (145-146)?

Connection Master: “Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave…. There is no God and we are his prophets” (143) This is the antagonist in the story thus far showing us the other side of viewing the world. Though the man was losing hope, this old man made his views on the world and their progress look very positive.

“He looked like a pile of rags fallen off a cart” (137) This is the description of the old man and maybe the man is in this state because he clearly has no hope (the quote above), and maybe McCarthy was trying to convey that if you have no hope you'll end up in a poor state.

Vocabulary Miser: Carpenter: work as a woodworker who makes or repairs wooden objects. “Rough stairs carpentered out of two by tens leading down into the darkness.” (p137)

Cartridge: ammunition consisting of a cylindrical casing containing an explosive charge and a bullet; fired from a rifle or handgun. “He found a box of .45 ACP cartridges and three boxes of .30-30 rifle shells.” (p147)

Discussion 3: “Dear people, thank you for all this food and stuff … We’re sorry that you didn’t get to eat it and we hope that you’re safe in heaven with God” (123). 1) What is the boy talking about in this quote? The capsule that had food, shelter, clothes and other items such as these. 2) What does the show about the boy (beliefs, character, personality)? He's naive, maybe he's religious or is turning to god in this desperate time. 3) What do you think happened to the people who owned this safe haven? They probably were killed.

"hideous shrieks coming from the house" (97). 1) What did the house turn out to be used for? It was used to lure other to be locked in and eaten by people watching over the house. 2) Do you think others have fallen for this trap? Probably, it's set up very well. 3) What did the father and son do to escape this trap? Run into the woods.

Vocabulary: Ashen: Resembling ashes, especially in color Translucent: Allowing light, but not detailed images, to pass through; semitransparent. Rotunda: a round building or room Languor: An oppressive stillness of the air.

Literary Luminary: “We should go get him, Papa. We could get him and take him with us. We could take him and we could take the god .The dog could catch something to eat. We can’t. And I’d give that little boy half of my food.” Q: Why did the boy want to take the little boy, even the dog, with them? How did the boy feel when he saw the boy and heard the dog?. “Behind them came wagons drawn by slaves in harness and piled with goods of war and after that the women, perhaps a dozen in number, some of them pregnant, and lastly a supplementary consort of catamites illclothed against the cold and fitted in dogcollars and youked each to each.” Q: Those guys wore weird clothing. Who were they? Why were they so weird? How did those guys form this group?

“Huddled against the back wall were naked people, male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. On the mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt. The smell was hideous.”

Q: why were those naked people down there? What happened to them? Who did enjail them?

Why do we think that these people are in the cellar of the house? They are used as bait to lure people into the room so that they can be captured/eaten. Fed small amounts of food enough to keep them alive.

What happened when the man gave the boy the gun? Why is this significant? He wanted him to shoot himself if anything happened so that he wasn't tortured, raped, or eaten.

Discussion 2 Discussion Director: Literary Luminary:
 * 1) ====Who is the girl which the man holds in the dream?====
 * 2) The woman he loves, potentially his wife.
 * 3) ====Why does the man always dream about this girl?====
 * 4) She wanted to die and she did, and he has lot of memories about her that continue to haunt him in her absence.
 * 5) ====There are a lot of dreams, why are they meaningful?====
 * 6) Shows us things about the characters in the past, and how they've been effected by the losses of the apocalyptic situation
 * 7) ====Is there any evidence that proves that there are other people than both of the men?====
 * 8) They said they have met other people in the past, and we see them come into contact with the "bad guys," when they come in the truck and the man has to kill the one bad man who comes out towards them to relieve himself
 * 1) ===="He walked out in the grey light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness, implacable. The blind dogs of the sun in their running, the crushing black vacuum of the universe. And somewhere two hunted animals trebling like ground foxes in there cover borrowed time in borrowed world with borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it."====
 * 2) He is facing death, and reminiscing of how the world used to be.
 * 3) ===="What are you doing?" he hissed. "What are you doing?" / "There is a little boy papa." "There is no little boy. What are you doing?" / "Yes there is. I saw him."====
 * 4) Could the man have seen the boy and be lying to the boy? Why would he do that? I think he definitely could lie to the boy and he could be motivated to do so because he cannot take care of himself and two boys, it is hard enough with one.

Big Bertha--

We are_Big Bertha_ and we are interested in_knowing how the events have affected his beliefs and religion. Also, how the world got like this._

Discussion One:

Discussion Director:

What do you think of the character so far? -The man is very bold and wants to survive for his son What did the man have dreams about? The wedding with his wife, the memory of his childhood

Connection Master: “A small space under the eaves. This is where I used to sleep. My cot was against this wall. In the nights in their thousands to dream the dreams of a child’s imaginings, worlds rich or fearful such as might offer themselves but never the one to be.” Here remains me that this place where the man used to sleep looks like where Harry Potter used to sleep, the place was small, but it was sweet and warm.

“The peeling wooden clapboards were largely gone from the lower walls for firewood leaving the suds and the insulation exposed. The rotted screening from the back porch lay on the concrete terrace. ” It looked like the house was pretty old, and was rotted. The house just liked the house maybe in horror movie. The environment around the house was desolate. Nobody was around. 1. Reminds us of a scary movie 2. Also reminds us of a haunted house

Literary Luminary (p. 1 – 30): “The cold and the silence. The ashes of the late world carried on the bleak and temporal winds to and fro in the void.” Page 11, Lines 2-4 Questions What do we believe is the void? What do we believe the ashes originate from? Fire, burning buildings, natural disaster could have caused the many fires. What caused this fire? “Are you there? he whispered. Will I see you at the last? Have you a neck by which to throttle you? Have you a heart? Damn you eternally have you a soul? Oh God, he whispered. Oh God.” Page 11-12, Lines 20-2

Discussion Director: Do we think his faith is wavering? -I dont think his faith is wavering, I think it's an expression we use. Does anyone believe in their religion? -Yes Do we think that we would still have faith if we were in his situation? -Yes -No

Vocabulary Miser: Decanting- To pour (a liquid) from one container into another. “In the service bay he dragged out the steel trashdrum and tipped it over and pawed out all the quart plastic oil bottle. Then they sat in the floor decanting them of their dregs one by one, leaving the bottle to stand upside down until at the end they had almost a half a quart of motor oil.” (p. 7)

Effigies- a crude figure representing a hated person “…in the bottom of the bins they found a few ancient runner beans and what looked to have once been apricots, long dried to wrinkled effigies of themselves.” (p. 22)