Jacob Danforth
Mr Rourke
Media Literacy
December 8, 2017
The Road Essay.
There are many theories as to what The Road may symbolize, however it is very clear that the author of the novel wanted to show how a sense of humanity can be changed by the people you love. In many instances throughout the book, the boy affects his father decisions in times where the right thing to do might not always be clear. The first instance when we see the boy affect his father’s decision is in the very beginning of the novel. A bandit of some sorts comes across them in the woods and after exchanging negotiative banter the bandit grabs a hold of the boy and holds a knife to his neck. It didn’t take much time for the father to react by shooting the other man in the head. It's very clear that the father’s main priority is to keep the boy safe by any means, whether it’s risking his own life or taking another's. Just a bit later in the book the boy and his father find themselves hunkered down in an abandoned building with only but a soda to drink. They’re both very tired, hungry, and thirsty but again the father’s first priority is his son. He shows this again by giving his son more of the soda than he had actually drank. This a prime example of how a loved one might affect someone's own self needs even if that means going days
…show more content…
Along their journey they come across an old man who is very ill and can’t walk well. The father and his son both have very different reactions to coming across the man. The boy wants to help the man by feeding him and possibly letting him join them, while the father wants to just move past without batting an eye. In the end however the boy is able to convince his father into giving the man some food. This is just another piece of evidence to support the fact that the boy has a major impact on his father’s way of