The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

The dystopian, post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, was published in 2006 by American author Cormac McCarthy. The novel follows a father and son as they are travelling by foot across a road that winds through the southern parts of America in the hope of reaching the southern coast where there will be a warmer climate to live out their remaining days. The father and son share a deep bond of love and commitment to each other. Their survival plan depends on constantly moving along the road whilst scavenging for food, clothes, and rummaging for supplies. Going Home is a fictional short story published by Australian author Archie Weller in 1986. The short story follows the Indigenous main character Billy Woodward and his struggles with his identity,

He’s going to die. He’s going to die anyway. He’s so scared, Papa. The man squatted and looked at him. I’m scared, he said. Do you understand? I’m scared. The boy didn’t answer. He just sat there with his head bowed, sobbing. You’re not the one who has to worry about everything. The boy said something but he couldnt understand him. What? he said. He looked up, his wet and grimy face. Yes I am, he said.” Validates the meaning ‘perseverance is essential when people are faced with a detrimental problem’ presented through the novel. During this interaction between the Man and the Boy, the Man doesn’t want his son to have to worry about things that outside of his control, he wants his son to maintain the same morals and keep himself alive to make sure that he will reach the harmless world they have been dreaming of since the beginning of the post-apocalyptic world. Whereas in the short story the meaning of ‘perseverance is essential when people are faced with a detrimental problem’ has been presented when Billy moved away from his Aboriginal community to the city to achieve a successful life in football and his education. Throughout the story it is evident that Billy is struggling with his cultural identity, and where his morals lie. Billy’s take on persevering and surviving the white dominant society he is

The short sentences that are prevalent within both texts demonstrate the disconnection and isolation that the characters are experiencing from the different challenges they are experiencing. In the novel, The Road the use of short sentences plays an important role in the audience's understanding of the situation the father and son are in and how they are tackling all the challenges they face throughout their journey. The short sentences represent how fatigued the Boy and the Man are after the continual need to fight for their survival. The briefness of the conversations between the characters correlates with the levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Through their continual scavenging for food, and surviving day by day, the Man and his son are on the first level being concerned with the basic primal needs. Due to this they are only able to talk about things that can affect their survival. For example, the quote “They lay listening. Can you do it? When the time comes? When the time comes there will be no time. Now is the time. Curse God and die. What if it doesnt fire? It has to fire. What if it doesnt fire? Could you crush that beloved skull with a rock? Is there such a being within you of which you know nothing? Can there be? Hold