The Road by Cormac McCarthy: Is There a Quest For God?

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Some readers of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006) have disputed that the characters in the novel are on a “Quest for God” especially when the future looks so bleak and hopeless as it does in this novel. Why would McCarthy be on a quest for God? For instance, Steven Frye (2009) believes there are a deeper human experience and reflection is what McCarthy writes about and not a “Quest for God”. Frye refers to this passage in The Road,” Just remember that things you put into your head are there forever…You might want to think about that. You forget some things don’t you? Yes. You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget” (12). This example shows that the characters are using experience from their past, not looking for a God or are they? There are many times in the novel that the reader, is wondering are they looking for God, even though there is instances that the reader declares no the characters are just trying to endure another day. I believe that God is a force in the book and McCarthy is also trying to point us on a better path than we are currently on. The path we are on now is a life of destruction in carrying a lot of evil; also McCarthy is saying either we stop and listen to what God is trying to tell us or this will be our world.
To validate this claim of a ‘Quest for God’ one might point: “The clocks stopped at 1:17. A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions “(52). This could be referring to a bible verse of Revelations 1:17; if the readers know their bible verses well they will catch these subtle hints. In Revelations of the Bible: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the La...

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...Quest for God” within the pages of the novel. I trust McCarthy is trying to tell us to change our ways and live by the rubrics God gave us or face the consequences of our exploits. The author himself is querying if there is or is there not a God, therefore he sent the characters of this novel on a quest of their own. When the author himself is throwing out the query throughout the novel how can you not believe there is a search for God.

Works Cited

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.

Frye, Steven. The Cambridge Companion to Cormac McCarthy. South Carolina: U of South Carolina, 2009. Print.

Biblica Incorp. "Bible Gateway Passage: Revelation 1:17 - New International Version." Bible Gateway. Bible Gateway, 2011. Web. 10 May 2014. .

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