How does one receive the acclaimed Pulitzer Prize for fiction? The Road by author Cormac McCarthy received the award in 2007 for “distinguished fiction published in book form, preferably dealing with American life” (The Pulitzer Prizes). Surprisingly, according to their website, “there are no set criteria for the judging of the Prizes. The definitions of each category are the only guidelines. It is left up to the Nominating Juries and The Pulitzer Prize Board to determine exactly what makes a work distinguished” (The Pulitzer Prizes). Unfortunately, the distinguished taste of the members of the board is not one with which I can agree.
The author’s unsettling tale about a man and his son on a journey through darkness and a gray landscape ravaged
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In my favorite series, Red Rising, the main character is relatable and life-like. From the beginning of the trilogy, Darrow, the protagonist, is developed through his personality and actions, yet he is never predictable since he is constantly undergoing a metamorphosis. During the course of the novel, he is young and foolish, fights for love, and then evolves into a mature young adult who is willing to risk his life for the greater good of his people. Disappointingly in The Road, the characters are linear: the boy is kind and angelic while the man remains the guardian. Another novel that I really enjoy for the connection that I developed with the character is Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. The main character is a boy like myself, constantly growing, learning from his mistakes and enduring hardships that others typically do not experience. Ender had to get into the fight school, endure bullying, rank top in his class, become captain of a squadron and then undergo thousands of simulations to destroy the alien warlords. This novel provided me with an escape when my reality seemed like a barren wasteland. Aside from this, the plot was exciting, the narrative was not limited to one perspective, and I was never able to predict the ending until it was too late. Unlike the characters in The Road, I was very invested in Ender, and cared very much about the outcome he