Group Meeting #2

Anthony Kim


(Boys stability and knowledge)

-It is most likely that the boy knew what was going to happen to the people in the
basement, but yet he still asks
-Shows the boys innate innocence and struggle with guilt and morality
-This is shown by how he wants to make sure that they could not have done
anything to help the struggling people.
"he stood there thinking about cows and he realized they were extinct" (101).
-The boy's fear for the stranger (small boy) shows the fear and worry he has. He
fears losing his father and not having someone to take care of him.

(Weather and Atmosphere)

-Their dialogue continues to reflect the landscape because its all separated and
disconnected.
"through the paint could be seen a pale palimpsest of advertisements for goods
which no longer existed" (108).
-Many of the damaged homes and cities display the cruelties of mankind. Inside the
homes, the father and son discover the desperate measures that people were willing
to take in order to survive. This shows the narcissistic nature of mankind.
-The shape of a house and a barn become lost shells in time, indicating the
pointlessness of nostalgia.

(Fathers internal struggle)

-Man's internal struggle about whether he'd be able to kill the one thing that is
keeping him alive
-Spaced throughout the sections and shows the unconscious mind of self-survival in
poor circumstances ["So be sparing. What you alter in the remembering has yet a
reality, known or not" (111)].
-Not as open as the boy to new opportunities and risks because he does not want to
jeopardize the safety of him and his son.
-The father loses hope every day with more and more hunger. He discovers that the
houses have been scavenged and still maintains the fire inside. Even though he
seems to lose all hope as the boy is near death, he finds the candle in the house- a
symbol of newfound hope.