In the novel “The Road” By Cormac McCarthy, the two main characters; the man and the boy faced several issues throughout their journey. With each encounter, a different side of them is displayed which assists with developing their personal characteristics. Certain encounters revealed the characters moralistic side and other encounters revealed their deprave sides. Based on the man and the boys actions, one can personally choose whether they are antagonists or protagonists. How Things Began To start the novel off, the man and boy were faced with several challenges, put in harsh predicaments, and forced to survive with little resources. In Section Two, they ran into an elderly blind man who was physically disabled. The man had been struck by …show more content…
lightning, he was afraid of the father and son, and they proceeded to leave him where he was. As stated “Can’t we help him? Papa? No. We can't help him… There’s nothing we could have done… He’s going to fir. We can't share what we have or we’ll die too.” The boy showed large amounts of eagerness to assist the old man, though his father displayed completely opposite feelings. The man felt as if nothing could be done to help the man so he wanted to continue their journey and make sure his son remained safe. Though the man had the proper mindset for his son, he displayed corrupt thoughts because he did not attempt to help the old man before leaving his side. After this encounter, the boy was very upset and humiliated because he felt as if something could have been done to save the old man.The purity and goodness was shown in this particular section by the boy without a doubt that he is the protagonist through the during of the novel. Also, in Section Two the small family had an altercation with a bearded man, he threatened the man by holding a knife to the boys throat. “He dove and grabbed the boy and rolled and came up holding him against his chest with the knife at his throat. The man had already dropped to the ground and he swung with him and leveled the pistol and fired from a two-handed position balanced on both knees at a distance of six feet.” The father was practically placed in a position where his son's life was placed on the line with a stranger, in a way, he had no other choice but to kill the bearded man. His morals were shown when he hesitated to take the shot at first, because he wanted to protect his son as much as possible. Though, he did make the decision to kill the bearded man, it can be viewed as either a corrupt decision or perfect decision to keep them alive. In Section Three of the novel, the small family experienced another bad interaction with other human beings.
Inside of a hatch, were several naked people, one of whom was missing everything from the hip on down. These people were enslaved and were victims of cannibalism, they constantly begged the man and boy for help. When the man recognized what was taking place, he and the boy hurried out of the hatch and escaped to a hiding place. Evil was placed upon the man, the boy, and the beard men who were holding those people captive. Once again, the man was thinking correctly to protect his son, but at the same time he did not put in any effort to save any of the people who were chained up. Depravity was also placed upon the bearded men, instead of salvaging for survival, they decided to eat other humans. Cannibalism is immoral and injustice, no human should ever consume of their peer, one should use their resources to survive. The man and boy then had to keep their guard up incase someone else who make an attempt to cannibalize …show more content…
them. Within Section Four the man and boy were faced with many simple challenges, this was a time period of slight relief for the two of them.
They followed a partially impaired elderly man and decided to feed him since they had extra food and other resources. “I don’t think you should touch him. Maybe we could give him something to eat… The boy took the tin and handed it to the old man. Take it, he whispered. Here.” This is a prime example of how humans can withhold goodness and depravity within them. At first, the man did not want to help the sick old man, but eventually the boy convinced him to change his mind and they fed him. They stayed with the man overnight and supplied him with more food and goods, but eventually they had to continue their journey without him. To complete the novel, the boy had one last good encounter with a family of four. The boy was approached by a man with a beard and shotgun who wanted to take the boy to safety. He was then forced to choose between dying with his father and continuing to live with a group of strangers. “How do i know you’re one of the good guys? You don't. You’ll just have to take a shot. Are you carrying the fire?... Yeah. We are.” Once he said his final
goodbye to his father, the family took him and they continued on. When the man came back for the boy, his true goodness inside of him came out because they could have left him there to die. Before, they’d known that the boy was alone and now they’d turned back to take him with them. The woman, man, and their two kids eventually took care of the boy and that is how the novel ended. Conclusion To sum it all up, everyone withholds a demon and an angel inside of them. But, particular situations cause either side to be presented to those who are witnessing the thoughts and actions. Cormac McCarthy exhibited the two counter ego’s that everyone has throughout the entire novel with great detail and descriptions. The boy displayed majority of the angelic thoughts and actions, while the man displayed majority of the demonic thoughts and actions. Although, the boy of them shared both of these traits as human beings. .
On one instance they met a farmer and his wife, and while the wife invited them to dinner, the husband was reluctant at first do to money being tight because there were no jobs. Josh then says, “Maybe we shouldn’t, Joey and I don’t want to take food you need.” The farmer immediately replies no and invites them to his house for dinner. Josh and Joey almost starved on many occasions and sometimes the only way to stay alive was to eat food out of the garbage cans. Josh never told Joey this is where some of the food came from because it pained him to think about it, and Josh always made Joey stay behind on these occasions, so he would not see him picking garbage cans in desperation. Sadly, what was humiliating was having to go door to door and have people watch as one begs for food in order to stay alive another day. Josh noticed that after only a few weeks how all he thought about was food, and this is another similarity between Josh and his father. All Josh’s father thought about was putting food on the table, and Josh never realized how it could consume one till he had to experience it himself. To wrap up, one can see how begging for food is demeaning and how it can leave one with emotional scars, but it also makes one thankful for the simple necessities in
novel The Night, a boy killed his father over bread for his own survival. In the novel, a
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
In The Road McCarthy establishes a post-apocalyptic world in which the majority of population are cannibals. It is established that the public (majority) is hazardous to the two protagonist of the novel. The father and son are forced to kill or be killed. By thrusting the father and son into a world with their actions are predicated by the actions of the public, McCarthy is attempting to illustrate the significant influence one’s environment has on an individual. When the father and son are together in seclusion McCarthy showcases maturity in each of the characters. The conversations they have become more philosophical.
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...
...acters, an unidentified apocalypse, and specks of detail, allowing readers to imagine a desolated setting on a blank canvas. Its two main characters, who symbolize the last strength for the human race, are forced onto a road that stretches to the coastal shores. The absent presence of everyday humans, plants, and wildlife generally fits the science fiction genre. Conversations between both father and son are limited to plain words that the child may only comprehend to. As a result, all responses produce disheartening lines of gloom and obscurity, though the child remains innocent during the days of darkness. He is also an icon of hope that the father holds onto, endlessly tending to the child’s living. Overall, this novel presents the terrible apocalypse in the modern times of before, to the aftermath between two characters who will soon meet their fate.
The Donner Party encountered one of the most paramount hardships a set of travelers could possibly fathom. This historical catastrophe involves eighty-one inexperienced emigrants who traveled in hopes of reaching the land that’s come to be known as California. Forty-seven of said travelers have met series unfortunate events from many contributing factor (PBS). The most horrible and misleading factor of all was the human mind and its insistent need to discover and subjugate everything, whether within reach or not in the shortest and fastest way possible (A&E). The aspect of taking the shortest route that led to one’s inevitable downfall, and in some cases, to death, of the Donner Party. The amount of tragedies about travelers who’ve ran out of food, experienced bad weather, or even getting raided by Native American Indian were endless, but this is a story like no other. It's one of the greatest calamities of all time, however few of us know the unabridged story. Their determination to outlive the odds is ultimately greater than the social taboos that took place during this time period (Bell).
People always like to refer to themselves as “independent”. Independence may seem like a great ideal in modern society, but in a post-apocalyptic world, a sense of dependence is unavoidable. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs help us to understand what people depend on. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, survival of the boy and the man is due to their dependence on their human nature and ability to support one another.
...a fresh positive mind which helps them to survive. The boy is young and it’s hard for any child his age to understand the reality of life in certain situations that is why the man consistently attempts to help the boy understand what they are going through and what it is going to take to survive.
I have conflicting thought regarding Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road. My initial thoughts of the novel were that it was solely built on the complete devastation of two characters lives and the surrounding landscape and their constant search for survival. However after giving it further insight I discovered the underlying messages of the importance of good and bad people in my life, the beauty of the little things in life and constant greed showed by desperate individuals. I believe the novels successes comes from the messages of the significant value of human life and the importance of memories in our lives.
Nonetheless, this really is a tale of compelling love between the boy and his father. The actions of the boy throughout the story indicate that he really does love his father and seems very torn between his mother expectations and his father’s light heartedness. Many adults and children know this family circumstance so well that one can easily see the characters’ identities without the author even giving the boy and his father a name. Even without other surrounding verification of their lives, the plot, characters, and narrative have meshed together quite well.
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 ...
In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, in the post-apocalyptic world that the man and the boy live in, dreams begin to take on the form of a new “reality.” As the novel progresses, the man’s dreams, initially memories remnant of his pre-apocalypse life, become “brighter” as the boy’s dreams become darker and nightmarish. Through the use of color and distinct language, McCarthy emphasizes the contrast between reality and dreams. The man’s reliance on bad dreams to keep him tied to the harsh reality alludes to the hopelessness of the situation; he can never truly escape. McCarthy suggests that those who strive for a life that no longer exists are deluded with false hope. Having dreams is a natural human tendency, but in a world that has become so inhumane, the man can’t even afford to retain this element of being human. The loss of the past is a concept that the characters living in this ashen world struggle with, and McCarthy presents memory as a weakness to be exploited.
The boy’s safe haven attachment increases as the novel progresses. The man keeps trying to teach the boy to be on his own, due to unknown future, although the boy remains securely attached. Safe ha...
The story opens with the boy, whom to this point had ignored his mothers coughs, drops everything to rush to her aid as she “collapsed into a little wicker armchair, holding her side”. (O’Connor 206) As he watched his mother struggle trying to light the fire he told her, “Go back to bed and Ill light the fire”. (206) Now to this point, as the reader, I am unsure of the age of the boy, but I get the impression that he is a young boy. My idea of this boy is that he tries to take on too much throughout the day and eventually it was the demise of the opposite sex that eventually caused the meltdown of the “awesome” little boy. This is certainly something that will happen again to this young lad but he has definitely learned his lesson this time.