AP Literature and Composition
14.9.14
The Road’s Question Critic Roland Barthes states, “Literature is the question, minus the answer,” which is present within the novel ‘The Road’ by Cormac McCarthy, who depicts the story of a father and son in a post-apocalyptic world. As the novel develops and the characters grow, McCarthy’s use of imagery and symbolism help create the question of whether or not ‘humanity can survive in a world that has lost everything.’ The man and the boy attempt to find a place that is not overrun with ‘bad guys’ and journey to the south where their hope of warm weather and safety may or may not be found. On this journey, vivid images and events about the people who have survived are seen through their trip. Due to the apocalypse that has struck the world, a lack of food, water, and safety are equivalent, if not trivial to the rape, murder, and cannibalism that has become a certain norm for the remaining humans. Unfortunetly those lack of rights and crimes happen in society today which comes to show that humanity, at its very core, is not much better than it would be in the novel’s situation. However, in the book, the ‘bad guys’ take these crimes and lack of law to an extreme not seen in life today, as seen by the mother of the boy, “No, I'm speaking the truth. Sooner or later they will catch us and they will kill us. They will rape me. They'll rape him. They are going to rape us and kill us and eat us and you wont face it.” The fear of death and rape today is ever-present and it happens around the world, while this fear in the post-apocalyptic world is not of dark alleyways or public restrooms, but of inside their own home or on the street in the middle of the day because police officers and the government to punish these offenders do not exist which means the ‘bad guys’ can do anything they want at their own risk. It’s a bit frightening to think that finding “a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit” is not the absolute worst sight, but in a world without law, the possibilities are endless. The boy and the man however do show their intentions of being pure and kind, “He put the boy to bed in the bunk and smoothed his filthy hair on the pillow and covered him with blankets.” They show the relationship and bond of a family which gives hope that life can be restored to it’s natural beauty and simplicity, but with the evil around them it’s hard to picture. Hope is also a common theme within the book as seen by the boy and fire. Frequently the man says the boy carries “the fire” which is the motivation, the hope that life could be restored. The boy’s innocence and kindness are his keys to being the savior, but they are also the keys that cripple him from a destined survival. As they encounter more and more death and fear, the boy becomes more hesitant as he realizes what the world has become. The father is constantly at his lowest point, holding on only because his son gives him the power, because his son carries “the fire.” After finding the flare gun and shooting it in the air, it becomes apparent the use for it is no longer possible. It can no longer signal anyone for help; the main use, because it may attract ‘the bad guys’ and instead, a device used for safety is now a weapon. After the tragic death of the man, the boy is almost out of hope and the fire within him is dying. From what he has seen, death, murder, and cannibalism, his father’s death should be his final straw of wanting any part in living in the world, but the boy continues, finding the ‘good guys’ at last. The novel portrays the world atrociously, but unfortunately it also displays the world realistically. From history and current events, the novel ‘The Road’ shares a very possible future. The author, Cormac McCarthy depicted the boy and man’s journey, although dark and disgusting in parts, as a learning experience for both the reader and protagonists. Humanity has the possibility of survival even in the darkest of hours if the right people are there to show everybody else what it means to live and what it means to die, the man will always be with the boy, but the marauders were never alive.