The New York Times’ Janet Maslin wrote, “The Road would be
pure misery if not for its stunning, savage beauty.”
What do you think she means by “savage beauty”? What instances of “savage beauty” can you recall from the reading so far? Quote
directly from the novel when you can, using your journal or your
book.
Write for 15 minutes. This IS a formal response, so you will need
to write it in complete sentences.
Once you have completed your response comment on a classmates' post. Comments must be substantive and refer directly to the post.
Agree/Disagree
Expand/Elaborate
Question/Answer
Speculate/Wonder
I think by Janet Maslin explaining that the Road is portrayed as more of a "savage beauty" means to me that everything is stripped down to the essence. Beauty as it's portrayed in today's world isn't savage-it's worked upon, covered, remade..you have to search for it. But when everything is gone, the "savage beauty" is right in front of you. You just have to strip everything away and acknowledge that everything does have beauty, just not the kind of beauty that we may be used to. In the Road, one quote that stood out to me when I thought of "savage beauty" was when it said "They came upon themselves in a mirror and he almost raised the pistol. It’s us, Papa, the boy whispered. It’s us.” It shows them that they're almost unaware of the condition they are really in-they keep pushing on. I do agree with Janet Maslin-the Road would be pure misery if not for Cormac McCarthy's use of "savage beauty". He takes what's in front of them; on their plate, and almost puts their situations poetically-it's contradictory, but yet when you read it it all seems to make sense, it all seems right.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that the world has been stripped back down to the basics; there is less man made and more nature now that almost everything is gone. McCarthy's writing make the man and the boy's situation seem less savage because of the way that he portrays things.
DeleteI agree with you. I think that McCarthy stripping everything raw shows the true beauty of the world. Everything in society is airbrushed, giving todays society the impression the everything is perfect. McCarthy is showing society a raw view of the world.
DeleteI think savage beauty if finding love and something with in the relationship of the man and the boy, when there is nothing really left in their lives. Finding something so complex in just a simple world. The only goal in mind is to stay alive, yet even that idea s complicated. they are fighting for live everyday but they still ask each other "do you wish you would die?. No but i might wish i had died. When you're alive you've got that ahead of you. Or you might wish you'd never been born" (McCarthy 169). I find the idea that they don't even know if they want the live they are fighting for. The idea of only really having your life left it savage. They don't kill themselves though, they stay alive to protect each other. This is beautiful sad. They have nothing to live for but will stay alive to be together.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the savage beauty is the love between the man and the woman. I like your quote about him wishing he had died, I think that really showed the savageness of them but at the same time the beauty that the life they have is worth fighting for.
DeleteI think that what Maslin meant when she said "savage beauty" was that the things that McCarthy writes about are so dark and evil, but the way that he writes them are so beautiful that they seem less savage then they really are. For instance, just looking out at the world and the destruction makes you feel sorrowful, but his writing makes it almost bearable; "The faintly lit hatchway lay in the dark of the yard like a grave yawning at judgement day in some old apocalyptic painting" (McCarthy 155). Paintings are works of art that people admire and love, they are beautiful. It makes you want to picture it in your mind so that you can see the destruction and beauty of the world.
ReplyDeleteHailey Squatriglia I really like the way you compared McCarthy's writings to a work of art. I agree completely, people love to look at art, particularly beautiful yet dark art. And with both books and art people like to think about and contemplate what is pictured.
DeleteYes you are very right on what you are saying how he makes you feel sad but she writes things so beautifully. Also that when you talked about a painting was really good work.
Delete"The Road" is a difficult book to read, not by using complex language or grammer but by being about so harsh a topic. There are children and people being hurt, starving, dying. The frank and bland way the author writes makes it almost worse because the emotional detachment shows the true apathy of the entire earth. So why would we want to read it? According to Maslin, we want it for the "savage beauty." When 'she' decided to go off and kill herself, she says her new lover is death and he "can give me what you cannot." This is such a fantastic, powerful line that it kind of stuck with me. She's talking about suicide but the author presents it in an almost metaphorical way that it's sickening and beautiful at the same time. The unflinching love of the father for his son is the one hope for humanity. They are 'the good guys.' It would appear that they are the only good ones left, and the blatant loneliness is both sad and endearing. McCarthy's sentence structure is simple, but his powerful language and his strong voice make for a novel that is in fact both savage and beautiful.
ReplyDeleteBy savage beauty, I think she means the paradoxical world the Road is written. The world is so terrible, so wrong, but at the same time there a few little good things, and the way they're described is beautifully crafted. For example, McCarthy writes "he’d a deck of cards he found in a bureau drawer in a house and the cards were worn and spindled and the two of clubs was missing but they still played sometimes by firelight wrapped in their blankets." These aren't good cards, someone nowadays would throw them away, but the way McCarthy describes them really makes them seem beautiful and magical, like an escape from the dark world, even though they're a part of it.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with the opposites are so evident, between good and bad, and sad and good. Its what makes the book savagely beautiful, perfectly. Even though I don't think the world they live in is magical I do agree that it is beautiful sometimes.
Deletehis view on the cards show how things have changed so much. We take so much for granted no a days, especially a small deck of cards. Now he finds them and thinks of them as a treasure.
DeleteWhen you say "the world is so terrible, so wrong, but at the same time there are a few little good things, and the way they're described is beautifully crafted" I completely agree. I said that McCarthy takes their situations and almost puts it poetically-it's contradictory, but it seems it all makes sense, it seems right to put it that way. It would be pure misery without how he words things.
DeleteRichie, I agree with the fact that the world is so dark and terrible, and even though there are few good things in life they are held onto tightly and cherished by the son and kid. I love the quote, and the explanation you put after the quote was really eyeopening, because now a days we wouldn't care about cards at all, but they feel like they are magic to them.
DeleteJanet Maslin was right when she stated that The Road was savagely beautiful. The fact that you can go through reading this book and not always feel depressed is stunning. While reading this you get sad at time because of how sad it is that the father has to worry about killing the boy if anything ever happens, but yet in a sense you can feel joys at times because of the love between them and the happiness they shared when they found the shelter with all the food they could ever need. It has this savage beauty to it because of the ups and downs the characters go through but the father never gives up and never shows the boy when he is worried their love itself is savagely beautiful. It is happy because of the relationship between the 2 of them but sad because of the situation they are in. When they are about to find the bunker and the boy is afraid of what the father might find and the man “started to descend the stairs but then he turned and leaned and kissed the child on the forehead”. This shows that the father will do anything for the boy and that is horrible that they have to be so desperate to do things that scare them that much but beautiful the love the father has for the boy. Also when they find all the food the boy said “They died. Yes. Is it ok for us to take it? Yes. It is. They would want us to. Just like we would want them to”. Its sad that the people died but you can not be sad for to long because they now have food and are safe for some time. These are many reasons why the book The Road is savagely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI find it impressing that you don't feel depressed while reading it too! At times I think it is a heavy subject but the "savage beauty" keeps your head up to see them live another day. I like their relationship too and I think its savage beauty too!
DeleteI agree with you Bethany that the relationship between the father and son is savagely beautiful. Its the beautiful aspect is the love that they both have for each other, but the situations that they have to deal with is so savage.
DeleteSavage beauty in the book The Road is the way that the author describes this post apocolyptic book."Bearded, their breath smoking through their masks. The phalanx following carried spears or lances ... and lastly a supplementary consort of catamites illclothed against the cold and fitted in dogcollars and yoked each to each." (p.92) This quote is a prime example into how the book portrays a dreaded horrible beauty of the seen because you can really see the horribleness of the scene and envision the pain that these children have been through that have been captured by these evil, wicked men. Throughout the book we see how much decay has affected the general human spirit and how much the entire world has been ravaged apart by desperate masses clawing to survive in this impossible world. Also the author leaves mystery as to what is happening by just saying that the children in the convoy are catamites. It leads on to believe that the children experience great hardships, but it leaves it up to the dark human imagination just how much pain they've received. A fine touch on the happenings in the book and how theyre affecting the man comes from the memories he has and his dreams. “His dreams brightened. The vanished world returned. Kin long dead washed up and cast fey sidewise looks upon him. None spoke. He thought of his life. So long ago.” (p. 187) This insight to the man's mind lets us see how much the man might be losing it in this lost world.
ReplyDeleteI think Maslin said that The Road by Cormac McCarthy is "savagely beautiful" because both the relationship of the boy and the man, and the perception of the dead mother portray it. "She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift" makes a woman's death, sound light and peaceful rather then chaotic and dreary (58). They don't speak much of her but when it does they try to stay on the good side of it. The boy and the man were so close they have their own language almost skipping words that don't particularly need to be said. "Hi Papa, he said. I'm right here. I know." Is all that is said but they instantly have an understanding of safety which is a beautiful thing at this time (6). Another thing that is savagely beautiful is the silence. On one hand it reminds them about what is happening and it represents loneliness. On the other hand it shows that it is peaceful and not chaotic. Instead of wasting their breath talking and using their energy that they don't have much, they simply say "okay" and they understand that the conversation is over. Their relationship and their silence coincide with each other and compliment each other. I think that is part of what is keeping them alive. Not the little food they find, but the relationship they possess.
ReplyDeleteEmma, I definitely agree with you about the mom's death was savagely beautiful, and your quote is perfect. I also wrote about the father and sons relationship and how it's savagely beautiful, so I totally agree with you.
DeleteSavage beauty is a terrific way to describe this book as a whole seeing that there is a lot of savage pieces of this book. One that really stuck out to me was on page 172 were a man they meet is talking and he says "I live like an animal. You don't want to know the things that I have eaten." This to me is beautiful the way it is written how it just leaves you hanging there not knowing what he is referring to. It leaves you thinking about what he has eaten and what they possibility is that he has eaten a human. Worst than that being specific a child or an infant. Possibly a pregnant woman. Even a best friend. This is the savage part of the quote I have picked is how he could have eaten a lot of things. He could have eaten his own dog that he has had since it was a puppy. The book is full of a lot of gruesome pieces.
ReplyDeleteWhat Janet Maslin refers to by the "savage beauty" of The Road are the vivid descriptions & McCarthy's ability to take something utterly repulsive, such as an event or realization, & re-create it into something beautiful. The loss of innocence, the struggle for survival & the endless death are all displayed beautifully throughout the novel through symbolism, metaphors & vivid descriptions. The animalistic nature & destruction of the world is beautifully displayed when the father realizes the "absolute truth of the world" (McCarthy 130). By comparing them to ground foxes & the "bad guys" to the blind dogs, McCarthy takes the fear of being hunted & the struggle for survival & creates a simplistic beauty where the fear is emphasized but is not all consuming.
ReplyDeleteSavage beauty is a complex word and at first I did not understand it, but as I broke the word apart I got a greater understanding of it. Savage is referring to uncivilized and wild and that is just like the boy and the dad and the whole society because nothing is civilized at all anymore. All normal human nature and laws of humanity were thrown out the door, people eating each other and killing each other is not civilized at all. Beauty can describe so many things and it is complex and intricate and to have pleasure to be in the presence of it. There is some beauty in The Road, like the strong relationship between the father and son, the sons’ eagerness to save the helpless, the scene where the dad talks about seeing the fruits on the trees. I feel that a theme that exemplifies savage beauty is most definitely the young boys innocence and being so naïve that he just wants to help everyone, he can be in the worst circumstances and still want to help others. The boy loved the dog and he wanted it to follow it because even though the dog was gross and skinny and probably infested with disease he wanted it, he even wanted to take the little boy they found with him. He says “I’m afraid for that little boy. I know. But he’ll be all right. WE should go get him, Papa. WE could get him and take him with us. We could take him and we could take the dog. The dog could catch something to eat.” I think this relationship between the boy and every other hopeless thing is beautiful because he is that flame of hope and he is still so naïve to the fact that one of the reasons they can’t be brought is because they could turn so savage that they would eat the dog and kid, and it’s beautiful how he can ignore the bad things in life and hang on tightly to those things that matter.
ReplyDelete"Savage beauty" is the love that the man and the boy share with one another, even when the world around him is complete with darkness and destruction. In the opening of the novel, McCarthy describes the, “Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world.” (3) This passage describes the essence of "savage beauty" because it shows how the world is dark around them you can picture the world just a mixture of grays and blacks. Yet, somehow the way that McCarthy describes the night makes it seem beautiful, as if there is no sight in the world other than what the man and the boy are seeing. The man and the boys relationship is so deep he begins to question the ending of their relationship, asking himself, "Can there be? Hold him in your arms. Just so. The soul is quick. Pull him toward you. Kiss him. Quickly" (114). At this moment the man is contemplating whether or not he could kill his son if the time were to present itself. The savage moment of killing his own son, the only person that he has left in this world. But at the same moment it is beautiful because the man would take his son's life to save him from the deadly world that would soon come for him. Only out of the love that the man obtains so deeply for the boy, would he ever even think about taking his own son's life. Then McCarthy continues to describe what the man and the boy are seeing, "the charred meat and bones under the damp ash might have been anonymous save for the shapes of the skulls" (150). This is a true moment of "savage beauty" how the "charred meat" of the people shows the savage how the world has been reverted to eating people and burning people, there is no other world left. But the beauty comes out when you realize that these people may have finally escaped a very uncertain death, this one now allowed them to take their path to peace.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree because I think that it is beautiful that they can continue in their relationship and that the father could take his son's life because not a lot of people think of it that way.....
DeleteI think Janet Maslin used "savage beauty" to describe The Road because of the circumstances that the two characters are in, but then their relationship is what keeps them going, which is the beautiful part about the book. Their relationship through out the book, gives the reader hope, and McCarthy is always describing the relationship in a positive way. But the savage part is the fact that these two characters are trying to survive in an Apocalyptic world, that they barely have a chance of surviving in. For example, the father is doing anything to keep the boy safe and alive, "in the grudging light that passed for day he put the boy in the leaves and sat studying the woods. When it was a bit lighter he rose and walked out and cut a perimeter about their siwash camping .... but other than their own faint track through the ash he saw nothing. He went back and gathered the boy up"(68). The father is always protecting the boy, and telling him what to do if the he dies, to keep pushing. That itself is savagely beautiful, the fact that in all reality the father will eventually die, and maybe the boy will also, but the father is trying so hard to keep him alive, and is trying to keep his faith going, which is ultimately the boy.
ReplyDeleteI think the whole book is "savagely beautiful" because anything surviving in a post apocalyptic world is a miracle. Throughout the book the two are placed in situations that create both beauty and tragedy. For example, in the beginning of the book the narrator describes the world as "void" but the two characters still create as beautiful life as they could with what they have. When the two come across the bunker and sit down to dinner and the boy, says, "Do you think we should thank the people?" and continues with looking lost until he says, "We know that you saved it for yourself and if you were here we wouldn't eat it no matter how hungry we were and we're sorry that you didn't get to eat it and we hope that you're safe in heaven with God," I think that it impacts the novel greatly (McCarthy 147). This is very powerful because even though the boy knows that the people are dead and the food was originally for them he was able to still think of that. This means that all hope is not lost. Again I think that a lot of this novel is full of the savagely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI think that Janet Maslin means that there is such darkness and despair the characters rely on themselves to find the beauty in what they can. The description of the darkness is very beautiful " A blackness to hurt your ears with listening... No sound but the wind in the bare and blackened trees."(McCarthy 15). The reality is that they have never have experienced such a silent black night before, and it is frightening to them. Another powerful description " He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his return." (McCarthy 15) shows the savage aspect of there being nothing else in the dark but the characters.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the characters do what they can to make things beautiful. Everything around this is horrid and awful but they remain willing to survive.
DeleteSavagely beautiful is a accurate analysis of the the events in the Road. The way that McCarthy describes the dead is so strong because he seems to tell a story about each one of the corpses. They are not just corpses they were once people, who lived actual lives. "A human head beneath a cakebell at the end of the counter. Dessicated. Wearing a ballcap. Dried eyes turned inward." (McCarthy. 184). The interesting thing about McCarthy's description of the head was that dessicated means dried up but it also means 'to drain of emotional or intellectual vitality'. The diction that McCarthy uses accurately explains and shows how the world can be savagely beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI like the quote that you picked because I think that it also really shows just how savage the once beautiful world had changed into. I like how you put the definition in there so that you were able to further explain that the world had changed savagely beautiful on an emotional level as well.
Delete"Savaged Beauty" in The Road is displayed through the Father and Son's relationship in the mists of the post-apocalyptic world. This is displayed through the savaged behavior or scavenging and doing anything they can to survive. For example, when they find this abandoned house that is huge. They walk around like people looking to buy a house and then stumble upon canned goods. After leaving the house with goods and a wheel barrel they say, "We did good, didnt we Papa? He said. Yes we did" (213). This is a great example of the admiration and love they have towards eachother. They both are proud of what they found and this relationship is just beautiful. Through all this death and destruction the reader is left with this beautiful relationship. That is savaged beauty Janet Maslin describes.
ReplyDeleteSavage beauty is the rawest form of beauty. Savage is going back into your animalistic instinct and just going of your survival skills, yet when you combine beauty into it, it brings a new life into the word savage. It turns something so incredibly horrible into a state of hope and joy. The road in a way is savagely beautiful for it's surrounded by desolation and heartbreak, yet those who wander on it are in hope that they can make it into a place where they will be able to live without having to constantly worry about death. By death constantly being on the minds of those who travel the road, the father "took the boys hand and pushed the revolver into it. Take it, he whispered. Take it. The boy was terrified. He put his aren around him and held him. His body so thin. Don't be afraid he said. If they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard. Do you understand?"(112-113). At this point in the book, the man and the boy share a savagely beautiful moment. The father is letting the thoughts of death and desolation get to him, forcing him to fall into the grasp of the savage thoughts and explain to the boy that when the time comes he will need to kill himself. It was also a beautiful moment because it was as if the man would rather suffer alone then to see the boy live in a world of loneliness. He wanted to shed a better life for the boy, so he felt that the only way for the boy to do that, when there is no hope of survival left, is for the boy to take the gun and suffer no more. There was such raw emotion in this passage that it gave it a savagely beautiful tone, which showed just how much the man cares for the boy, but also how much hope they still have since he insisted that the boy wait to preform the given task.
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