Memories and one’s connection to them can alter one’s perception and thought process. In the novel The Road, the author Cormac McCarthy uses the unnamed man’s longing for the past to highlight the changes between the past world and the present post-apocalyptic environment to reveal how in times of desperation, humanity and codes of morality no longer exist. In the novel, McCarthy shows the contrast between the past and the present through the settings and the environment itself through the man’s recollection of what the world once looked like. He was conscious of the once warm and friendly condition of the world he lived in and has these memories to compare his current state to. His distraught attitude is the product of his feelings of longing for the past; however, he is aware of the fact that he will not be able to return and he holds onto an idea of surviving to paint a future as similar to the past as possible. There is no way for them to return to the past and instead they must press forward and survive, by any means necessary. This harsh …show more content…
He creates a world of crisis and shows that during times of crises, people’s true qualities come to light and sadly, when tensions are highest, morals seem to lose precedence. This is evidenced by the various groups of cannibals and marauders they have to escape from or defeat simply to make it to the next day. Despite their actions, which in our society would clearly be illegal and amoral, the father is affirmed in his idea that they are “the good guys” and must do what they can to survive and “carry the fire.” McCarthy paints a world that demonstrates that when self-preservation must come at the expense of others, people give in to their darker qualities in order to survive, at any