Two Sides of Compassion
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” -Dalai Lama XIV. In this dystopian novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a father and his son must make their way along an abandoned road to arrive at the coast, where there was hope for survival. The idea of survival in the novel exemplifies the different forms of compassion an individual is able to take, ultimately portraying that innocence is the fundamental source to pure compassion.
In the beginning of the book it is shown that the boy has compassion for others and it seems like Papa does not have as much, but Papa’s compassion is entirely for the boy and focuses on the boys safety. While waiting outside for Papa the boy claims, …show more content…
Meeting an elder man named Ely, that walks with a cane and seems to have cataracts growing on his eyes, the boy can not resist to help the man. Trying to comfort the man the boy says, “He’s scared, Papa. The man is scared… Maybe he thinks we’re not real” (162). Forgetting about his own pain and suffering, the boy puts himself in Ely’s shoes and can see the misery he is in and that makes the boy want to help him in anyway that he is able. Although the boy begs Papa to help the man, Papa takes a different approach on things. When the boy tries to hold Ely’s hand to help him walk Papa said, “I dont think you should touch him” (163). Papa does not want the boy to become attached to the man because the man could not stay with them because they would run out of the little supplies they had left and it will just hurt the boy even more if he becomes close with the man. Papa realizes that the amount of compassion the boy has for others is incomprehensible to him. When Ely asks why the boy treated him so well Papa claims, “You wouldnt understand, he said. I’m not sure I do” (173). Papa starts to understand that the boy is more compassionate with others and does not understand how the boy could be compassionate after seeing the terrible things that humans can do. Overall the boy can care about …show more content…
After realizing that they have been robbed, Papa and the boy frantically search for the robber. Once finding the man who stole from them papa demanded that the robber must give them everything he had including the cloths off his back, “I’m going to leave you the way you left us” (257). Papa with no sympathy for the man, immediately turns to revenge. He wants to make the man suffer for what he did so Papa did the exact same thing to him. Different from his father, the boy did not understand why they had to punish the man. When Papa orders the man to take off his clothes, “The thief looked at the boy. The boy had turned away and put his hands over his ears” (257). The helpless boy could not even look at what his papa was doing he was so disgusted with how Papa was dealing with it. Despite the man stealing from them, the boy still saw the man as a human and did not agree with what his father was doing. The boy begged his father, “Just help him, Papa. Just help him” (259). McCarthy repeatedly says this to show the boy is standing up for the thief and is going against what his Papa has done. Even though he stole from them, the boy saw how Papa treated the thief and knew that it was horribly wrong. Overall the boy does not get distracted by thinking about how they are going to survive but somehow keeps the humane
“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.” -Dalai Lama XIV. In this dystopian novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, a father and his son must make their way along an abandoned road to arrive at the coast, where there was hope for survival. The idea of survival in the novel exemplifies the different forms of compassion an individual is able to take, ultimately portraying that innocence is the fundamental source to pure compassion.
In the beginning of the book it is shown that the boy has compassion for others and it seems like Papa does not have as much, but Papa’s compassion is entirely for the boy and focuses on the boys safety. While waiting outside for Papa the boy claims, …show more content…
Meeting an elder man named Ely, that walks with a cane and seems to have cataracts growing on his eyes, the boy can not resist to help the man. Trying to comfort the man the boy says, “He’s scared, Papa. The man is scared… Maybe he thinks we’re not real” (162). Forgetting about his own pain and suffering, the boy puts himself in Ely’s shoes and can see the misery he is in and that makes the boy want to help him in anyway that he is able. Although the boy begs Papa to help the man, Papa takes a different approach on things. When the boy tries to hold Ely’s hand to help him walk Papa said, “I dont think you should touch him” (163). Papa does not want the boy to become attached to the man because the man could not stay with them because they would run out of the little supplies they had left and it will just hurt the boy even more if he becomes close with the man. Papa realizes that the amount of compassion the boy has for others is incomprehensible to him. When Ely asks why the boy treated him so well Papa claims, “You wouldnt understand, he said. I’m not sure I do” (173). Papa starts to understand that the boy is more compassionate with others and does not understand how the boy could be compassionate after seeing the terrible things that humans can do. Overall the boy can care about …show more content…
After realizing that they have been robbed, Papa and the boy frantically search for the robber. Once finding the man who stole from them papa demanded that the robber must give them everything he had including the cloths off his back, “I’m going to leave you the way you left us” (257). Papa with no sympathy for the man, immediately turns to revenge. He wants to make the man suffer for what he did so Papa did the exact same thing to him. Different from his father, the boy did not understand why they had to punish the man. When Papa orders the man to take off his clothes, “The thief looked at the boy. The boy had turned away and put his hands over his ears” (257). The helpless boy could not even look at what his papa was doing he was so disgusted with how Papa was dealing with it. Despite the man stealing from them, the boy still saw the man as a human and did not agree with what his father was doing. The boy begged his father, “Just help him, Papa. Just help him” (259). McCarthy repeatedly says this to show the boy is standing up for the thief and is going against what his Papa has done. Even though he stole from them, the boy saw how Papa treated the thief and knew that it was horribly wrong. Overall the boy does not get distracted by thinking about how they are going to survive but somehow keeps the humane