A Novel Thought Process: A Response to Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"

When I read a given text, I focus so diligently on each word, that I consequently inhibit my mind from exploring beyond the paper.  Cormac McCarthy's concise writing style presented me the rare occasion to transcend the boundaries of the black ink into another sphere of thought: where in the world was McCarthy when he composed this chapter?

In contemplating the answer to this question, I consulted McCarthy's choice of diction and imagery.  "Dark… thin and filthy as street addicts… the noon sky black as the cellars of hell… sullen haze hung over earth and sky alike… bleak dawn in the east… everything was covered in ash."  These phrases emerged from the text and revealed a plausible explanation to my inquisition.  Perhaps, 4 years ago, McCarthy situated himself in a dry, desolate location to gain inspiration for this chapter.  I envision him sitting, Indian style, with a pen in hand and notepad on his lap in a desert or mountain range.  The clouds cast a gloomy shadow over McCarthy, as the wind's breeze transports tiny particles of sand and dust around his being.  I imagine him utilizing his senses to extract nature's visual, aromatic, and tactile offerings to produce not only the words in front of me, but also the thought process I never imagined possible prior to reading this text.

Nick Takes a "Walk" :A Response to Hemmingway's "Big Two-Hearted River"

After reading the works of both Thoreau and Hemmingway, I cannot help but to draw a comparison between excerpts from Hemmingway’s “Big Two-Hearted River” and Thoreau’s “Walking.”  Hemmingway depicts the main character, Nick, as he sets forth on a journey through nature after parting ways with the “burned-over” town of Seney, his hometown.  After a period of watching trout in a stream, Nick “felt he had left everything behind, the need for thinking, the need to write, other needs.  It was all back of him (164).”  At this point, Nick turns his back on the destructed town of Seney and recollects himself to step onto an unknown path and set off on a fresh passage through nature, one that cleanses his mind, body, and soul from the destruction he recently witnessed. 

This moment in “Big Two-Hearted River” significantly relates to the moment in “Walking” wherein Thoreau describes the prime condition for a walk: “We should go forth on the shortest walk, perchance, in the spirit of undying adventure, never to return; prepared to send back our embalmed hearts only, as relics to our desolate kingdoms… if you have paid your debts, and made your will, and settled all your affairs, and are a free man; then you are ready for a walk.”  Nick will never return to Seney, for the Seney he knew and loved no longer exists; it is a “desolate kingdom”.  At the stream, Nick, in essence, becomes a “free man” in that he physically and mentally parts ways with Seney.  Now, Nick, according to Thoreau, is finally “ready for a walk.”

Blindness – A Blessing in Disguise: A Response to Dillard’s “Seeing”

“I see what I expect,” (18) Dillard expresses.  One cannot, however, hold such expectations regarding vision if one’s vision does not exist.  A blind person cannot expect a bullfrog to be green, a penny to be round, or a mass of fog to be a murky, atmospheric entity.  These items are simply words to a blind individual, who, with time, thought, and experience, will come to know and appreciate these objects on a more profound level than do those who possess vision. 

Blind individuals must constantly activate their imaginations to develop perceptions about the world, and, more specifically, about their surroundings.  I sometimes ponder the way in which I would navigate, interact, and perceive the world if I were blind.  I would certainly not possess expectations of the visual aspect of my surroundings and I would not hold personal standards of beauty and perfection.  My senses – hearing, taste, smell, and touch – would be amplified as a result of my blindness and my imaginative horizons would significantly broaden.

Dillard, on several occasions, discusses light versus darkness.  She claims that “darkness appalls and light dazzles” (23).  Blindness, in Dillard's perspective, can be related to a form of darkness, whereas vision is a form of light.  I, however, believe that blindness is more a form of light than darkness.  There are more positive qualities – an increased awareness of the other four senses, a more expansive imagination, and fewer expectations – associated with blindness than negative drawbacks, making this disability a true blessing in disguise.

Ignorance is Bliss: A Response to Thoreau's "Walking"

“A man’s ignorance sometimes is not only useful, but beautiful – while his knowledge, so called, is oftentimes worse than useless, besides being ugly.”

After ‘sauntering’ through this short excerpt, I decided to break it down into two chunks in effort to better comprehend its complexity.  Thoreau primarily states that ignorance is useful and beautiful.  Ignorance, by definition, is a lack of knowledge or information.  He then expresses that knowledge, on the contrary, is useless and ugly. 

Thoreau finds the two qualities of ignorance – usefulness and beauty – in Nature.  Nature is useful in that it facilitates the very act of sauntering Thoreau craves on a daily basis.  Nature is beautiful in that, in its simplest form, it rests untouched by man and westward expansion.  The Nature that Thoreau holds so sacred is ignorant where civilization ceases to exist.  There is no human knowledge or information, no industrialization, no ugliness, and no trace of mankind in this special form of Nature.

Furthermore, Thoreau possesses a distinct kinship with Nature; he finds solace in “the ocean, the desert, [and] the wilderness,” values the sacredness of swamps, and cherishes Nature’s “subtle magnetism.”  He derives “leisure, freedom, and independence” from his numerous walks in Nature’s arena.  The underlying connection Thoreau possesses with Nature, or, symbolically speaking, with Ignorance, is one of “perfect happiness and great joy,” one of sheer bliss.