Unity Until The End (or so they thought) - Chapters 16-19 (D)

At the beginning of the trip, it seemed like the family was going to stick together all the way. Unfortunately, some have died and by circumstance have had to abandon the family. But others are starting to leave by choice.

"He turned abruptly and walked downstream along the shore. Tom started to follow, and then he stopped. He saw Noah disappear into the brush, and then appear again, following the edge of the river. And he watched Noah growing smaller on the edge of the river, until he disappear into the willow at last. And Tom took off his cap and scratched his head. He went back to his willow cave and lay down to sleep" (209).

Noah voluntarily left his family. This has importance because it is the first character who has done this, as the one before him died. It is also important because Tom had the opportunity to stop him, but he just watched him leave. This shows how Tom does not care because he did not go to his family and tell them, he just went to sleep. If Tom cared, he would have ran after him or at least tell his family right away. The situation would have been different if Ma replaced Tom though. As we know with past situations, Ma is very good with keeping the family together. If Ma was there, she would have convinced Noah of staying. This is Noah's way of confirming that he no longer needs his family. In the beginning, they needed one another to survive through the trip. Now that he no longer needs them he is going his own way. This can be seen as a selfish act because Noah just used his family until he was able to live off on his own. Perhaps this is why he left. He was described as different from the rest of his family in the beginning of book and his selfishness, compared to his families unity, shows that he did not belong with them. More and more people are leaving the trip, and the more people leave, the less the family is in shock about leaving someone behind.