quotes

It is essential you recognise Cormac McCarthy's crafting of sentences in "The Road". Read the following extract out loud, pay attention to the sounds of the words and the rhythm of the writing.


This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man's brains out of his hair. That is my job.
The simplicity on the sentence structures being single clauses demonstrates the matter of fact way in which he regards his duty to protect and do the necessary things to ensure his child's comfort and survival in a world that allows children to have brains in their hair. The act seems to bean unspecific part of everyday life and just one of many menial task that he must perform due to his devotion to the child. there is also pride in the tone as he has this job, this meaning in life that is always certain in the world that is ever changing.
Yes I am, he said. I am the one.
the repetition on 'I' shows the self centred opinion he holds of himself. he is the only person now who remains in his sons life, and this has given him a god like status having given the boy life and being his teacher and the reason that he can survive in the desolate world they inhabit. this is accentuated when you think about how he views his son as a part of him. his son and a part of his survival to stop him going mad in the world alone. the godly aspect with which he regards himself in this context is show as people view themselves as a part of god.
Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned hams. Corned beef.
the way that the foods are listed. one in a list within comers and the other foods separated with full stops is a demonstration of how the world and they are running out of food. the good and nutritious foods that would have been plentiful in the beginning of the disaster and eaten with speed and hunger flow with the smallest of stalls  the comers. however as the world becomes a harsher place and a harder reality, they are forces to eat only that that would have lasted, these preserved goods. the full stops signify the way in which they are having to go longer between eating these foods. it can also be viewed that the preserved foods are a metaphor for the preservation of human life. as the food is preserved past its natural possibilities, so do the man and boy seek to preserve their lives past the natural course of the disaster that has taken the world.
Are we still the good guys, he said.
the question posed without a question mark shows the unwillingness of the boy to know the answer as he dreads the idea of becoming bad in this world and what it entails such as cannibalism and murder like that that his father just performed. also it poses a question about morality and whether bad people see themselves as good or bad, and by not using a question mark it opens it to interpretation as to whether you view then as good or bad.
We should go, Papa, he said. Yes, the man said. But he didn't.
the change from 'we' to 'he' in the sentence shows way in which the boy is in the present, where they are together, as opposed to how the man is standing in his past home, before the problems of the world and before his son was born. when he was alone in this house and had no one depending on him. he knows it is inherently wrong to  stay here as the past is the past and his home is no longer home.  though he clings to the memories he had here. the way the boy is scared when they explore this house shows how because of his memories of what it used to be he does not see it like the boy, for what it has become.
The snow fell nor did it cease to fall.
this description of the bitter cold world they inhabit shows the repetitiveness of their lives and the ever falling snow. the way in which the past and the present merge together here in one clause due to lack of punctuation shows the way in which present and past are now one in there lives and there is no distinction between the two. the snow has prevented them from moving further along the road and thus it has stopped their time in the endless falling snow.
Okay? Okay.
the continued use of okay throughout the novel like in this instance is a reasurance of one another. this new world has created a need for dependence on one another for many reasons including preserving sanity in the broken lives they lead. they then require constant reasurance as they are a necessary part of their own existance.
They sat on the edge of the tub and pulled their shoes on and then he handed the boy the pan and soap and he took the stove and the little bottle of gas and the pistol and wrapped in their blankets and they went back across the yard to the bunker.
the sheer length of the scentence here shows how out ofsorts the actions they carry out are. the circumstances they are in mean bathing and personal hygeine have become a luxury taken only when possible and due to this it is a significant fact that they can have this service. it can also be interpreted that the scentence length reflects how a seemingly simple event for a reader such a running a bath is a tedeous and long process that requires much time; this also makes a statement about things taken for granted in the secure world we live.
Tolling in the silence the minutes of the earth.
the slilence of the earth is unimaginable to the reader as they will never have know a place so devoid of life and noise. ths makes empathysing impossible and so the reader is struck by a terrifying sence of empty nothingness the peirces through into the world.
She was gone and the coldness of it was her final gift. 
the coldness of the act when she leaves them is a representation of how by taking emotion and passion out of her husbands life he will be better able to cope with the life he now leads as without a heart to keep him human, he can now be practical and do what is necessary in order to maintain survival. this also explains the relationship between him and his son relationship,as he is now naught but cold, his son acts as a conscience for his actions. 
What does these extracts tells us about;


- the type of novel it might be (the genre/s it seems to draw on or fit with)
- the story (what might happen)
- themes (the ideas it might raise)
- characters and relationships
- the way the story might be told.