Theme Of Hope In The Road

In Mathew McCarthy’s novel “The road” hope is a consistent theme that shines through the despair of the post-apocalyptic world. The novel focuses on how hope impacts, pushes and changes the lives of the father and the son as they travel south along a road. Hope is shown through the need of survival between the father and the son, hope of preserving humanity and the hope of shared memories between the father and son. Throughout the book the theme of hope is portrayed in the connection between the father and son to keep on surviving. They both have a bond that instills hope into one another, encouraging the other to go on. They offer each other hope in the form of support and their relationship. The father will stop at nothing to ensure the

The book introduces desperate measures and lengths people have gone to inorder to survive, this includes cannibalism. violence, and theft. The principles of the father and son is to not resort to such actions. The father always mentions the boy and him “carrying the fire”, he assures them nothing will happen to them as long as they are carrying the fire. This form of hope guides their actions along the road. It ensures them that they do not give in to the despair of the world around them, but rather to overcome it and maintain their morality. An instance where this occurs is when the boy and the father are exhausted and starving, when they see a dog, the boy asks the father if they are going to kill the dog and the father replies with “We’re not going to kill it. We won’t hurt the dog, I promise.” Then later that night the father ensures the boy that they will be alright as long as they carry the fire. This scene shows the hope that guide their principles as they travel along the road, and that they will not succumb to the fierce nature of civilization and preserve their humanity. An additional time when this occurs is when the boy and the father come across people who are missing limbs as if they were being eaten, they quickly leave and don’t discuss it much after that. The boy then asks the father, “We wouldn’t ever eat anybody, would we?.. Even if we were starving?... No matter what.” The

The boy has no memories from the world before the disaster takes place, the father attempts to give the boy special memories throughout the novel. The memories he gives his son serves as a hope to continue forward and go on. The novel states, “ He looked at his father and then tilted the can back and drank. He sat there thinking about it. It’s really good.” The boy is referring to a can of coca-cola that the father had found for him. This memory that the father gives him provides hope that there can be good in the world. Another instance where the father gives him a memory is when they come across a waterfall. The text says, “Is it cold? Yes it's freezing. Do you want to go in? Idon;t know. Sure you do. Come on.” It is freezing outside and the water is extremely cold, but the father almost insists that they go to the waterfall. Earlier in the story the boy couldn’t stop looking at the waterfall. The father provides him this memory of going swimming in the water, further demonstrating the idea of hope in the world and the bleak environment. These memories are both shared by the father and the son while they venture along the road, these will serve as hope for the boy to carry on even after the father is gone, and he is left to travel the road without