Humanity In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

Humanity: Consideration, Compassion, and Morality

Mahatma Ghandi once commented, “Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, then ocean does not become dirty.”. Although some humans can be adverse, humanity in itself is not. This is exhibited in The Road, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy. It illustrates the story of a man and his son’s travels through a post-apocalyptic world. The man and his son never fail to show each other benevolence, although many of those they encounter on the road meet them with avariciousness and cruelty. Through the actions of the man and boy, to each other and others, we observe that humanity is worth saving because without it there is a lack of consideration, compassion, and morality.

The way

In most all exchanges with others, they put morals over survival. When the two encounter an old man stumbling alongside the road, the boy asks, “Can we give him something?” (Cormac 164). The man and boy had no reason, other than compassion, to aid Ely. They were not afraid he would— or had the ability to— cause harm and they were also aware he was anticipating his own death, implying how assisting him would not help them in any way. This was a remarkably selfish act. In which the only propellant was kindness, a trait that although not all humans possess, is a distinctive humanity attribute. Another interaction involves the two and a stray dog they see, the boy had asked if they were to kill and eat it. The man says, “No. We’re not going to kill it. We won’t hurt the dog. I promise.” (82). The man and boy show mercy and sympathy to living beings, even those that are not human. The dog was at the mercy of the two. It is with no doubt that the dog would have benefited them in terms of hunger and survival, yet it was against their principles to slaughter a harmless living being. Compassion over survival is a key component to humanity. Compassion is exemplified by the man and boys interactions with