Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, tells the story of a father and son’s dangerous journey to a safer place. Through the use of the characters, McCarthy expands upon hope making it a major theme of the novel. Although the father hopes for a better world for his son while the boy is hopeful that there are other good guys, both dreams are pursued because they provide motivation to move towards a more hopeful future.
The man wishes for a renewed world mainly for his son. Early in the novel, McCarthy informs the readers that the current country is in ruins with “everything covered with ash and dust” and that there is “no sign of life” in existence (12). Therefore, in a time where ‘the world grew darker daily,” it is only natural for the father to
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hope for a brighter future that is son can enjoy ( 213). The father’s yearning for this new world shows his dedication to his son because others would only focus on themselves. The boy, however, can not comprehend the magnitude and impact a renewed society would make on him since he was born into this gray world and knows nothing about what it used to be like except for what his father tells him. Because of this the man is not able to personally share his hope with his son and is left alone in his struggles. Not only is the man’s hope for a transformed world, but it is also for the safety of his only son. The father believes that his only job left on the earth is to take care of the boy and Smith 2 will therefore stop at nothing to protect him (McCarthy 77).
Through his determination, the man demonstrates a strong attachment to his son which is contrasted greatly to the couple that eats their newborn. In response to the father and son’s relationship, Ashley Kunsa writes, “out of love for his child and hope for some salvation, the man pushes himself to the point of death to preserve the child’s physical and spiritual safety” (2). This statement details how much suffering the man is willing to go through for the boy which provides a picture of sacrifice for the reader.
While the father hopes for a sanctuary, the boy wants more good guys in the world. Several times in their journey, the boy asks the man if they still are the good guys because that is what he is concerned with most (McCarthy 77,129). The son believes that if they are able to remain good then there must be other good ones out there as well. Kunsa explains that the hope for more good guys "propels the characters through the ashen landscape" (5). As the novel progresses, the boy's assumption that there are other people develops to a more convicted level of hope. Towards the end of the book, the boy expresses his hope when he says, "There could be people alive someplace else," to which the man replies, with some hesitation, "There are people and we'll find them" (McCarthy 244). With each reiterated inquiry about human existence, the son's positivity increases until he convinces the man to confirm his
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hopes and build both their confidences in other good guys (Cooper 7) . The man and the son cling on to their different hopes for varied reasons. The father grasps onto his dream of a better life because the future for his son is bleak. Believing in Smith 3 something keeps him motivated to protect what is left of his family. Cooper comments on how the man’s hope for his son gives him something to work towards and live for (8). Without the boy, he would have no will to survive, but since the father is only one keeping them alive, he struggles on to reach their goals. On the other hand, the son persists in his hope of other good guys. He stays encouraged because according to Kunsa, “the child is carrying the fire of hope” (7). The boy believes that nothing bad will happen to them because they are carrying that fire. By wishing that there are others, he is able to reassure himself that they still are good. At the end of the novel, the son is even more determined in his search for other good guys so that he will not be alone when his father dies (McCarthy 278). The book’s resolution turned into a hopeful ending when both the father and the son’s dreams come at least partially real.
Even though he never finds out, the man leaves the boy with a brighter life ahead of him. With this in mind, Kunsa writes "the failure of the father's lungs at The Road's end is heartrending, and his death is made bearable only because the great sacrifice of his labored journey secures for the child a hopeful future" (4). The child's rescue provides a more acceptable conclusion because the reader is satisfied that all the hard struggles of their previous life have payed off in the end. The boy's hope comes to life after his father dies and another man finds him in the road. Following the child's signature question, this new character answers, "Yeah, I'm one of the good guys," assuring the boy that there certainly are others (McCarthy 182). This development at
the Smith 4 end of the story is hopeful because just like the father promises, "goodness" finds the boy and takes him to a safe family. In The Road, Cormac McCarthy is able to develop the father and the son through their hopes. Because of their dangerous journey, they cling to their dreams even more which results in a hopeful ending for the novel. These two protagonists prove that following one's hopes provides salvation from a life of devastation.
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.
Although finding food was a struggle for them, the man always put the boy’s health before his. The man made sure the boys thirst and hunger was always gone and that he had food to eat and drinks to drink. “He took the can and sipped it and handed it back. You drink it, he said. Let's just sit here.” (Page 27). In this quote, the man gave the boy the last of the soda but the boy got upset that the man didn’t take any, so the man took a sip and proceeded to give it to the boy. This is important because the father knows that he’s thirsty and could kill for a drink, but he knows that this is the first and last soda the boy would ever get. “He'd found a last half packet of cocoa and he fixed it for the boy and then poured his own cup with hot water and sat blowing at the rim.” (Page 18). This quote shows us too that the man always made sure that the boy got the better part of the deal. The boy got to drink cocoa but the man just drank hot water. The father does this because he got to live through his childhood without this apocalyptic world but the boy only lived a few years that he really doesn’t remember. These quotes show paternal love because they explain how the father always puts the son before him. Through all of the actions the father takes, it shows us how much he really cares about the son, and that his son is his only hope and his fire for
Imagine a world where everything is black and covered in layers of ash, where dead bodies are scattered throughout the streets and food is scarce. When earth, once green and alive, turns dark and deadly. A story about a man, his son and their will to survive. Within the novel Cormac McCarthy shows how people turn to animalistic and hasty characteristics during a post-apocalyptic time. Their need to survive tops all other circumstances, no matter the consequences. The hardships they face will forever be imprinted in their mind. In the novel, The Road, author Cormac McCarthy utilizes morbid diction and visual imagery to portray a desperate tone when discussing the loss of humanity, proving that desperate times can lead a person to act in careless ways.
While reading the novel “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy the overall aspect is pessimistic. It is about violence, hardship, death, fear, and the loss of hope. Throughout the book, the two main characters, the man, and boy face up against some of the toughest survival and life lessons. Together they face the woman’s suicide, starvation, the idea of rape, sickness, survival of the apocalypse, and in a sense being hunted like prey by cannibals who also managed to survive the terrifying possibilities that cause Earth to go to chaos. Within the novel, there are hundreds of examples to provide evidence of the pessimistic nature of the novel. Cormac McCarthy who is the author continuously writes in his novel about some of the deepest and darkest situations
The structure and language used is essential in depicting the effect that the need for survival has had upon both The Man and The Boy in The Road. The novel begins in media res, meaning in the middle of things. Because the plot isn’t typically panned out, the reader is left feeling similar to the characters: weary, wondering where the end is, and what is going to happen. McCarthy ensures the language is minimalistic throughout, illustrating the bleak nature of the post-apocalyptic setting and showing the detachment that the characters have from any sort of civilisation. Vivid imagery is important in The Road, to construct a portrait in the reader's mind that is filled with hopelessness, convincing us to accept that daily survival is the only practical option. He employs effective use of indirect discourse marker, so we feel as if we are in the man’s thought. The reader is provided with such intense descriptions of the bleak landscape to offer a feeling of truly seeing the need for survival both The Man and The Boy have. The reader feels no sense of closu...
In Cormac McCarthy’s Sci-Fi novel, “The Road”, two mysterious people, a father and his curious son, contact survival of the fittest during tragic apocalyptic times. With a shopping cart of food and supplies, they excavate into the remains of tattered houses, torn buildings and other sheltering places, while averting from troublesome communes. In the duration of the novel, they’re plagued with sickness that temporarily unable them to proceed onward. Due to the inopportune events occurring before the apocalypse, the wife of the son and father committed suicide due to these anonymous survivors lurking the remains of earth. The last people on earth could be the ‘bad guys’ as the young boy describes them. In page 47, the wife reacted to this, stating, “Sooner or later they will catch us and they will kill us. They will rape me. They'll rape him. They are going to rape us and kill us and eat us and you won't face it. You'd rather wait for it to happen. But I can't.”
he Road, written by Cormac McCarthy was inspired by a trip he took with his young son to El Paso Texas. He was imaging what the town would look like 100 years into the future and he though of “fires on the hill” and then thought about his son's safety. McCarthy admitted to having conversations with his brother about different scenarios for the apocalypse. For example, cannibalism, “when everything is gone, the only thing left to eat is each other.” He made some notes about this vision of his, but didn't act on it until a few years later in 2006, while in Ireland. He started and finished the novel and dedicated it to his son, John Francis McCarthy.
With the son’s fear amongst the possibility of death being near McCarthy focuses deeply in the father’s frustration as well. “If only my heart were stone” are words McCarthy uses this as a way illustrate the emotional worries the characters had. ( McCarthy pg.11). Overall, the journey of isolation affected the boy just as the man both outward and innerly. The boys’ journey through the road made him weak and without a chance of any hope. McCarthy states, “Ever is a long time. But the boy knew what he knew. That ever is no time at all” (McCarthy pg. 28). The years of journey had got the best of both, where they no longer had much expectation for
In this novel the presentation of the father is portrayed as a father protecting his son’s innocence. It’s almost as if the man is placed on this planet for one major purpose to protect and keep his son alive. The burnt man passage gives the reader an insight into a world that has absence of culture and civilization in the post-apocalyptic world that both the boy and man inhabit, the role of the boy and the father are further established for the reader and many of the techniques that become typical of McCarthy’s style in the novel. Structurally the burned man scene is one of the horrific episodes that occur in the novel and it is the first to take place, foreshadowing, future horrific episodes that will take place later on in the novel. This essay will be exploring these ideas in more depth looking closely at how the father and boy are portrayed in this part of the extract.
The concept of good against evil is relevant in today’s society because our actions define and reflect our morals. People constantly face the battle between making good and bad choices, and culture greatly influences our decision making. We are raised to establish right from wrong, good from evil. Our ability to recognize acts of evil and corruption is developed from our experiences in life and from the environment in which we are raised. In The Road, the boy and the man struggle to survive as they embark on a treacherous journey to the south, where they believe they will find warmth and safety. Their will to keep living in a dark, post-apocalyptic world symbolizes perseverance and determination, along with the idea of good through destruction.
...s son live by seven rules that make them the good guys. They do what they have to do to survive, without compromising their morals. They are the epitome of a light shining in the darkness. The conflict of the father and son’s polar opposite personalities is exemplified when looking at how they feel about the rules. The child has ease with following every rule but number six, whereas the father has trouble with every rule but number six. This shows that maybe the characters complete each other. This also shows that maybe the son is better cut out for living in this kind of world than his father is. That fact shows that the father taught the child correctly.
This book was very interesting and pleasurable to read, I found myself intimately connecting with the characters. In some ways I found myself walking in “the man’s” shoes, not caring about humanity, and only protecting the one most precious to him (me). In some instances I also sided with “the boy” clinging to the hopes of a brighter world where there is still some purity in civilization. This novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a true masterpiece and I recommend it to anyone looking for a phenomenal read.
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 ...
Though dreams are usually considered to be pleasant distractions, the man believes that good dreams draw you from reality and keep you from focusing on survival in the real world. The man’s rejection of dreams and refusal to be drawn into a distraction from his impending death exemplifies the futility of trying to escape; McCarthy presents dreams and memories as an inevitable conundrum not to be trusted. The man’s attitude towards dreams is established from the beginning of the novel. When battling with a recurring dream of his “pale bride” the man declares that “the right dreams for a man in peril were dreams of peril and all else was the call of languor and of death” (18). To the man, the life he lives in is so horrible that he believes that his dreams, in turn, must...