Desolation In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, chronicles two nameless characters who are surviving in a desolate aftermath of an apocalyptic happening and undergo misery, starvation, and isolation throughout their journey. The unnamed man and his son, the protagonist in the book struggle to live in a terrifying post-apocalyptic world filled with cannibals and marauders. From the start the man has one mystical purpose which is to keep his son alive and what was left of goodness in humanity. He told the boy stories about courage and justice and how the world used to be. Throughout the novel, the man and boy have a powerful relationship in which the man would sacrifice his own life to save his son’s. There is no higher moral compulsion than making ensuring the survival of his son.) He would rather have his son kill himself than be captured by cannibals and endure capture, torture, and cannibalism. while avoiding being eaten by cannibals, the man and his son travel to the south to a warmer climate, and in search for food and supplies. The protagonists face extremely harsh conditions and encounter chaotic situations. Some people can't cope with the changes of the world and choose to leave everything behind and kill themselves. Just like the man’s wife and his son’s mother chose to do by leaving them feeling hopeless and sorrowful. The man made a conscientious effort to keep on living for the only purpose of keeping his son alive. Despite the unreasonable hardships the protagonists encounter, there is little hope for the pair in the devastating world.

To conclude, both the man and boy faced harsh circumstances but however manage to persevere and give each other hope.

The man knew that his end was near but the fear of leaving his son alone in the world defenseless kept him going. The son was a constant reminder to his father of what remained of human kindness and together they kept on facing the hardships of what the world had to

offer.

At the core of human nature there is a need create connections with others as seen in The road. It is the need for this connection that keeps the spirit going and allows for hope to live on. Just like in the novel, the man’s spirit is still fighting due to the son’s love that motivates him to live in the most horrific circumstances. Lack of human connection, make people have the desire not to live on. Cormac McCarthy conveys his audience about a codependent relationship between a father and son through the use of symbols such as fire, nameless characters, the boy, and vision.

Throughout the novel both characters know that death is inevitable and just when they think that all hope is gone they manage to find food to keep them going for a little longer.

As the colder it gets, both the man and son become bearers of the fire in which it represents inner human strength in a manner of virtues such as courage, diligence, and spirit as well as integrity and having the capacity to maintain compassion in a state of definitive devastation and vile. The Allusion to “Carrying the fire” represents that the fire is in the boy.