Ask AI: “How has McCarthy use tone to convey fragility of human society in The Road?” Refer to an excerpt from the novel and format in the PEEL Paragraph

Cormac McCarthy makes excellent use of tone in his novel "The Road" to support his exploration of the theme: the fragility of human society. An example of this can be seen in the excerpt, "He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world. The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable." (Chapter One), where his tone is desolate and grim. Analysing the first part of this excerpt, "He walked out in the gray light and stood and he saw for a brief moment the absolute truth of the world," the phrase "grey light" symbolizes the bleakness and desolation of the setting, and, in a metaphorical context, of human society as a whole. The character's experience of seeing the world's "absolute truth" resonates with the reality and unforgiving nature of human society's fragility. McCarthy extends this bleak tone in the second part - "The cold relentless circling of the intestate earth. Darkness implacable." The "cold relentless circling" denotes a continuous cycle of despair, acting as a metaphor for the cyclical nature of societal collapse and recovery. The phrase "Darkness implacable" further underlines the relentless and unstoppable decay of the society presented in the novel. In conclusion, McCarthy's characteristically bleak and desolate tone serves as an effective device to underscore the fragility and vulnerability of human society as presented in "The Road." It is McCarthy's dark and stark tone that brings out the stark reality of a post-apocalyptic world and highlights how easily the structures of human society can crumble under adverse conditions.