Good Vs. Evil And Despair In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

Good versus evil and despair are two of the many themes in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Geographical surroundings are just as important and significant as any other determining factor that can be thought of like fate, destiny, and any other supernatural agency. The setting of a book can determine the morals of a character by putting said their ethics to the test. In The Road, Cormac McCarthy tests the man’s and the boy’s morals by placing the characters in extreme weather conditions including harsh snow and ash covered land. These circumstances make survival very strenuous. The difficult situations include surviving in dangerously cold weather, starvation, and fighting against life threatening people. By staying true to their morals and fighting …show more content…
From time to time, they find themselves turning blue because of the cold. These struggles point directly to the main themes of the plot. Because of these difficult surroundings, the man and the boy must find ways to adapt to their new lifestyle. In one specific incident, McCarthy writes about how the man washes his son’s feet and body after they find refuge in the bunker. The boy says, “Warm at last” (147). The boy’s exclamation shows how important and satisfying this action was for the boy. It is significant that the man does not comment on the warmth of his bath because the bitter cold winter foreshadows to his death. This theory is best explained by Thomas Foster in his novel How to Read Literature like a Professor. Foster explains that “each season correlates with a different stage of life or feelings that a person may have” (Foster 186). By not saying anything about the warmth of his bath, the theory of an eternal winter surrounding the man comes to mind. The man eventually dies because he is surrounded by the eternal winter unlike his son who has a personal time of warmth and happiness. Another important aspect of this scene is that it alludes to the biblical story of Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. This is one of the few times a compassionate side of the father is seen which makes it even more important. The geographical difficulty of bitter coldness helps …show more content…
Starvation is another way the McCarthy uses difficulties to further develop a theme. Surviving in a rough terrain is hard, but doing it with the absence of food makes it even more difficult. Multiple times throughout the novel this problem is mentioned. On page thirty-two and thirty-three, the man describes that “they ate sparely and they were hungry all the time” (McCarthy). The hunger pains that the man and the boy endure are important because it highlights the daily struggle that they go through to survive. Starvation makes their appreciation for the food in the bunker more significant. Although, there are other ways to feed themselves, like cannibalism, the man and the boy refuse to take part in this because they see themselves as the “good guys” as demonstrated on pages 128 and 129 in their conversation. The boy says, “We wouldn’t ever eat anybody, would we?” and the father replies, “No. Of course not.” This conversation continues with the man reassuring the boy that they would never eat another human. It concludes with the boy saying, “Because we’re the good guys” (McCarthy 128, 129). The conversation seen on pages 128 and 129 between the man and his son is extremely important because it focuses on the morals that the man and the boy have. They refuse to take part in the act of cannibalism and this sets them apart from everyone they come into contact with. The difference between the man and the boy and