The Road Beneath My Feet Essay, Research Paper
Style Analysis
The author in this story, Kevin McConnell, states that his main consideration in writing The Road Beneath My Feet was to develop a style that would remain consistent throughout the entire story. I feel that he accomplished this consistent style in a few different ways.
One way the author tried to accomplish this was by the way that he used his figures of speech. Many of the authors statements were very similar if not exact. For example, the author says a few times that the dust would rise and choke me. This figure of speech is repetitious, which I feel is one way that the author tried to capture the consistent style that he was looking for. Also, the author said, my pace was steady and rather fast. This statement is also used repeatedly as another way that he develops this consistent style.
Another way the author develops his consistent style is in the way he describes certain images. For example, there are a few different occasions where his way of describing what he sees around him are similar to eachother in a way that they all make reference to the fact that the day is going by and it will soon reach dusk. Like when he said the soft dew of morning which had glistened and twinkled on the blades of grass which grew in clumps by the side of road quietly disappeared. This indicates that the day is going on. At another point in the story the author makes reference to the shadows saying that they have grown longer, which would indicate the sun was setting. Also, the author never exactly comes right out and says the obvious. He uses his descriptive ways to give you an idea of what is going on or happening. For example, he never exactly says that the man he encounters on the road is an old man. He just gives certain physical characteristics that would associate with an old man. I feel his reasoning for this was to also indicate that this man was not just old but a man of wisdom, which very often is associated with old age.
In my mind this particular short story has a very interesting meaning behind it. This meaning is one that many younger people such as myself would benefit most from. I think that the whole point of the story is that you shouldn t just rush along and always be in such a hurry. Eventually, you will get to your destination anyway, and the hurrying may cause you to miss out on a lot of beauty that you come upon. It may also tell us younger people not to be in such a hurry to grow up because you will miss out on a lot of fun things that you are only capable of doing at a young age. Eventually, you will grow up. The old man in this story is the one supplying this wisdom and information to us. He s been there before and he is telling the author just to take his time and not be in such a hurry, because the trail will still lead to his destination after dusk.