McCarthy's style and technique...Page 172

I don't have anything, he said. You can look if you want.
We're not robbers.
He leaned one ear forward. What? he called.
I said we're not robbers.
What are you?
They'd be no way to answer that question. He wiped his nose with the back of his wrist and stood waiting. He had no shoes at all and his feet were wrapped in rags and cardboard tied with green twine and any number of layers of vile clothing showed through the tears and the holes in it. Of a sudden he seemed to wilt even further. He leaned on his cane and lowered himself into the road where he sat among the ashes with one hand over his head. He looked like a pile of rags fallen off a cart. They came forward and stood looking down at him. Sir? the man said. Sir?

The considerable use of punctuation during this text implies that McCarthy wanted to highlight the secerity of the old mans' ultimate surprise of the fact that he has found a sense of humanity through the two characters. By him 'lowering himself into the road where he sat among the ashes' gives the impression that he is ashamed of doubting them, almost as if he feels as though he has offended them because they are genually civillised and good at heart. Perhaps when he 'sat among the ashes', that's how worthless and ashamed he felt by accusing them of something they aren't. In this world, because you rarely find those who are true to themselves people forget respect and humanity as if they are extinct; 'what are you?'. It seems that the man has experienced this, so to have this realisation that humanity may not be losed has shocked him to the ground.  

In this world, questions are no longer meaningful; many are just monotone 'yes or no' questions, deliberatley brief to give a sense of unattachment between humans. So through this manner of speaking, in McCarthy's case, punctuation is pointless. Yet, suddenly a number of question marks appear in the same paragraph, giving the impression that the question is so complex, there is a need for a deeper revelation, and therefore a need for punctuation.  

The desciption of the old man contains the similiar unhygenic images and features to the father and son, 'number of layers of vile clothing'.  This connection between the characters gives us the impression that the man is no different to the father and son; they are all humane human-beings trying to survive as best as they can. The realisation of this for the man therefore overwhelms him.   

'We are no robbers' needs to be repeated twice to try to convince the old man of their innocence, yet their actions of not harming the man instantly speaks louder than their words, obviously meaning that the old man has come across scandalous criminals before. In addition, it enlightens us how paranoid people have to be in this world; everyone is seen as an enemy in their case.

'I don't have anything, he said. You can look if you want.' Said almost rhythmically as though he has repeated this multiple times before, again giving the impression of the sorts of people he has come across in the past. Sense of sencerity towards the end, you believe this poor man owns nothing; we steriotypically expect it because he is old and weak, yet within the novel, people will mercilessly loot whatever and whoever they can.