Eastwood Zhao dot COM

AP English Essay: Passage from The Crossing

The passage from The Crossing, McCarthy challenges readers to decipher meanings beneath the text. He reveals and contrasts underlying elements of the passage - external matter such as blood and bone and internal qualities such as life and soul - through the main character’s enlightening experiences and through the use of paradoxes and structure.

McCarthy leaves unanswered questions through his complex use of language. With close analysis, we see that in a way, the passage is a riddle: we must work to discover its underlying point. The impact on the main character - his realization of the significance of life - is revealed through McCarthy’s narration as answer to the riddle, and is hinted by contradictory statements and run-on sentence.

The main character’s realization of life’s significance can be derived from McCarthey’s numerous paradoxes. Towards the end of the passage, he makes a number of references to a quality/idea that while being held “cannot be held”, that has already run “among the mountains” (55), that is what “blood and bone” are made of, but cannot itself be made on any “altar nor any would of war” (58). These statements are clearly contradictory. In this way, McCarthy makes references to the concept of life and soul.

While the body i s being held, the soul cannot be held as it runs among the mountains. Blood and bone, or the body, is made of life - which does not come from altars nor wars. The main character reaches a point of awareness and comes to a realization of life’s capability and importance.

McCarthy shows the movement from the external and physical aspects of the character to what is internal and psychological through his varied sentence structure. In the opening paragraph, only simple and concise sentences are used to describe the actions of the main character. McCarthy suddenly breaks the pattern and goes into a ten-line long run-on sentence at the second paragraph.

The simple sentences in the beginning describe actions which occur in the present, physical world. The run-on sentence immediately contrasts the paragraph before by transitioning into a philosophical world, with sentences that have meaning and depth.

The varied sentence structure shows contrast and further highlights the movement from the external into the internal world. furthermore, the layout of the sentences, with references to “rival sects” (23), relates to references to “wound of war” (59), which provides hints that it is indeed life that war cannot make. Along with contrast and similarities to other parts of the passage, McCarthy makes it so that the character’s experience - coming to a realization of life’s beauty and significance - can be seen through detailed analysis of the passage.

By using paradoxes to point out a quality that the main character becomes aware of; by using varied sentence structures to highlight and contrast the movement from an external into an internal world, McCarthy allows the full experience of the character to be conveyed.