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Empathy In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

1905 Words8 Pages

The Road to Resilience By Danika Duguid In times of adversity, individuals faced with hardship tend to turn to their peers looking for comfort, guidance, and support from those who possess wisdom and experience. Traditionally, this is seen in society as an obligation or responsibility of parents because of how important empathy is. However, presented by "The Road" written by Cormac McCarthy, is a world so extreme that neither the father nor his son protagonists have experienced, leaving them to rely on each other's empathy to build the strength to survive the post-apocalyptic world. After choosing to stay on the treacherous road, they both learn the importance of trust, morals, and sensibility. Having compassionate and supportive role models …show more content…

However, in this world, there is a fight for survival with limited resources, making clean water and food rare. So, with the father providing these small treats and with an effort for the boy to devour the entirety with surprise, the boy makes a promise that they share. This shows that they both look out for each other on the road, and if they break these little promises, how can there be any trust? The boy has quickly grown to understand the severity of the experience and the strength required for …show more content…

When individuals are familiar with the feeling of compassion and support, they can use that as strength to face conflict. In The Road, the son has been thoroughly exposed to love and support and has even provided strangers with the same care while being constantly in a threatening environment. Knowing that in any instance, he could be caught by the rebels and then suffer or be killed, he has developed skills to stay positive and continue on. Even after all the struggles of starvation, the positivity and hope lead them to the jackpot. They even survive the cold after losing the light before finding the bunker. Experiencing all of these hardships while being prey to other humans has led him to a new confidence level to trust others and use empathy to overcome things like holding the gun when his father leaves. He has also stood up for himself in advocating for his morals. He has grown up and learned from his father that being scared is not a bad thing; it can protect you by keeping you on the lookout. And with all the other skills the father states before he died, that he is ready as long as he "keeps the fire," showing that he has grown and matured in this environment a lot, and that he is able to continue without his father. That last line has shown the son that he has his father's trust and belief that he will make it. In the end, when the boy meets the family that has been following him, he makes

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We can see through the father's actions that he is worried he might not make it for dinner as he rubs the steering wheel and stares at the barricade momentarily. At night when the barricade has no guards around, they try and drive through the snow-ridden road. He tells his son not to do the actions he is doing and puts a sense of matter on what he is saying. " 'You don't. You have your strong points, sure, just not this.

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In the beginning of the novel, the father reveals himself as a strict and protective parent. Living in an apocalyptical world he has become caution, and paranoid person. He teaches his son that everyone is a threat and to always stay alert. During their travel to the south they face a man who tries to deceived them.

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The theme of this story leans towards trust and

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The father doesn't help anyone to make sure that his son has enough food to eat to survive. He refuses to help the others and he doesn't need to share what he has with anyone. Because of that, his son will survive longer. When he meets a boy about his son's age, he can take the boy with them. But maybe he is afraid that if he does so, he will be distracted in protecting his son.

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He is able to refocus during these times of frustration, and he continues to care for his father until he passes

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In the book THE ROAD by Cormac McCarthy, we partake in a journey with a boy and his father, and the experiences they encounter throughout the book. We learn about the deteriorated planet they live on and the boy’s ever changing thoughts about his dad. Throughout the book, the boy questions his father 's judgement. McCarthy argues developing a sense of trust is key to survival in life threatening situations.

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The apocalypse has taught the boy how to survive without the assistance of others. He is now able to travel ‘the road’ alone and stay alive day after day. The boy was born into the post-apocalyptic world, but that did not cause him to automatically have a cold, unforgiving heart. He shows compassion to a world that has never been kind to him. Although the boy has matured, that does not mean that he has lost every bit of his childhood, he is still able to occasionally have a laugh.

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Throughout the book, the father and son not only help each other, but they also aid other strangers they encounter on their journey. When they encounter Ely, a lonely old man, the father was reluctant to help him at first. However, the boy convinces his father to help him, saying “He’s scared, Papa…Maybe we should give him something to eat” (84). Here the boy’s generosity towards a random stranger shows that some people in the world still carry the

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However, this time the Protagonist Nick is overwhelmed with by the loss and death of his son Josh. Nick struggles to function in his day to day life as he has no hope and finds it difficult to remain part of his existing family. The loss and struggle of losing his son and not having the ability to function properly becomes not only a struggle with himself but his family. He becomes disjointed and disconnected to his family to the point of not wanting to eat dinner with his children. However, once he receives a letter from his boss he eventually goes into the city where he finds refuge in a church.

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Resilience is displayed through the drive shown by the characters in these stories, despite hardships or trauma in their pasts. In The Road, Papa and the boy continue to move forward and “carry the fire”, staying morally true to themselves, even despite the things they had seen. The boy’s mother shot herself, he has seen cannibalism, slavery, and people reduced to monsters and broken shells of humanity, but he is still fighting and trying to be one of the good guys. He still wants to help the little boy when he meets him, still wants to help Ely when he meets them (McCarty, 162); The Boy still has a desire to help people who are suffering. He is starving, but he wants to give away his food so that the people who are good in this world won’t die.

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To Change is to Grow Through the book “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy the boy and the father show a great amount of change and maturity, while also learning to adapt and love. The story has a good balance of how different events can affect and impact someone's life in either a good or bad way. There are many events that change the mind and heart of the boy and father, but change can only be helpful if you learn from it and mature out of being afraid for things to happen. The stories main idea is very tragic in a dark, grey world where nothing ever good happens and instead of learning to live your preparing to die.

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In Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, the main characters, the man and the boy, embody the enduring love between a father and son through life’s cruel trials. The society in which the man and boy live is “barren, silent, godless” (4) and filled with iniquity where The man and his son are two of the last people left after the unspeakable destruction of the earth. Food is nearly impossible to find, leaving many to resort to cannibalism. One never feels safe in the horrendous conditions of the world. Morals are blurred by the “desolate country” (17), “covered with ash” (22), and filled with corruption.

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This shows at the end of the day how much his father means to him despite all of the things he said and how he would do anything if it meant he could be well

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He loses a good friend along the way, that alter him into making better decisions. He meets a couple of girls that affects him remarkably in choosing what he must do with his life. With the help of his grandparents, specifically his grandma, he is given reassurance that guide him home. Through

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In the film, The Road, a father (played by Viggo Mortenson) guides a son (Kodi Smit-Mcphee) in a post-apocalyptic landscape practically devoid of life and humanity. In the end, the father dies, having taken the son as far as he could and shaped him the best he could to both survive in that world, but also retain a sense of humanity--to be one of the good guys who are: "carrying the fire," as they state several times throughout the film. Right after that very emotional scene, the boy encounters a family: a man, a woman and a dog, who offers to take him in, where the incredibly bleak film ends on a somewhat more hopeful but wary note. The way it's portrayed, they make it somewhat ambiguous whether he can trust the family or not.

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