Literature Analysis #2: The Road

            The Road is the story of the journey  of two people, a man and his son, trying to survive and find salvation. What once was called earth is now a post-apocalyptic world where only few live and even fewer who live civilly. Most people have resorted to cannibalism. The man’s goal is to find a better life for his son. This is his whole purpose in life and is the only thing holding him back from killing himself. The duo travels along the road, heading south for the winter in hopes of finding other “good guys”. Along the way, they often encounter “bad guys” who want to kill them. As a result, they must always be alert. All they have is a few things: a pistol, a grocery cart, a tarp, and some blankets. Because food is so scarce, they are forced to rummage through abandoned houses. The boy just wants to help others and do the right thing, so he’ll always refrain from stealing and beg to help others. On the contrary, the man just wants what’s best for his son even if that means killing someone. They continue persisting down the road, but each day the man progressively becomes sicker and sicker until he can take no more and dies. Some of his last words to his son were to continue to “carry the fire” and find the good guys. Two days later, the boys rescued by a family.

            

            The theme of the novel is love. The man and boy have such a powerful bond that motivates to keep moving forward. The author, Cormac McCarthy, chose to write about this to show that, even in the worst times, you can always have someone there to love you. Also, love can be the only thing separating you from life or death by providing you with a reason to live.

            The man is static and round; his personality and characteristics don’t change much, but he does have several major traits. He is persevering and determined, loving and selfless, and pained yet strong-willed. The man is like this throughout the entire novel. The boy is another major character and is important because he is the reason the man was still alive when he was. The man only lived for the sake of finding his son a better life and giving as much as he can.

            The man and boy’s bond for each other can be seen in everyday life. People going through tough times will be really close. My old neighbors were like this when they lost their daughter in war and then couldn’t pay for their house. It’s as if the harder things get, the stronger the bond between people becomes.

            The road itself is an extremely significant metaphor in The Road. It symbolizes the obstacles and challenges that everyone in the world has to face. Some obstacles include starvation, dehydration, hypothermia, cannibalism, sexual abuse, and theft. These are the hardships the man and boy had to overcome which shows how persistent and determined they were to be able to defeat them. The love they had for each other was their motivation.