He woke before dawn and watched the gray day break. Slow and half opaque. He rose while the boy slept and pulled on his shoes and wrapped in his blanket he walked out through the trees. He descended into a gryke in the stone and there he crouched coughing and he coughed for a long time. Then he just knelt in the ashes. He raised his face to the paling day. Are you there? he whispered. Will I see you at the last? Have you a neck by which to throttle you? Have you a heart? Damn you eternally have you a soul? Oh God, he whispered. Oh God.
The scene unfolds in bleak, early morning light as a man rises before his son wakes, stepping into nature's somber ambiance. He walks quietly through the trees, eventually finding a secluded spot in the stone where he battles a persistent cough, demonstrating his deteriorating health and the harsh environment around him. This moment of solitude reflects his struggle and the weight of his thoughts.
Kneeling in ashes, he looks towards the dawning sky, questioning the existence of a higher power and expressing profound despair. His whispered inquiries reveal his internal anguish and longing for divine presence amidst the desolation. The repetition of "Oh God" underscores a deep yearning for hope and connection, encapsulating the pervasive themes of survival and faith in Cormac McCarthy’s stark narrative.
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All the things you can talk about in anyone's work are the things that are least important.
Race of Cain, ascend to heaven, And cast God down upon the earth!
