Vivian Lam Mr. Davis Honors English 10-1 22 February 2024 Road Work Ahead! In the post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, Cormac McCarthy depicts a charred, “barrel, silent, godless” wasteland bereft of “life anywhere” (198) and hope, filled with desolation and sorrow due to an unknown catastrophe. Amidst the ravages of a world with “shoals of ash and billows of ash” (14), a nameless man and young boy embark on a perilous journey south with a mere shopping cart through a world stripped of civilization in hopes of finding an environment that thrives with other survivors “carrying the fire” (83) where they can flourish and prosper. McCarthy implements scenes of utter devastation, encounters with the “blood cults” (16), thieves, and “bad guys” (77) who succumb to misery, which highlights …show more content…
The boy starts to lose hope and feels “really scared” (279) while the man's health deteriorates, “wheezing” (278) and “coughing again” (278) continually, the boy witnesses his father figure, the boy’s primary source of guidance and security in the desolate world they inhabit, as he weakens physically and emotionally. Throughout the novel, the man protects the boy physically and emotionally, which provides him with a sense of safety and purpose amidst the