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Cormac Mccarthy The Road Essay

1427 Words6 Pages

The post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, written by Cormac McCarthy follows a father and his son as they venture through a desolate, “barren” landscape resulting from an unknown cataclysmic disaster. The world of “charred” landscape, where cannibals roam and all laws are thrown out, is all the boy has ever known, he was born into and is now raised in it by his father who fights to keep them alive. On their journey South, they encounter various other lone travelers and marauders. The voice of reason in the father keeps them far away, staying distant and isolating themselves from others. However, this callous, uncaring demeanor is appalling to the boy as his strong morals urge him to help others- they are the “good guys” (77) after all. He fights …show more content…

When they finally catch up with the thief, he appears “sober[ed]” (256) by seeing the boy as he frantically backs away from the cart like a scared animal. As the man strips the thief all of his life, the boy sobs begging for his father to not kill the man. It becomes too much to bear and the boy is forced to “turn away and put his hands over his ears” (256) to cope with the pain of watching. He is already guilt-ridden from being unable to offer help to another human being who is “raw. filthy, starving” (257) just like him. His father is numb as he strips the man of his chances of survival while the boy cannot help but to feel sympathy for the thief who left them with nothing. McCarthy projects his theme of youth’s natural goodness through the boy’s ability to feel this compelling need to help the thief. After they leave the “nude and slatlike creature” (258) stranded, the boy continues to beg, “Just help him, Papa. Just help him. He was just hungry, Papa. He’s so scared, Papa” (259) as he is strongly urged to do what is

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