Morality In The Road

English III Mrs. Green
The Road

In the novel “The Road” a man and his son fight for their survival on an ash covered wasteland of what is left of earth after what is thought to be an apocalypse. On their journey traveling south on the road, they search for any food and supplies they can find, while taking shelter anywhere that seems safe. After this apocalypse, much of the human race has lost their sense of right and wrong. This has led people to murder, stealing, and even cannibalism. Unlike these savage people, the man has held onto what he believes are good morals. Knowing the importance of these morals he raises his son to live by them as well. In doing so, the man calls himself and his son the “good guys” and anyone that doesn’t follow these morals the “bad guys”.
The main morals that separated the “good guys” from the “bad guys” was no eating other people, no stealing, no lying, always keep your promise, always help others, and never give up, always keep fighting. Throughout the novel these morals were tested or even broken in order to survive. The first instance of this was at the beginning of the novel when the man and his son encounter a man who has been struck by lightning on the edge of the road. Instead of doing the morally right thing and helping the lightning victim, the man and his son keep walking as if he wasn’t there. To the son this seemed cruel and unjust, but the father had different thoughts. He believed it to be a waste of time and supplies to aid a man in such a critical condition. In many other situations the man struggles to help others as well. This is primarily...

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...vel is that the father will never leave or abandon him, even after death, but this promise is almost broken at the end of the novel when the father is close to death and his life is fading away. In order for the father to keep his promise he tells him that he will always be able to talk to him in his imagination and that he will be always watching over him even if he isn’t truly with him because he will always be with him in his heart. This promise allows his son to keep moving forward without him and allow him to finish their journey without him.
Without the morals that the father and son shared they would have never felt or shared the bond they had between one another. Which is what truly kept them alive and kept them fighting for survival. These morals gave them are reason to live and with them they will always be able to call themselves the “good guys”.