Is it crazy to think that there is any hope in such a catastrophic world where there might be no tomorrow? In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a father and son fight for their lives to survive a dying world. A world full of empty promises of a tomorrow, dying people at every turn, and struggling to keep away from people who might try to hurt them. The father does everything he can to protect his son, even if it means losing the compassion his son has towards those who they cross path with. This story is optimistic because the Father's faith in his son keeps him going, the son's innocence and humility shows hope of humanity still remaining on earth, and although there is many horrible things occuring, a glimpse of happiness is portrayed even if …show more content…
All throughout the story , the Father mentions the boy in such a positive way to keep going. For example, the Father was looking into his binoculars at the ashy land to see any sight of where to go, he then thinks of his son, "He knew only that the child was his warrant" (5), the father sees his son as his light in this dark place. He is saying that as long as his child is alive, he will be alive as well trying to protect him. That gives a sense of positive vibe because the father will …show more content…
For example when they find a old man and the son pleads at his father to help the old man, "I dont he should have anything. What do you want to give him?" (165) , the father clearly could care less about anybody else but them let alone this old man. The lack of compassion for another human being in the father is seen in the son. He is selfless even at times where you need to be selfish in order to survive. Another example of this is when they find a bunker full of food, the son questions whether it's okay to take someone else's food, " We know that you saved it for yourself and if you were here we wouldn’t eat it no matter how hungry we were and we're sorry that you didnt get to eat it...." (146), the boy is starving yet he cares of the people who provided them the food. This is important because the boy
He always wants to help someone else in need before himself, whereas the father is only concerned about their own personal wellbeings. He “is the one” who worries about their ethical choices and wants to help a stranger in any way he can (259). McCarthy proves the importance of the boy’s spirit of love for other people when his dad dies and he must take the leap of faith to continue along the road with a new family. Despite all the corrupted people they encountered beforehand, the boy meets someone who is “carrying the fire” (129). This mantra by the father and son, symbolizes hope and humanity. The qualities Steinbeck labels for a writer to create in his writings can be summed up in “carrying the fire” since the two never did give up. It is the greatness of the heart and spirit Steinbeck notes that is “inside [them]. [And] [i]t [is] always there” (279). It is noteworthy that even in the midst of death and ashes, the two are able to hold onto their relationship and sanity. The “good guys” can continue to carry meaning and structure in their lives, even in a time where society turned into a battle to survive on the remnants of
Readers develop a compassionate emotion toward the characters, although the characters are detached and impersonal, due to the tone of The Road. The characters are unidentified, generalizing the experience and making it relatable – meaning similar instances can happen to anyone, not just the characters in the novel. McCarthy combined the brutality of the post-apocalyptic world with tender love between father and son through tone.
It’s the year 2028, and the world we used to know as bright and beautiful is no longer thriving with light. A disease similar to the plague broke out and caused great havoc. Although it may seem like forever ago, sickness spread only a few years ago. The Road by Cormac McCarthy is about a man and his son who fortunately survived this sickness; although they made it, the struggle to keep going is tough. Before most of the population became deceased, people went insane. They started to bomb houses, burn down businesses and towns, and destroy the environment. Anyone who had the disease was bad blood. Many saw it as the end of the world, which in many cases was true.
Throughout the novel the feelings the man has for his son are sacred; the man makes great sacrifices for his son to continue to live and have a future in a world that has been devastated and stripped of all humanity. The boy is the only source of light for
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is about a father and son who are surrounded by an apocalyptic world where they are trying to survive. Many of McCarthy’s books are about negative or violent times like Blood Meridian and All The Pretty Horses. McCarthy enjoys writing about the terror in the real world. When writing literature, he avoids using commas and quotation marks.. Many works of literature have a plethora of themes throughout them, in The Road, the theme that sticks out the most is paternal love. The boy is the only thing that stands between the man and death. Aside from that, the father doesn’t kill anyone for food, he only takes the life of people who threaten the boy. Lastly, the man allows the boy have the last of their supplies, food,
Tom Wolfe's novel The Right Stuff, gives an accurate description into the lives of the first astronauts and rocket-powered aircraft test pilots, from their careers before, during, and after their selection to become astronauts, through to their private home lives. All throughout his book, Wolfe refers to "the right stuff" and "this righteous stuff" without ever saying upfront what "the stuff" really is. I have concluded that throughout the story, "the right stuff" is simply courage. I would personally define courage as: The willingness to put yourself in a potentially dangerous situation. It is never easy to put yourself into a dangerous position, this is because our brain is programmed for survival, but there are ways to better equip our brain so that these situations become less dangerous. A couple of these ways are with our natural instincts and good training.
The painting Light of Hope is a realistic painting of a light house on the coast of an American shore done by contemporary artist Thomas Kinkade. Thomas Kinkade started his career with his first lithograph, and after some time he realized he was inspired to paint not for the money but from his heart. His main goal became glorifying God and spreading His light. Kinkade grew up in Placerville, California and growing up to be a big family man. Often in his paintings he leaves little symbols representing his wife and children. Over the years he has donated his earned money to different charities and is al crediting God for his ability to paint. His purpose as a painter has been and will continue to share of the light of God (Thomaskinkade).
The Road, a post-apocalyptic, survival skills fiction book written by Cormac McCarthy and published in 2006 is part of the Oprah Winfrey book club. During an interview with Oprah, McCarthy answered questions about The Road that he had never been asked before because pervious to the interview he had never been interviewed. Oprah asked what inspired the heart breaking book; it turns out that McCarthy wrote the book after taking a vacation with his son John. While on the vacation he imagined the world fifty years later and seen fire in the distant hills. After the book was finished, McCarthy dedicated it to his son, John. Throughout the book McCarthy included things that he knows he and his son would do and conversations that he thinks they may have had. (Cormac). Some question if the book is worth reading for college course writing classes because of the amount of common writing “rule breaks”. After reading and doing assignments to go along with The Road, I strongly believe that the novel should be required for more college courses such as Writing and Rhetoric II. McCarthy wrote the book in a way to force readers to get out of their comfort zones; the book has a great storyline; so doing the assignments are fairly easy, and embedded in the book are several brilliant survival tactics.
By gaining a deeper understanding of the story and looking at the language used the message is clear; that a role model such as a father figure does not have to be a biological father to be a father in the heart. It also teaches an important lesson of respecting and listening to elders because they can teach you invaluable lessons. Today people become so dependent on technology that they fail to notice what is about them, even if it is right in front of them.
Still, he offers the benefit of the doubt and the chance to live to anyone who may cross their path. At one point, he even gives into his son’s relentless begging and invites one man to have dinner with them. This is a risky step to take in such an “every man for himself” sort of world. The man and the boy call themselves the “good guys.” The man repeatedly references “carrying the torch,” which represents the light and goodness the world still possesses through them. The man spends the entire book risking his life to reach a safer environment for his son and teach him the ways of life. Any human being willing to risk their life for another truly exemplifies
The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a story that starts off with a man and his son in the wilderness. Throughout the novel, they venture down a road during the aftermath of an apocalyptic scenario. The Father makes it clear that anything will be done on his part to ensure his son’s safety, while the son learns journeys down the road by his side. The Road showcases a constant struggle for survival, which consists of continuing down a path to eventually get to the coast, in the hopes of eventually getting over the initial hump in adjusting to their newly adapted lifestyle.
In the Novel The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, survival becomes the biggest quest to life. The novel is set to be as a scene of isolation and banishment from people and places. The author uses the hidden woods as a set of isolation for the characters, in which creates the suspense of traveling to an unspecified destination near the shore. Cormac McCarthy creates a novel on the depth of an imaginative journey, which leads to a road of intensity and despair. The journey to move forward in an apocalyptic world transforms both of the main characters father and son tremendously as time progress. In particular, the boys’ isolation takes him from hope to torment, making him become fearful and imaginative. The images indicate that McCarthy’s post apocalyptic novel relies on images, particular verbal choices, and truthful evidence to how isolation affected the son emotionally and physically.
As humans, we want to be able to live a good and safe life. We want to have a good life not only for ourselves, but for our children as well. In the novel “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, the Father and son are struggling to make it to the coast, and along the way, they are struggling for their lives as well. The author demonstrates the main theme of survival throughout their journey to the coast. The father must make do of what he has and in order to survive. He must use the remaining natural resources, protect his son at all costs, and fight his illness in his journey to the coast.
At first the relationship between a father and his son can be perceived as a simple companionship. However, this bond can potentially evolve into more of a dynamic fitting relationship. In The Road The Man and his son have to depend on one another because they each hold a piece of each other. The Man holds his sons sense of adulthood while the son posses his father’s innocence. This reliance between the father and son create a relationship where they need each other in order to stay alive. “The boy was all that stood between him and death.” (McCarthy 29) It is evident that without a reason to live, in this case his son, The Man has no motivation to continue living his life. It essentially proves how the boy needs his father to love and protect him, while the father needs the boy to fuel ...
Perhaps one of the most well-known poems in modern America is a work by Robert Frost, The Road Not Taken. This poem consists of four stanzas that depict the story of the narrator traveling through the woods early in the morning and coming upon a fork in the path, where he milled about for a while before deciding upon one of the two paths, wishing he could take both, but knowing otherwise, seeing himself telling of this experience in the future.