Question

you may have noticed that mccarthy sometimes uses expected apostrophes and sometimes doesnt, as in the lines:
\i dont know what to make of that. i surely dont. i thought id never seen a person like that and it got me to wonderin if maybe he was some new kind.\
what is his most likely reason for that inconsistency?

he wants to use as little punctuation as necessary, which a reader doesnt need for \dont\ but might for \id.\
mccarthy doesnt know the rules.
mccarthys editor didnt catch his typos.
he wants to make the reader feel uncomfortable.

Explanation:

Analyze the author's punctuation pattern

Cormac McCarthy is known for minimalist punctuation, omitting apostrophes in common contractions like "dont" where the meaning remains perfectly clear without them.

Evaluate the necessity of apostrophes in specific words

Without an apostrophe, "dont" is still easily recognized as "don't" by the reader. However, writing "I'd" without an apostrophe results in "Id" (the word "id"), which would cause confusion and disrupt the reading flow.

Match with the correct option

The first option correctly explains this stylistic choice: McCarthy minimizes punctuation where it is not strictly necessary for comprehension ("dont") but retains it when its absence would create ambiguity or a different word ("I'd").

Answer:

• (A) He wants to use as little punctuation as necessary, which a reader doesn't need for "dont" but might for "I'd." (Correct answer)
• (B) McCarthy doesn't know the rules.
• (C) McCarthy's editor didn't catch his typos.
• (D) He wants to make the reader feel uncomfortable.