Schaub Response

For some reason I can't figure out how to make a new blog post on the class blog, so I'm just going to post here and ask tomorrow. I agree with a lot of what Claire mentioned. I especially like the idea about the boy paralleling Jesus Christ, and I thought a lot about carrying the fire throughout the novel and Schaub's article.

Given the fact that I don't know much about religion, I wanted to discuss Schaub's argument about the spiritual aspect of The Road, not entirely inclusive to religion.

As I said before, I looked at the term "carry the fire" throughout the novel. In his essay, I believe Schaub's intent is to highlight the importance of the spiritual; without the belief that they could survive the post-apocalyptic terrors of the world, the man and his son would not have made it as long as they did. The man and his son "carry the fire" of the hope and faith of survival. The "quest for life's meaning" (Schaub 153) that Schaub discusses is just that: the ability to survive and attempt to discover this meaning. Had the father and his son committed suicide, as the man's wife suggested, they only would have taken an "easier" path to an afterlife. The struggle they face is what defines them as individuals; their love is what keeps them strong, and the fire they carry that helps them stay alive. Though fire is a Biblical allusion to the end of time (Schaub 154), it also represents the beginning. The world has ended, but a new life for the man and his son is beginning; their journey begins at the end.

Given this, I agree with Claire in that the boy parallels Jesus in that he is the one who continues to carry the fire, and therefore carry on life. When the family finds him at the end of the novel, the boy asks repeatedly, "Are you carrying the fire?" (McCarthy 283). Though his father is dead, the boy continues to live because he carries the fire "inside [him]" (McCarthy 279). His fire, or his spirituality and faith, is what keeps him burning; he is the light of innocence amongst a dark, hopeless world. The boy throughout the novel seems to be the only bit of hope left. He is young, and therefore able to carry on the message in later years, and without the anguishing memories of the old world, he can remain ignorant of how the world once was. We have faith of survival because the boy carries the fire with him, bringing the hope of survival to others. In this way, the boy is similar to Jesus; he carries a message to other people that gives them the hope of survival. Though Jesus was crucified, is ascent into heaven three days later gave people the reassurance that goodness still remained. Jesus spread the messages of goodness, and the Catholic religion thrives on his message; though the boy is clearly not a religious figure, he still carries on the goodness and innocence that the world lacks.

In his essay, Schaub emphasizes the necessity of spirituality in the hope of survival (Schaub 154). It is because of the faith that the boy and his father have that they continue to live as long as they do. They carry the fire that allows them to endure struggle, for hope of a greater end.

Reflection on The Time Traveler's Wife

I read The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger over the break. The novel, set between the 1970s and the early 2000s, is about Henry DeTamble, a man with Chrono-Displacement, a disease that sends one back and forward into time without warning. In his later life, Henry will travel back to the past and meet 6-year-old Clare Abshire, who in future years is Henry’s best friend and wife. These visits, along with Henry’s present life with his wife, become the basis of the story. Throughout the novel, we see Henry’s struggle to cope with his disorder, constantly leaving his wife for hours and days because of the time travel he cannot control. He faces isolation and loneliness, stuck in past or future years without knowledge of exactly where he is, and ultimately, time travel will be the thing that causes his death.

One of the more prominent ideas in the novel is isolation. In the beginning of the novel, Henry’s mother dies in a car accident that Henry should have been involved in, but fortunately escapes due to unintentional time travel. His dad blames Henry for the accident, unable to cope with the fact that Henry is still living. Though he understands Henry’s disorder, Henry still feels guilty and can no longer relate to his father. One Christmas Eve, the anniversary of his mother’s death, Henry walks alone on the streets of Chicago, finally making his way into a Lounge: “The abandoned ghost train track looms over the street in the sodium vapor glare and as I open the door someone starts to blow a trumpet and hot jazz smacks me in the chest. I walk into it like a drowning man, which is what I have come here to be” (Niffenegger 119). Henry, being the only one with his disorder, is unable to tell people why he constantly disappears for the simple reason that they won’t believe him. Until he meets Clare in the present, Henry constantly feels alone and empty, knowing that he cannot relate to anyone else. He is laughed at by numerous doctors, who all claim his “disorder” is merely psychotic.

However, the novel also expresses the idea of escaping isolation. One of Henry’s greatest fears in the novel is time traveling to the library (where he works), into the metal “Cage” that lies in the middle of the staircase. The Cage has no entrance (and therefore no exit), and should Henry get stuck in the Cage, he would never be able to get out (Niffenegger 305). However, later in the story, Henry does time travel to the Cage. He is separated from the outside world by metal bars, left alone to suffer until he returns to the present time. At this point, the idea of isolation is most prominent in the novel; Henry is truly alone, the only time traveler in a world where nobody understands his disorder. When the security guards, Kevin and Ron, find him, Henry is forced to explain to his bosses what his condition is. His bosses believe him once they see the present Henry show up to work, all while the situation in the Cage continues. At this time, Henry can finally tell someone besides his wife and family what his disorder is, and they believe him. This point is a turning point in the novel; not only do Henry’s bosses know about his disorder, but we also meet Dr. Kendrick, the doctor who will ultimately find a cure to Chrono-Displacement.

One of the passages I found interesting takes place when Henry goes running, a daily activity that he deems necessary. As he runs, Henry says, “I’m flying now, that golden feeling, as if I could run right into the air, and I’m invincible, nothing can stop me, nothing can stop me, nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing –” (Niffenegger 154). This passage mirrors the end of The Great Gatsby, and the idea of chasing a dream but not being able to fully reach it. Henry is running towards a dream, but just as he is able to reach it, it disappears. Just as Gatsby attempts to return to his past, to the time when Daisy loved him unconditionally, Henry attempts to return to the time before he time traveled, to escape to a “normal”, present life. However, both are impossible. Henry and Gatsby are therefore similar in that their desires are unachievable. Though Henry’s life becomes better, and he and Clare have their daughter Alba, these years of enjoyment are short lived. Henry becomes too old for Dr. Kendrick to experiment on him, and Henry is left to count down the days of his life.