Tracy-assignment

I'm really sorry I am late!
This part was confusing to me, partly because I read it without concentrating (hard to do at the hairdresser’s). But I can only see two things clear: they are going to the coast, and the other – the man is going to die, sooner or later.

On page 213 it says,
‘At night when he woke coughing he’d sit up with his hand pushed over his head against the blackness. Like a man waking in a grave. Like those disinterred dead from his childhood that had been relocated to accommodate a highway.’

The author is using simile to describe that the man is very sick. We can clearly see here, the man is getting sicker and sicker as they reach the coast. I was hoping they would reach shore, and find some allies before he dies. More better, get better and not die. I like this family so much now, I wish I could interfere with this book and make them happy.

‘Do you think there could be ships out there?
I don’t think so.
They wouldn’t be able to see very far.
No. They wouldn’t.
What’s on the other side?
Nothing.
There must be something.
Maybe there’s a father and his little boy and they’re sitting on the beach.
That would be okay.
Yes. That would be okay.
And they could be carrying the fire too?
They could be. Yes.
But we don’t know.
We don’t know.
So we have to be vigilant.
We have to be vigilant. Yes.’ (p.216-217)

I felt sad because I thought the boy wanted companions a lot. Probably the man wanted companions too. There’s talk about a father and his boy, and I thought about the little boy the boy wanted to keep. There’s also talk about carrying the fire, and I think-I can’t remember-this was one of the conditions of the good guys. So the boy is hoping there are good guys across the sea.

Then he stopped. Where’s the pistol? He said.
The boy froze. He looked terrified.
Christ, the man said. He looked back up the beach. They were already out of sight of the boat. He looked at the boy. The boy had his hands on top of this head and he was about to cry. I’m sorry, he said. I’m really sorry.
He set down the tarp with the canned goods. We have to go back.
I’m sorry, Papa.
It’s okay. It will still be there.
The boy stood with his shoulders slumped. He was beginning to sob. The man knelt down and put his arms around him. It’s all right, he said. I’m the one who’ s supposed to make sure we have the pistol and I didn’t do it. I forgot.
I’m sorry, Papa.
Come on. We’re okay. Everything’s okay.

The boy is always blaming himself about mistakes and agonizing. Then the man comforts him, saying it’s his fault. I felt that this has been repeated, since some time ago-again I can’t remember well-the boy forgot to screw on the lid of the burner., and the man said that he should fix it with Teflon tape.