The Road by Cormac McCarthy

1231 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay impact of environment

Antoinette's story begins when she is a young girl in early nineteenth- century Jamaica. The white daughter of ex-slave owners. Five years have passed since her father, Mr. Cosway, reportedly drunk himself to death. As a young girl, Antoinette lives at Coulibri Estate with her widowed mother, Annette, her sickly younger brother, Pierre.Antoinette spends her days in isolation Discontent, however, is rising among the freed blacks, who protest one night outside the house. Bearing torches, they accidentally set the house on fire, and Pierre is badly hurt. The events of the night leave Antoinette dangerously ill for six weeks. She wakes to find herself in Aunt Cora's care. Pierre has died. When Antoinette is seventeen, Mr. Mason announces on his visit that friends from England will be coming the following winter. He means to present Antoinette into society as a cultivated woman, fit for marriage. Richard Mason offered him £30,000 if he proposed. Desperate for money, he agreed to the marriage. After the marriage everything seemed to be fine but then after a while Antoinettes husband started drifting away from her. This drove her crazy and made her question her marriage. The story ended with Antoinette locked up in England in Rochesters house.

Human beings, even when they are trapped or imprisoned, tend to assert their individuality or personal freedom. For decades now, the true meaning of freedom has been a very controversial topic. According to the American Heritage College Dictionary the word freedom means. The Condition of being free of constraints. Freedom can be felt, not physically but mentally through emotions. When human beings are trapped or imprisoned, most would have to achieve their own personal freedom in order to survi...

... middle of paper ...

...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.

Although the man in The Road is the one in the story who is mainly making the effort and is in charge of his and the boys survival, ends up passing away. His health degrades as they travel, and by the time they reach the ocean, he is close to death. He repeatedly coughs up blood, and the two are required to move at ever slowing rates each day.

By being free and having good individual qualities is quite hard when there is another figure in another’s life by holding them down. The goal in a relationship is to be close and still maintain an identity as a separate person.

Show More
Related

  • Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ending of the Blood Meridian is both abstruse and compelling. The setting when the kid first walks into town (pp.324) seems almost too familiar. This town could be any number of different towns located throughout the Midwest, but it seems strangely related to the town of Nacogdoches. The Kid, once thought to be on some sort of migratory movement to the West, has now completed a full circle and has returned to the place of his birth. Birth not in the physical sense of being delivered from his mother’s womb, but rather the Kid experienced a rebirth in the form of one of the judge’s “great clay voodoo dolls (pp.13).';

    Read More

  • The Role Of Frank And April Wheeler In Revolutionary Road

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout a lifetime, one can run through many different personalities that transform constantly due to experience and growing maturity, whether he or she becomes the quiet, brooding type, or tries out being the wild, party maniac. Richard Yates examines acting and role-playing—recurring themes throughout the ages—in his fictional novel Revolutionary Road. Frank and April Wheeler, a young couple living miserably in suburbia, experience relationship difficulties as their desire to escape grows. Despite their search for something different, the couple’s lack of communication causes their planned move to Europe to fall through. Frank and April Wheeler play roles not only in their individual searches for identity, but also in their search for a healthy couple identity; however, the more the Wheelers hide behind their desired roles, the more they lose sense of their true selves as individuals and as a pair.

    Read More

  • No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

    580 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cormac McCarthy is known for his narrative writings, in No Country for Old Men McCarthy, does not let his readers down. McCarthy is very informative in the narratives in No country for Old Men. McCarthy is the narrator for three of the main characters in this book. McCarthy starts out telling Sherriff Bell’s prospective that there is no room in the world for an old principled sheriff. McCarthy then goes into the life struggles of the young man Moss who has some life changing choices to make and could take him down the path of several assassins, the main assassin is Chigurh. Chigurh seems to have no soul for he just goes on a killing spree and seems not to care.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Nelson Mandela's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas

    1515 Words  | 4 Pages

    When thinking of freedom, it’s the idea that people are able to act, speak, and have their own thoughts without any restraints. With oppression it’s the prolong of cruel treatment or control. I think the need for freedom and the overcoming of oppression is something that has been an issue since the time of slavery, maybe even before then it 's just that we’re not considered as property in this day in age and we’re entitled to the same rights as everyone else. When I think about it, are we really free and what are the reasons for someone suffering at some point in their life? Nelson Mandela’s reflection, “Working Toward Peace” and Ursula Le Guin, in her fictional essay “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas,” both discuss these themes throughout

    Read More

  • Theme Of Isolation In The Road

    2281 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • No Country For Old Men By Cormac Mccarthy

    458 Words  | 1 Pages

    Death is a part of life and it does not discriminate, whether a person is old or young, death waits for no one. In the movie, “No Country for Old Men”, adapted from the novel written by Cormac McCarthy, death and violence are a relevant theme. It all begins when Vietnam veteran, Llewelyn Moss, finds a case full of money, at a drug deal gone awry. A chase ensues between hitman, Anton Chigurh, and an almost retired Sheriff, Ed Tom Bell. While Llewelyn runs, Anton follows, and it seems like wherever Anton goes death is not far behind. Anton Chigurh’s character is an enigma; however, his unexpected actions, non-discriminatory killings, and spectator like persona gives him the feel of an entity simply passing through the world, like death.

    Read More

  • Good Vs. Evil In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

    433 Words  | 1 Pages

    After the man and the boy find the cannibal house, the boy questions, “We wouldn’t ever eat anybody, would we?”. The boy is then reminded they are “the good guys” and are “carrying the fire”. The fire represents the the metaphorical “flame” inside both characters to survive. The flame ignites their desire to live and persevere through hardships together, as “the good guys”. The man soon becomes sick, and in his last moments he talks to the boy about the little boy they found on the road earlier. The boy wonders if the little boy is lost and “who will find him if he’s lost?”, while the man restores hope by saying that the “goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again”. However, the man is not talking about the little boy, but about his own child instead. As the man speaks of goodness finding the little boy even in the darkest of times, he hopes the boy will reflect his message upon himself after the man perishes. The man’s life finally comes to an end, while the boy is lost and without hope, until he found a man that “was dressed in a gray and yellow ski

    Read More

  • Hope In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

    1310 Words  | 3 Pages

    All throughout the story , the Father mentions the boy in such a positive way to keep going. For example, the Father was looking into his binoculars at the ashy land to see any sight of where to go, he then thinks of his son, "He knew only that the child was his warrant" (5), the father sees his son as his light in this dark place. He is saying that as long as his child is alive, he will be alive as well trying to protect him. That gives a sense of positive vibe because the father will

    Read More

  • Jack Kerouac’s On The Road - A Memorable Journey

    790 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jack Kerouac's exhuberant novel, On the Road, follows a group of restless young friends criss-crossing America in second-hand cars while finding their 'kicks' in jazz, girls, drugs, and intense conversations about love, poetry, and serenity. Exposing the underground Beat lifestyle of the 1950's, Kerouac celebrates the defiance of a generation chasing the freedom promised by the American Dream while committing themselves to instinct and emotion.

    Read More

  • Jack Kerouac's On The Road

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    Jack Kerouac is considered a legend in history as one of America's best and foremost Beat Generation authors. The term "Beat" or "Beatnic" refers to the spontaneous and wandering way of life for some people during the period of postwar America, that seemed to be induced by jazz and drug-induced visions. "On the Road" was one such experience of Beatnic lifestyle through the eyes and heart of Jack Kerouac. It was a time when America was rebuilding after WW I. Describing the complexity and prosperity of the postwar society was not Karouac's original intent. However, this book described it a way everyone could visualize. It contained examples and experiences of common people looking for new and exciting experiences and most of all, the unknown. America, at the time, had very few vehicle accessible roads that stretched across the entire nation. Route 66 was one that did and, it still exists today in parts of the west. The road led them to new places and people with different views and cultures and this is a prime example of what most people had the desire to do during that era, expand their horizons.Kerouac along with friends, Dean Moriarty and Sal Paradise, combed America from New York to California and from Mexico to Colorado, describing their experiences along the way. From the jazz clubs in New Orleans to the whorehouses in Mexico, their experiences in the places and with the people they encountered will leave the reader in awe."On the Road" wa...

    Read More

  • Father and Son in The Road and The Pursuit of Happyness

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • M. Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled

    1226 Words  | 3 Pages

    As M. Scott Peck describes it in his book The Road Less Traveled, grace is a strong force that helps nurture the spirituality of a being and encourages spiritual growth. In order to explain this powerful force of grace that effects everyone, Peck talks about the miracles of health which humanity experiences unconsciously. One of the things that the miracles of health do is that they help human life and human spirituality grow. They are also not completely understood by scientific thinking. This concept relates back to one of the most important truths of religion and that is that one must have faith. Humanity must accept that not everything is able to be explained scientifically, so humanity must place its faith in God in order to somewhat understand

    Read More

  • Post Apocalyptic Setting In 'The Road'

    353 Words  | 1 Pages

    In The Road you are exposed to a post apocalyptic setting, in which you are shown how strong you must be to survive and the willingness to do so. The son and father represent souls trying to find the spark in the darkness. By not being in this setting you gain knowledge of what to do and how to do it to stay alive. People are different in different circumstances and will change with their surroundings. But some will continue to fight for what they know to be right, even if it means going against the crowd, just like the father and son had done. All you need is a spark, no matter how small, to keep you going.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Freedom In Existentialism

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    Freedom, a seven lettered word that varies in meaning for every individual. Freedom is the basis of human rights, without the freedom to do as one please, one feels confine. This confinement leads to many interesting tales of human curiosity expanding and exploring, such as Leonardo DiCaprio fascination with corpses or the escaping of where freedom is not a necessity such as North Korea. There are many aspects to freedom, it is reflected in actions, decisions and thought. In existentialism, one’s philosophical approach is that one is free and is the deciding factor of everything that they choose in their life. In existentialism since one has ultimate freedom in everything, without any authority deciding for them, this vast array of thought that can come for anyone from anywhere creates hell for others, because one is unable to control others.

    Read More

  • Psychological Freedom Essay

    951 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nelson Mandela once said, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one 's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” (“Biography of Nelson Mandela” 3) In life, people can either have a physical definition of freedom or a psychological and emotional definition of freedom. There are two types of physical freedoms, pleasurable freedom, such as having a car or lots of money and a serious freedom, such as when a person gets released from jail. However, psychological freedom is having positive emotions, a clear conscience, and self-confidence. There are many different types of psychological freedom, but these three seem very important.

    Read More

More about The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Open Document