Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction

The Road is a post-apocalyptic novel about a nameless father and son who are traveling to the coast in the south. The author, Cormac McCarthy, neglects to inform the reader as to the causes of the apocalypse but it is inferred that it was caused by man. The nameless son was born in this world, not knowing what a pre-apocalyptic world was like but only knowing the drained world he was born into. Before the son’s mother committed suicide due to the extreme environment their family was put in, she advised them to travel south because the weather was more livable. The father and son have nothing but a pistol loaded with only two bullets to defend themselves with against the anarchic and ruthless population. In "The Road", by Cormac McCarthy, a…

A family of travelers on a road come across a starving man. Even though their world crumbles at their feet, they feed him all that they can, giving him the little food they have. They show him humility in a world that has none. This moment takes place in two different books. The Grapes of Wrath is a realistic fiction based during the Dust Bowl. The Road is a fiction book based during a post apocalyptic world. These books may sound completely unrelated but they share a few key similarities. The…

The novel “Cry, the beloved country” is the story of two South African fathers who are searching for their sons. One of the main themes of the story is fear of loss. Alan Paton describes the characters and theme of fear and human experience by narrating the story through two different perspectives. In the novel starts with the search of the son eventually finding him in the custody and the father must admit the fact that his son will face death verdict. Everybody disappears in Johannesburg. The…

Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road contains an excellent example of survival instincts in a destructive world and of how a person’s love can motivate someone to continue on the right path. Since the novel is dedicated to McCarthy’s son John Francis, some readers like Oprah Winfrey have stated that the novel is similar to a love story. The narrative describes a post-apocalyptic world where two main characters, the man and the boy, travel along the abandoned state roads to reach the South for better…

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a story between the protagonists, a father and his son, versus a post-apocalyptic world. The father and son leave their house after the wife shoots herself and heads south, where it is warmer. Throughout their journey, they meet survivors whom the father does not trust and it shows. Some of the survivors are terrible people who eat other people or murder others and some are thieves who are forced to steal to survive such as the thief who tried to steal the cart…

unmistakable love for his son is what drives the father’s internal conflicts about his morality; therefore, the act of taking his son’s life comes into his mind every day: “What if it doesn’t fire? Could you crush that beloved skull with a rock? Is there such a being within you of which you know nothing? Can there be? Hold him in your arms. Just so. The soul is quick. Pull him toward you. Kiss him. Quickly” (114). This is powerful for it displays the father questioning doing something…

son as the sole survivors of a post nuclear holocaust. The Road is essentially an existential tale as the father and son have one focus: to survive and to attain some meaning in their lives. Without any cultural and economic influences, the father and son must carve out their existences from a world devoid of life. The only meaning that they have come from the paternal and filial love that they feel, the essence of the family and life. Love maintains humanity, as is illustrated through the…

The Road, a post-apocalyptic novel by Cormac McCarthy, follows the journey of survival of the Man and the Boy in a burnt world covered in ash. To escape the incoming cold weather, they decide to head down south to the coast. With nothing but a pistol, a cart of supplies, and each other, they must cope with hunger, thirst, and the dangers of the land. Along the way, they experience close encounters with bands of cannibals who either will try to enslave or kill them. Throughout the novel, the son,…

A world without color, wildlife and structure sets the background for a heroic journey that wouldn´t be taken on by many. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road is a book about a Man and a Boy traveling south years after a worldwide event ending in the death of many people. They are challenged by many hardships including cannibals and starvation. McCarthy’s inspiration for The Road was a trip to El Paso, Texas with his son in 2003. He imagined a world 100 years in the future. McCarthy has won many awards…

I Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, two characters, the man and the boy, are living through a cataclysmic disaster that destroyed every normal way of life. They have to fight the cold and other human threats, while staying moral. The author uses a rift from home to illuminate that companionship is the key to life that the boy and the man experience through enrichments between characters and alienation of others. Companionship between the man and the boy enrich their lives through tough situations.…