Finding the Cellar

This episode was disturbing because you are put into a false sense of security when they find the house and assume that they will find food because that is what usually happens, however when the door is opened and the discover the naked and mutilated people it is a huge shock because it is so unexpected. To make it so surprising, McCarthy doesn't expose this discovery until the man is inside the cellar, making the reader worry about whether they are dangerous or not and how he could escape.
A sense of urgency is created with the really short sentences, for example "Hurry, he said. Hurry." which increases the pace in which the reader reads and highlights how terrified they must be. McCarthy writes "He'd dropped the lighter. No time to look." showing that they have lost one of their most valuable possessions but the man values his and the boy's life more so is more interested in getting themselves out safely than saving their material items essential for survival.
We are exposed to the even harsher reality of what some people are living through in this episode. The way the man and the boy have to survive, taking each day at a time, appears bad but these people have been mutilated and trapped in there, highlighting the even worser off people who were caught in an unfortunate situation.
The man and boy leave the people in the cellar to die, showing that they cannot afford to help them, similar to the way they left the man struck by lighting because he would eventually die anyway. They are able to do this because they feel so little emotion anymore because of their desolate situation.