Cormac Mccarthy The Road Essay

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Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, centers on the two main characters, an unnamed man and a young boy, who forage for diminishing resources in a world on the verge of famine. The catastrophe that destroyed their society and made it a "wasted country"(6) is unclear, however, it is clear that the home the man once knew is gone forever, and because the son has never known another world, the father intensifies his efforts to provide for, and present his son goodness. McCarthy describes his world as horrible and ominous, a world full of scorched corpses. The man and son travel this world on foot, with a shopping cart of their limited supplies, which is everything that they own. Throughout the novel, they search for anyone "carrying …show more content…

The image of the man’s sacrifice to improve his child’s harsh reality, a life spent surrounded by godless ruins, is further emphasized by the simple act of sharing a cocoa packet in the mountains. The picture of the man sacrificing comforts to better his child's dreadful existence of only experiencing a godless ruin is further depicted in the mountains with a simple cocoa packet. The man holding the remaining half of the packet "fixed it for the boy and then poured his cup with hot water" (34) in the freezing mountains is a testament to the theme of generosity of a father who loves his child and wants to provide him with all the comforts of life. The father tries to smuggle the son all of the last packet of hot chocolate, but the boy catches on and says, "You promised not to do that," (34) revealing the trust built in the relationship once more. The selfless father is willing to break a promise to the boy to benefit his child in any way, like a mere sweet

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