Katy


 * (pg, 41-89)**
 * Connection Master:**

"Can we get around it?" the boy said. "I don't think so. We can probably get under it. We may have to unload the cart." (44) Something that I can relate to from this reading is facing obstacles and trying to find a way around them; whether it be an injury, an accident, or some other problem that just wasn't planned. Throughout my life I have been forced to face many obstacles that have changed my outlook on things, forced me to change direction (both physically and metaphorically). When the boy and man come up to the bridge over the river, they spot a large tractor-trailer stretched between both rails going across the bridge. This caught them off guard at first, because it meant that they must find a different way to get across. Another time in this reading, the boy and father come across a point in the road where there was fire and it left the road uncomfortably warm so they had to stop and wait...another obstacle. They had to change their plans and go in another direction that night, until their path was clear.

"We have no way to help him. I'm sorry for what happened to him but we can't fix it." (50)

Another important outside connection that I've derived from this book, is about underprivileged people that are in our world today. People who are less educated, have no money, and overall just not as many chances in their lives to experience all the things we can. In my opinion, it isn't fair that our world is like this but it's the truth. It's the way things are, and it annoys me that some people aren't making any sort of effort to make things better. Some examples would be donating money for a cause, giving food to homeless people, giving old clothes to a homeless shelter, etc. It really isn't that difficult to help people in this world who aren't as well off, it's as simple as donating one dollar to a hospital. A specific example from the book was when the father and son were walking and came upon a man who was struggling and had nothing. The boy wanted to help him but the father refused to. I saw this as completely selfish because he wasn't willing to help another man who was all alone, trying to survive on nothing. The father would rather keep their own supplies for themselves, when the other man probably had about the same chance of living as they did. Stated specifically in the above quote, the father says that they have no way to help the man. That is a lie because they do have supplies they could give him, but the father is just being stubborn. Sure,. they can't nurse the poor man completely back to health, but it's gotta start somewhere. Whenever I see a homeless man on the side of the road begging for money, I personally want to help. Of course though, I never get the chance to because my parents say the man is "dirty", or faking it", "not safe" or something. When you think about it though, what's the worst that could happen? Either you help the man and possibly save his life, or ignore him and let him continue suffering when you could have easily managed to give him something. The father is also giving most of his supplies, if not all, to his son. He isn't really using any of it himself, so why not share some of it with a man that needs it more than his son?


 * (pg, 90-135)**
 * Literary Luminary**

"Listen to me," he said. Just stop it. We're starving, don't you understand?" (pg,110)

Obviously, both the man and son are starving and do need food, but the boy is scared and worried that something bad will happen so he lies about not being hungry in order to stay safe. He is unsure about it, but his father knows they must find some type of food. From this quote, it seems like the father starts to grow irritated by the boy's lack of knowledge and misunderstanding of what they must do in order to survive.

"Don't be afraid," he said. "If they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand? Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? You know how to do it.You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard. Do you understand? Stop crying. Do you understand?" (pg, 113)

The cannibals are near, and the father and son don't want to risk getting eaten so they hide by crawling through some leaves. The father hears the "bad guys" talking and fears that they will get caught, so he tells his son to take the gun and kill himself if they get captured. He does this because he'd rather have his son shoot himself than get eaten by cannibals. They were both terrified for their lives at the time, and had no idea what would happen to them.

"They're going to kill those people, aren't they? Yes. They're going to eat them, aren't they? Yes. And we couldn't help them because then they'd eat us too." (pg, 127)

The boy questions what the cannibals were going to do, and his dad clarifies that yes, they were going to eat the naked people who were locked up and yelling for help. The father explains to the boy that they couldn't help the poor people because that would've put them in immediate danger and they would've been eaten too.


 * (pg, 136-185)**
 * Discussion Director**

On page 146, it says the boy refused to stay in the bunker by himself. Why do you think the boy did this, despite the fact that his father never went too far away? Why do you think he followed him around everywhere?

When the man and boy left the bunker, do you think they left behind any supplies or just took everything? If so, what supplies do you think they took with them and what supplies weren't as much needed and got left behind?

After just discovering the bunker left behind by the //good// people, why, as soon as they get back on the road, does the father seem to have no hope left that there aren't any other good people still existing in the world? Shouldn't he be thankful for the luck they encountered and have an open mind that maybe they'll come across something else like it?

Throughout this book, the man has been the one who is stubborn to survive and won't ever give in to death. The boy has been the one who has mentioned wanting to die, and that he'd rather be with his mom. In this reading on page 154, the man has a dream about some strange creatures he has never encountered before. Do you think he is right that the creatures are warning him of something? If they are, what is it? Why is the father now saying that he is an alien to his own son, despite how strong their relationship is?

1. caustic (pg, 188): Able to burn or corrode organic tissue by chemical action. "...where the lost moon tracked the //caustic// waste he'd sometimes see a light." 2. leaden (pg, 200): Dull, heavy or slow. Of the color of lead; dull gray. "The coastal plain rivers in //leaden// serpentine across the wasted farmland." 3. verdigris (pg, 228): A bright, bluish-green encrustation formed on copper or brass by atmospheric oxidation, consisting of basic copper carbonate. "He wiped the //verdigris// from the plate at the base."
 * (pg, 185-235)**
 * Vocabulary Miser**