Cormac Mccarthy The Road Analysis

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, disregards many standards put in place by other writers. None of the characters have proper names, dialogue is not put in quotes, and the characters are not complex. Complex means that the character goes through some sort of change. It’s a very common literary element. In this story there are two main characters and neither of them have an apparent change in personality throughout the book. The Road seems to have no complex characters whatsoever, and that’s a prominent reason for why it’s a unique book. The main character of the story is the Man, and not even he has a change in personality. His main drive in the story is protecting his son at all costs. At one point the narrator says, “He knew only that the child was his warrant” (McCarthy 6), which means that the Boy is the Man’s reason for living. The Man is a tough and fierce man, he has committed ruthless actions in order to protect his child. In one part of the story, he shoots a man that threatened his son and, “The man fell back instantly and lay with blood bubbling from the hole in his forehead” (McCarthy 68). The Man’s ruthlessness worries his son sometimes. The Boy told his father that he should worry about being good in this new world, and the Man …show more content…
The story gives readers a very different perspective on caring about another individual. In an average, modern setting the Man and the Boy’s caring relationship would be considered pretty normal. However, the post-apocalyptic setting adds an element of risk and sacrifice to the relationship. At multiple points in the story, the Man contemplates killing the Boy if things got out of hand and they were captured. This was to make sure the Boy would not be tortured before his death. In one part of the book, while the Boy is sleeping, the Man thinks, “Can you do it [kill him]? When the time comes? Can you?” (McCarthy