It is said that a fault of the poem is the over-emphasized moral ending. How satisfying do you find the poems moral that "he prayeth well, who loveth well Both man and bird and beast"?

The ending of the rime of the ancient mariner (trotam) does lay on a heavy handed moral message about respecting all gods creatures. Whether this helps bring a satisfying end to the story or a anti-climatic ending. It helps bring resolution to the mariners suffering and gives it purpose.  Or does is it a obvious and uninteresting way to end such an abstract poem as trotam.

Arguing that is a satisfying ending to the poem you must first look back at the rest of the poem. The torment of the mariner by God is truly horrific. But it clearly shows a purpose, when he recognise's the beauty of the sea snakes "their beauty might declare" his curse is lifted as he now appreciates Gods creations, unlike when he shot the albatross. The ending "loveth well both man and bird and beast" shows he has learned the moral message. In this way the ending is very satisfying as it gives the rest of the poem purpose.

Alternatively the moral ending to the poem is unnecessarily obvious and over-emphasized. Trotam is full of subtle hints to religion, like the drinking of the blood "I sucked my blood" is a metaphor of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. The ending however is too heavy handed in its reveal of the moral message that is clearly shown through the progression of the novel. This ruins the feel of the ending and seems less sophisticated when compared to the subtlety of the rest of the poem.

Another fault of this ending is that it adds to the disappointing ending to the poem. The mariner goes through purgatory to pay for his sins (shooting the albatross), but even after that ordeal he must walk the earth telling his tale as further punishment. Despite having clearly learn't from his ordeal; now loving "both man and bird and beast". This in my opinion makes the purgatory he went through pointless if he is still to be punished with eternal vagrancy. Thus the over-emphasised moral ending doesn't produce a satisfying ending to the poem.

The conclusion is that the ending of trotam isn't improved by the heavy handed use of a moral message. Though it does give purpose to the poem it is unnecessary as the moral message is shown throughout the poem; and it undermines its more subtle aspects. By over-emphasizing its moral message.

    

             

How does McCarthy tell the story in pages 1-28

McCarthy use's repetition in the first 28 pages, e.g. "ash" and "grey". This helps introduce the reader to the bleak post apocalyptic setting of the road. The repetition of such words also helps to create and semantic field of death and destruction further cementing the novels post apocalyptic setting. McCarthy uses repetition a lot in the road with certain words appearing in high frequency in the road. For example "black" appears 252 times in the novel and "fire" appears 136 times. McCarthy uses this to create a bleak and decaying setting for the road.

McCarthy also uses a dream sequence in the first 28 pages as a way to introduce characters and themes. In the dream the man is lead into a cave by the boy where they meet a horror movie like creature. "Crouching there pale naked and translucent". This not only sets up the horror movie features present throughout the novel but the relationship between the man and the boy. That the boy must lead the man to the death for which he longs. In this reading the spectral being in the cave can be thought of as death. This helps develop the mans character and the unusual relationship he has with his son.

McCarthy also uses analepsis to help progress the narrative of the road. two flash back are present in the first 28 pages. The first his the man thinking back to spending summers at a lake with his uncle. In this he describes an idealistic place, this mythologizing of the past is used by McCarthy to link back to a past life and makes their current surroundings seem more desolate. The secound flashback is when he reminisces of going to the theater with his wife. In which he can remember everything except "her scent". This is McCarthy's way of telling of the mans past life and the constant reminder of someone who he lost helps explain why he is so emotionally detached when talking to the boy; speaking mostly with okay.             

The Woman in The Road

Key sections concerning 'the woman'

p.17: From daydreams on the road there was no waking .... Freeze this frame. Now call down your dark and your cold and be damned. 
p.54: The clocks stopped at 1:17. ... What is happening?p.56: He thought about the picture in the road ... You mean you wish that you were dead. 
p.57: What in God’s name are you talking about? We’re not survivors. We’re the walking dead in a horror film ... The one thing I can tell you is that you wont survive for yourself. 
p.60: She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift ... wrapped his son in a towel.

Possible interpretations of the woman

The man and the woman represent different ways humans react to a apocalyptic situation

The mans first instinct was to survive. E.g. filling the bath tub.

The woman on the other hand goes straight to self-destruction. She also attempts to take the man and the boy with her. "when there were three bullets".

She represents both the giving and taking of life

Carries a baby after the apocalypse. She's described as "Cradling her belly" when the catastrophe fist strikes.
But after the boy is born she abandons him and commits suicide. "she was gone and the cold was her last gift".

McCarthy needs someone who is no longer present to represent life as it used to be

The reminders of a past life helps create a sense of loneliness for the man and the boy especially when the man dies and all ties to the past world are severed.
It also shows the mans desperation to hold on to his past life through flashbacks and dreams of his now dead wife.

 

Key episodes in The Road

The man struck by lighting

On pages 50-53 the man and the boy come across another man who has been struck by lightening. They follow him for a while before passing him when he collapse's. This scene shows tow things first that the boy has retained his innocence as he wants to help the man struck by lightening. It also gives us a glimpse into the world they inhabit. The fact that the man wont stop to help a man clearly in pain show that compassion no longer exists in the world; that its about personal survival not the survival of the human race.

Shooting the road rat

The shooting of the road rat helps show how McCarthy doesn't use speech marks in dialogue; he also doesn't identify who's speaking. This often creates confusion when reading.However I think McCarthy uses it to show a devolved civilization, in which the customs of polite conversations no longer exist and like the world they live in has no rules. It also shows the man willingness to protect the boy killing the road rat when he threatens the boy with a knife. This shows how despite his detached attitude towards the boy; he cares greatly for him. It also hints at his past life as he shows knowledge of the human brain; reference to the world before is a common feature in The Road.

The Cellar

In this part of the novel they come across a house that contains people mutilated by cannibals that had cut of their limbs and eaten them alive. This episode shows us how badly the world has gone wrong that acts of cannibalism are common. It also shows how far the man is prepared to go to protect the boy. As his plan for escaping originally was to sacrifice himself so the boy could survive. It also continues a theme shown at the start of the novel. The dream in which the boy leads him to his death; the man takes the boy into every situation often against the boys will. Showing the man is determined to die; but has some delusion that he did it to protect the boy for it to be an honorable death so to speak. Hence his willingness to abandon the boy and let the cannibals catch him to allow the boy to live.

Baby on the spit

The baby on the spit comes at a moment in the novel when the man and the boy haven't eaten in two days. The significance of this is it shows how far humanity has gone to survive. It shows the struggle the two have gone to survive and maintain their humanity and the other way they could more easily survive. The later discussion when the boy asks if they found another baby that they'd help him. This is a common theme in The Road McCarthy showing that the boy is still innocent in all of this. It also shows context two the story, McCarthy watched B movie horror films in the 70's. A famous one being The Hills Have Eyes (Grate film by the way), which had a similar scene of infant cannibalism. Many of these low culture reference's are found in The Road.

Getting to the shore

Their arrival at the shore is the completion of their journey. It however is anticlimactic as far from being their salvation it's just another shell of the old world. The smog that hangs over the grey sea is far from what the man had told the boy, "sorry its not blue, that's okay". We also get further hints at the mans old life. After leaving the house he's described as wearing "workshoes", these are again mentioned when the come across the grocery store; "kicked through the trash in his workshoes". This I think is a hint by McCarthy at his former career, this backed up by his knowledge of the human brain when he kills the road rat. By specifically mentioning his "workshoes" McCarthy is hinting he once had formal job, probably in the medical profession.

Theft of their belonging's 

Towards the end of the book the belongings of the man and the boy are stolen. Upon finding the man who has stolen their belongings the man shows a ruthlessness and malice unlike the rest if the novel. Though he has killed before e.g. the road rat. But this was done out of desperation and to protect the boy. However the man forces the thief to strip naked as well as return their things, before leaving him to die. This shows how the post apocalyptic world the novel is set him and made him ruthless. The boy however pesters him to return the mans belongings that they leave on the road for him. At the very end of the scene the boy says something very poignant when the man says he didn't kill him, the boy replies "but we did kill him". 

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