Voice and Point of View:

Voice and Point of View:

- The novel is written in 3rd person with an omniscient narrator.
- The characters are referred to as ‘he’ or ‘the boy’.
- McCarthy manipulates the narrative voice and the point of view throughout the novel.

Extract 1: (Page 32)

First paragraph'On this road there are no godspoke men. They are gone and I am left and they have taken with them the world. Query: How does the never to be differ from what never was?'

This paragraph could be interpreted as though it is narrated by 'the man'. This is because it's in 1st person, as seen by words such as 'I'.

QUOTE – Page 32 (First paragraph)	EXPLANATION
‘no godspoke men’	- On the road that the boy and the man are  travelling on, the man claims that ‘no godspoke men’ exist.  This suggests that  there’s no goodness in the world anymore because it’s been destroyed by the apocalypse. - The term ‘godspoke men’ may refer to prophets,  which link to Ely's statement ‘There is no God and we are his prophets.’ later on in the novel. - The fact that there's a lower case 'G' on the word 'godspoke' could suggest God is not relevant anymore as the world is full of such evil and he's insulting the efforts God is making to help him and the boy.
‘they are gone and they have taken with them the world’	- This shows the moral principles of human civilisation, the moral world and the virtuous people have been abolished, and have ‘taken with them the world.’ This could suggest reasons as to why the world is now evil and not godly anymore.
‘Query:’	- The man is asking himself a question pre-consciously to make sense of the circumstances he’s in. - ‘Query’ isn't a common word to use. This makes it stand out in the paragraph and also gives a profound insight into the man’s intellectual state of mind. It’s as if he’s stopped in the middle of his thought process to analyse his statement ‘‘How does the never to be differ from what never was.’
‘How does the never to be differ from what never was.’	- Here, the man places emphasis on the importance of the present. - It could be seen that the man is saying the world is exactly the way it was before the apocalypse, and nothing has changed. Humanity has gone, but there was no humanity in the first place, as there was evil and injustice in the previous world, just like there is in this one. - Himself and the boy are mourning a world that 'never was'. - There is also no question mark at the end of this question. This could  suggest the fall of civilisation has resulted in a fall of structure and logic.

Second paragraph

'Dark of the invisible moon. The nights now only slightly less black. By day the banished sun circles the earth like a grieving mother with a lamp.'

This paragraph could be seen as though it's the voice of the omniscient narrator. This is because it's more in 3rd person. This paragraph is rich in lyricism due to its profound and intense expressions/lexis.

QUOTE – Page 32 (Second paragraph)	EXPLANATION
‘The nights now only slightly less black.’	- This quote suggests the significance of small changes within the novel. - It proposes the idea that the man’s life is now so monotonous; he notices trivial changes such as ‘slightly less black.’
‘sun circles the earth’	A way in which the reader can distinguish a difference in the narrative styles is through what is being said. - Here, the logical error that the ‘sun circles the earth’ wouldn't be said by the man, as he has the scientific knowledge to not make that naive mistake. - The earth circles the sun, not vice versa. - Therefore, it’s more likely to be narrated by the boy or the omniscient 3rd person narrator. - The rich lyricism presented in this paragraph, however, could suggest it isn’t the boy speaking and the reader can make an arguable presumption that this paragraph is directed by the 3rd person omniscient narrator.
‘like a grieving mother with a lamp’	- In this decontextualised atmosphere, the moon is beginning to appear because night is approaching. - McCarthy compares the moon to a ‘grieving mother’ suggesting the moon is mournful over the sullen and cheerless existence in which the Earth exists. - The ‘lamp’ is a metaphor for the light that shines on the Earth, illuminating its destruction in which the ‘moon’ observes.

Both paragraphs:

The two paragraphs could be intentionally different to show McCarthy's shift and contrast in the styles of narration throughout the novel.
These different styles show omniscient and immediate narration, enabling the reader to distinguish who's talking, despite the unattributed dialogue and thoughts. 

(Page 307)
'On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not made right again.'

'A thing which could not be put back' is almost parallel to 'Query: How does the never to be differ from what never was?'