In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the story follows the struggle of a father and his son to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where inhumanity, despair, and violence in a loveless world do not seem to save much room for peace and triumph. However, despite the absence of empathy and basic humanity, McCarthy does somehow achieve to highlight some pleasant themes all over the story: the themes of morality, hope, and love that are embodied through the father and son's journey on the road.
One of The Road's themes, morality - is represented by the concept of good and evil. It is expressed by the father’s definition of “the good guys” and “the bad guys,” and the simple rule for classifying the good guys from the bad guys is that the bad guys eat people. The good guys don’t. Bad guys are not those people who strive to be good and fail to …show more content…
They only care about survival and will do anything to obtain it. They live without morality, principles, empathy, and have completely ceased to care about humanity. In the case of the good guys, the father says, "This is what good guys do. They keep trying [and] they don't give up" (137). Why? Because while many of the remaining people have turned into cannibalism because of the post-apocalyptic environment, the father ensures that he and his son stay on the path of goodness. However, the difference between good and evil is sometimes confusing, particularly for the son. This confusion first comes into play after his father shoots one of the “truck people” (66), a group of thieving cannibals who posed a threat to himself and to his son. The killing, although it is an act of self-defense and is well justified, it leaves the
One of The Road's themes, morality - is represented by the concept of good and evil. It is expressed by the father’s definition of “the good guys” and “the bad guys,” and the simple rule for classifying the good guys from the bad guys is that the bad guys eat people. The good guys don’t. Bad guys are not those people who strive to be good and fail to …show more content…
They only care about survival and will do anything to obtain it. They live without morality, principles, empathy, and have completely ceased to care about humanity. In the case of the good guys, the father says, "This is what good guys do. They keep trying [and] they don't give up" (137). Why? Because while many of the remaining people have turned into cannibalism because of the post-apocalyptic environment, the father ensures that he and his son stay on the path of goodness. However, the difference between good and evil is sometimes confusing, particularly for the son. This confusion first comes into play after his father shoots one of the “truck people” (66), a group of thieving cannibals who posed a threat to himself and to his son. The killing, although it is an act of self-defense and is well justified, it leaves the