Mohannad Zawi
Mr. Mackay
ENG-4U0
October 31st, 2011.

The Fight for Survival Can Truly Lead People to Do Things They Wouldn’t Do
When it comes to The Road by Cormac McCarthy & Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, it takes a lot to compare the two. Can these classic literary novels truly be compared? Luckily, you will find just how much they can be compared as you read this essay. In order to consider just how similar these 2 books are, consider the following: The main characters of their respective books ultimately aim to survive their landscapes, both of the main characters are on a journey for the betterment of their lives, and both of these novels portray similar themes. While one book has a seemingly miniscule cast and the other a large ensemble of roving buccaneers, they still manage to be comparable, and through their similarities a better experience is enjoyed for fans of the books.
Both main characters of their respective books ultimately aim to survive by dealing with harsh environments. We understand that The Man from The Road has to deal with a barren, apocalyptic wasteland, and with this situation he uses his knowledge & wits to survive this harsh environment, for example, he carves makeshift bullets out of wood in order to scare off attackers: “While the boy slept he sat on the bunk and by the light of the lantern he whittled fake bullets from a tree branch with his knife, fitting them carefully into the empty bores of the cylinder and then whittling again. He shaped the ends with the knife and sanded them smooth with salt and he stained them with soot until they were the color of lead. When he had all five of them done he fitted them to the bores and snapped the cylinder shut and turned the gun and looked at it. Even this close the gun looked as if it were loaded…” (Page 222 paragraph 1). The Man does this in order to scare off any