Introduction to McCarthy's style

" Slow water in the flat country. The sloughs by the roadside motionless and gray. The coastal plain rivers leaden serpentine across the wasted farmland. They went on. Ahead in the road was a dip and as stand of cane. I think there's a bridge there he said. Probably a creek.
Can we drink the water?
We don't have a choice.
It won't make us sick.
I don't think so. It could be dry.
Can I go ahead?
Yes of course you can." (page 214)


Sentence structure:

• Shows finality of the situation, there is no choice but to drink the water. 
• Short sentences create a slow pace, this then creates a sense of monotone, there is no excitement and it becomes quite boring to read

Vocabulary: 

• Most of the words are monosyllabic, this also creates a sense of monotone.
• No description- shows the importance of the task- to find water. The description of the setting is not important because it is not the characters' main focus so why should it be important to us, as readers.

Effect on reader:

• I felt like there was a lack of enthusiasm due to the lack of the characters' feelings. Also, I felt that there was no excitement when reading this section and a lack of interest to carry on reading. This was due to the lack of emotion from the characters, in particular the father and also the slow pace of this particular section, it did not flow well which made it difficult and boring to read.