Unique, Response to the Book, p.150-200

Three quotes from the book.

1. p 157


Well. I think we're about two hundred miles from the coast. As the crow flies.
As the crow flies? / Yes. It means going in a straight line. /... /
Because crows dont have to follow roads? / Yes.
They can go wherever they want. / Yes. / ... /

Could they fly to Mars or someplace? / No. They couldnt.
Because it's too far? / Yes. / Even if they wanted to.
What it they tried and they just got half way or something and then they were too tired. Would they fall back down?
Anyway they wouldnt know where Mars was. / Do we know where Mars is?
Sort of. / If we had a spaceship could we go there?
Well, If you had a really good spaceship and you had people to help you I suppose you could go.


Reading this scene, I couldn't help thinking that the boy is talking about the crows on the surface but actually is talking about themselves.

I divided the part into two section. In the first section, the boy is admiring the freedom of crows. The man and the boy need to follow the road to get to the coast even if the road is a dangerous place, but crows do not need to follow the road bearing all the danger. They just can go straight to their destination. The boy might want to reach the south as early as they can, moving like a crow.

In the second section, I guess the boy is talking about themselves using crows as a symbol. Mars represents the coast, the man and the boy's destination. Crows represent the man and the boy. So, when the boy questioned what might happen to the crows if they get tired and do not make it to Mars, he's actually asking what might happen to them if they do not make it to the coast. The boy always has questioned whether they are to die or to survive. And now he thinks that if they do not make it to the coast, they'll be dying on the road. Or be ... eaten by the bad guys.

And the spaceship part. Um... Actually that part was what made me think maybe the man and the boy might ride the train to go south when they found the train on p178. However, it turned out to be a fuel-less one...;;


2. p168~173


How do you live? / I just keep going. I knew this was coming.
Did you try to get ready for it? / No. People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn't believe in that. Tomorrow wasnt getting ready for them. It didnt even know they were there.

In this scene, the man and the boy meet an old man. He's quite strange. How he keeps his life is an utter mystery. He claims to have known the apocalypse was coming, but he didn't do anything for it. He believes that there's nothing to be done about it.


Do you wish you would die? / No. But I might wish I had died.
Or you might wish you'd never been born. / Well. Beggars cant be choosers.
You think that would be asking too much. / What's done is done. Anyway, it's foolish to ask for luxuries in times like these. Nobody wants to be here and nobody wants to leave.

I think this part can apply for almost all the people on earth who are having difficult times, not as serious as this one. You might think that you'd better die, or not be born in the first place. But the old man (and the author, I think I can say) says humans want to escape the reality and continue their life at the same time. I totally agree with that. You are fraid of your future, you don't want to face it, so you dream about dying, but at the same time, you don't want to leave this world, you want to live.


How would you know if you were the last man on earth?
I dont guess you would know it. You'd just be it. / Nobody would know it.
It wouldnt make any difference. When you die it's the same as if everybody else did too.

This part enhances the old man's (and the author's) message further. 'When you die it's the same as if everybody else did too.' For sure! The world exists because YOU exist. For you, the world swirls AROUND you. You're the center of the world. If you die, then the world does not exist anymore. No need to mention other men of the world.

Because of this conversation, we can say that the author criticizes the woman's (I mean, the wife's) decision to kill herself and perceiving the man's decision to live positively. You should stick to your life. You are the one who gives the meaning to the world.


I guess God would know it. / No? / There is no God and we are his prophets. / ... /
What if I said that he[the boy]'s a god? / I'm past all that now. Have been for years. Where men cant live gods fare no better. You'll see. It's better to be alone. So I hope that's not true what you said because to be on the road with the last god would be a terrible thing so I hope it's not true. Things will be better when everybody's gone.
They will? / Sure they will. / Better for who? / Everybody. We'll all be better off. We'll all breathe easier. When we're all gone at last then there'll be nobody here but death and his days will be numbered too. He'll be out in the road there with nothing to do and nobody to do it to. He'll say: Where did everybody go? And that's how it will be. What's wrong with that?

And this part....! It was sad to read this, but I could see the old man's point. He doesn't believe in God. He thinks that all Gods are dead. And he wants to be alone, not to rely on a thing like God. As a person with no religion, I agree with the old man's point of view. Where men can't live and can't think, there can be no god since Gods are the result of human's brainwork. Even if we say Gods really exist, they can't "fare" in a world like this. People think Gods abandoned them. And Gods might feel horrible looking over this world, too maybe.

And the part about everybody dying... The old man does not want to die, he wants to live, thinking about his personal life. But when he looks at the destiny of the world, the human race, he thinks all the living things will be extinct and it's better for all the humans. There will be no pain, no killing, no ashes, no cannibalism, no deaths and no bad things. There will be a silence. An utter silence. Even death will disappear in this world. It will be a silent peace.


3. p173~175

You should thank him you know. I wouldnt have given you anything.
Maybe I should and maybe I shouldnt. / You don't care if it hurts his feelings?
Will it hurt his feelings? / No. That's not why he did it. / Why did he do it?
You wouldnt understand. I'm not sure I do. Maybe he believes in God.
I don't know what he believes in. / He'll get over it. / No he won't.

The boy seems to be special. I mean, When the novel began, the father said the boy was a warrant and the word of God. And now he told the old man the boy would be a God. And think about the way he sympathizes others. He wants to help, always. But he doesn't seem to do it because of God's words, according to the man. He has his own sacred reason for that.


The boy never looked back at all.
You shouldn't make fun of him. He's going to die.

When the boy was leaving the lightning-striken man and a little boy behind, he kept looking back at them. But now he doesn't. I guess it's because he felt sorry when he couldn't help others but now that he gave things and helped the man, he doesn't have anything in his mind that bugs him, makes him to look back. He even knew that the old man's going to die. But he wanted to help. He helped. Even when they were running short of things. The boy grew up in a post-apocalyptic world, but he has a pure mind, an altruistic personality, that makes me wonder if he's really a special being.