Cormac McCarthy crafts a post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, through the eyes of an unnamed man and his son as they venture through the “barren, silent, [and] godless” land, ravished by an unknown cataclysmic event (4). Along this forsaken journey to find a safe haven, only hope and love for each other keeps them persisting through the grievous world they once knew. Cannibals, famine, and disease chase them throughout their desperate attempt to find a place where they can survive and “carry the fire”. McCarthy binds the lost souls of a desperate father and his innocent son as they pave their way through a desolate landscape, the only light coming from the boy’s pure soul. Their journey tests them with several patches of time where there seems
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McCarthy uses the father desperate to save his son and the innocent son hoping to help his father maintain his morals to shed light on the theme that even when all the humanity left in the world has been lost, losing hope is not an option. The novel opens with the young boy and his father, traveling the barren road. Bitter, starving, and soiled, they search desperately for a place to sleep, a morsel of food here or there but never enough to thrive, the man and the boy are not living, they’re merely surviving. As they travel down the road, they come upon “a solitary house and a field” (132). They search the house and yard desperately hoping to find food or clothing they can use. The man finds a gas can during their search of the property “he knew it couldn’t have gas in it,”(133) but he still nudges it out of hope he was …show more content…
McCarthy gives the man and boy the miracle to support his theme that even though death was upon them, the man and boy never gave up, because that is not an option. The hope that carried the tired, aching man was fueled by his love for his son, and the boy was fueled by his love and admiration for his father. Without their hope to survive together and the man's hope to see his son live, they would have perished with the rest of society. The hope they carry leads them to the bunker that replenishes the man and boy's dwindling strength and possibly saves them from death that supports McCarthy’s theme of giving up not being an option. As the novel persists, the man and boy crawl along the unfortunate road, and the man and boy find themselves starving, yet again. They continue to spend their nights on the road and face “the sleep of death” (202) as they close their eyes, knowing they may not wake up again. As they walk across the beaten path, the only thing carrying them through the desolate world is their hope, they cannot give up, because giving up would be giving up on each
McCarthy uses the father desperate to save his son and the innocent son hoping to help his father maintain his morals to shed light on the theme that even when all the humanity left in the world has been lost, losing hope is not an option. The novel opens with the young boy and his father, traveling the barren road. Bitter, starving, and soiled, they search desperately for a place to sleep, a morsel of food here or there but never enough to thrive, the man and the boy are not living, they’re merely surviving. As they travel down the road, they come upon “a solitary house and a field” (132). They search the house and yard desperately hoping to find food or clothing they can use. The man finds a gas can during their search of the property “he knew it couldn’t have gas in it,”(133) but he still nudges it out of hope he was …show more content…
McCarthy gives the man and boy the miracle to support his theme that even though death was upon them, the man and boy never gave up, because that is not an option. The hope that carried the tired, aching man was fueled by his love for his son, and the boy was fueled by his love and admiration for his father. Without their hope to survive together and the man's hope to see his son live, they would have perished with the rest of society. The hope they carry leads them to the bunker that replenishes the man and boy's dwindling strength and possibly saves them from death that supports McCarthy’s theme of giving up not being an option. As the novel persists, the man and boy crawl along the unfortunate road, and the man and boy find themselves starving, yet again. They continue to spend their nights on the road and face “the sleep of death” (202) as they close their eyes, knowing they may not wake up again. As they walk across the beaten path, the only thing carrying them through the desolate world is their hope, they cannot give up, because giving up would be giving up on each