A Road Walked in the Future?

Looking at the title “The Road”, I wasn’t really expecting much. It was a very vague title not really evoking any emotion in me. I guess I was just expecting some boring exploring book along a road. However, McCarthy, a new author for me, took me on a journey like no other. His descriptions were vivid and put me along that road. I was picturing myself huddled by the fire, picking up sticks, running from the bad guys, and sleeping under a tarp. It was all made so real that it was almost scary. This style of writing was definitely unique, but still at a high level of composition. Definitely a more exciting novel in my opinion than some other AP English novels, but still had depth. I found myself looking on every page for similes, metaphors and motifs. I was actually thinking like someone who cared more than the plot. Given that there was not much of a plot present, this book taught me to look past just the words on the page and what the author is really trying to say. I was definitely not perfect at picking out each subtle allusion but my mind was opened to the complex world in between the lines. I could tell that death wanted to be highlighted as well as the struggle for survival and the repetitiveness of it all. It was these greater topics that made the novel enjoyable.

This was also an eye opener for a futuristic society. What if this really had happened, would I be able to cope with all of the death surrounding me? I don’t know, but after reading The Road I would have struggles. However, if I had someone like Papa around with me, we would work together and survive together. Human connection is vital for everybody and that is a main theme in the novel I might not have touched on a ton. Despite the novel lacking a solid plot, the character development was still present. I enjoyed their basic conversations; it made it more real for me in their situation.

Overall a very enjoyable book for me, especially because of the survival and some action scenes. I seemed to understand most of what was going on and could picture it well with help of McCarthy’s descriptions. I kind of enjoyed the lack of plot and excess of similes and metaphors because it was new for me. Although some of the seemed forced, I could picture and relate much easier to the novel. We’ll have to see if this post-apocalyptic world comes true and McCarthy’s road walked again.

Tied with a bow?

Not so much. Actually, McCarthy makes us cry and shows us death just like the fate of every person living in this ashy world. Our main characters trek further and eventually find a beach. On this beach they find a boat with a ton of supplies which gives them further hope for survival. Nevertheless, winter is approaching and both characters end up getting sick. The boy is fine after a few days of rest while the father has a rough time. Without spoiling the rest of the book, McCarthy intended on ending on a more sorrow note which was consistent throughout the story. I could not see any other direction this story of death could go in other than death. Despite death, there is always hope as the boy has a further destiny or fate to fulfill surviving sickness, and the cold, barren, wasteland.

Now a book set down such a predictable road cannot be that complex right? Oh, so they walked this road, found some food, kept going, and boom, they die. The end. This is not the case. Cormac McCarthy paints a much more descriptive picture for readers, giving further insight to characters and their surroundings. Also, the consistent use of a metaphor or simile every two paragraphs was a pretty big indicator of AP Merit as well. These comparisons allowed me to picture something in the story and relate it to something maybe more realistic. For example, McCarthy describes the boy “standing with his suitcase like an orphan waiting for a bus” (275). This gives me a much clearer picture of how the boy looked, ready to move. This also gives a little bit of foreshadowing for what is to become of the father. Even these little similes and metaphors hold endless amounts of clues and description. McCarthy’s style of writing is like no others, creating a challenging environment to read but unique. His use of colors as mentioned in my first post shows his uses of motifs and other literary devices. Also, the integration of themes and overall ideas are even put into this seemingly basic novel, as I discussed in the previous post.

Themes and motifs are an important part for the AP test, as many of the free response questions require you to know and discuss a novel with some theme or motif. This novel provides a surplus of motifs but includes a father-son relationship, a possible question on an AP test. Also, how characters change over time is shown in this novel, another possibility for an AP prompt. However, a couple downfalls of this novel is that there are not a ton of characters and it lacks a central plot. There are definitely underlying meanings, some that I have missed, but having a serious, easy to follow plot would be best for a free response AP essay. I would probably not argue for this to be added to the AP curriculum just based on the fact that I can’t find many AP questions that ask about The Road’s themes and main points other than a father-son relationship.

Definitely not a page turning thriller, but still 300 pages of death and destruction described in a unique way. McCarthy’s style makes this book AP worthy but also makes you think further into the text by avoiding a ton of plot.

A Section of Misery

The journey along the path of sorrow, and I suppose some remnants of fire, is continued despite our main characters finding a reserve of food in an underground bunker. They have this immense amount of resources yet; they continue moving hoping to find something. That something is still a question I am searching for an answer for. They keep mentioning the ocean but where are they really going to go! So why is McCarthy sending these character’s along a road of destitution and death to find essentially nothing? I believe it is a meaning of survival and surviving with somebody you love. Obviously our main characters haven’t died yet, which would make an immensely tragic and lame ending in my opinion. Nevertheless, the direction of the novel is really just on the survival of the man and his son and the people around them. Fire keeps them alive, the son talking keeps them alive, the road for them to walk on keeps them alive, and finally the hope to find the good guys keeps them alive.

What I find interesting about the son is his change over time and understanding of the situation he is in. The boy early in story is along for the ride, living off his father merely doing what he is told. Now however, he thinks “we should thank the people,” (145) a caring thought for a young, starving child. The boy’s simple word choice has expanded to individual thoughts that praise people that have kept him alive but also to a religious level. His way of thanking ends with “we hope that you’re safe in heaven with God” (146). This aspect of religion has been mainly shown by the father, demonstrating his faith. Now, however, the son has adopted his father’s ways and feels it is appropriate to thank these people even though he does not know them. A very mature thought in my opinion. Nevertheless, the boy still says things like “my feet are cold,” (147) showing he still is a kid but has matured over time. Although there seems to be no time, just constant days with movement, becoming of age and learning from others is a theme in this story. The boy even repeats things like “tracks dont stay in the ash,” proving one of his own points but learning from his father. The boy is making educated conclusions showing this change since the beginning on the lonely road.

However, they are not so lonely as they have come across a variety of people, one who I find quite interesting is the old man. The boy sees the old man on the road and they decide to talk to him and give him some food. They know they cannot support him the state he is in but they still are caring for him for that night. He brings up a variety of themes that are shown through the novel. First being one I have touched on a bunch which is movement. The man “was always on the road” and he “just keep[s] going” (168). A very similar story to our main characters. Next is the theme of death and the inevitability of it. The old man says “I might wish I had died. When you’re alive you’ve always got that ahead of you” (169). The boy had said in the beginning he wished to die and now this old man has similar ideas. The father even says “some part of [me] wished it to be over” (154). Also, being surrounded by death can also contribute to this theme. Their impending doom is around them and they are taking a road basically to death. There is no real safety other than that of heaven which is reached through death. This religious aspect is even continued by the old man who says “there is no God and we are his prophets” (170). I find this phrase interesting because he doesn’t believe in God but he says “we are his prophets”. Whose prophets are we? McCarthy does not capitalize this “h” in his so it does not signify God. Could this be referring to death and that everybody alive is a prophet of death? The old man poses many questions, but ultimately says to our characters that you are going to die.
Movement, death, and religion are all present throughout the novel. McCarthy uses certain characters to show each important theme in the novel. However, he also ties each theme to the character in their own way and opinion. The endless search for humanity and refuge continues for our characters, but hope is fading fast.

Fire and Food

As the road continues McCarthy uses his usual gray descriptions but also provides further insight into our main characters. First off, they are father and son, surviving together in the post-apocalyptic barren wasteland. Secondly, they have no names, referred to as “the boy”, and “the man”, “he”, or “Papa”. The author definitely favors the father, referring to him as "he", and giving his thoughts and ideas more often. For example “He’d had this feeling before, beyond the numbness and the dull despair” (88), gives us the father’s immediate feelings. This creates a stronger connection between us as readers to the father, one who cares dearly for his son and his son’s protection. The father wants to provide the most he can for his son, but most of all hope. The son, as shown earlier in the novel, blatantly says he wants to die and give up but the father refuses to accept this statement. The son asks “Are we going to die now?”(87), which the father responds with “No” (87) and that “We’re going to drink some water. Then we’re going to keep going down the road” (88). The boy replies with “Okay”, his very common and accepting response. He knows and believes in his father and does not want to argue further. While the son can be stubborn at times, he always listens to his father in the end. His trust pays off when eventually they come across a resource filled bunker. The boy’s only response to a morning meal of coffee, ham, and biscuits is “Wow” (144). However to reach this point they have be always moving, and keeping their hopes up. Constantly moving, constantly searching for food and for shelter keeps the duo alive. This motif of movement is created by the father’s will to survive and especially to keep his son alive. Constantly moving is also shown at night when they make a fire, which requires many branches to keep burning.

       Fire provides warmth, something desperately needed in this environment, but also provides a purpose and something to do to be constantly moving. Also, fire is seen as a form of power as stated by the father that “nothing bad is going to happen to us...because we’re carrying the fire” (83). They seem to be making a fire every night, and searching for wood. “When he struck the lighter to the rich tinder the fire crackled instantly...I’ve got to go for more wood” (95). They look forward to making a fire, which signifies they lived another day and have overcome the day’s struggles. He would “[coax] the fire to life again” (96), ultimately keeping themselves alive. The parallel between the fire and the characters highlights the importance of fire in this novel. However, when they “dont have a lighter” (126), the boy is disappointed and the father “didnt want to tell [him]” (126). This dependence on fire as a motivation for survival has been consistent throughout the novel. Nevertheless, they never give up and look for “some flint” (127) to use with “the little bottle of gasoline” (127). This fiery passion to survive is the main reason they have been surviving for so long. “The cold drove [the father] forth to mend the fire”, keeping him moving and caring for his son. He is constantly restocking and searching for wood, but also looking for food.

       They had eventually run out of food after surviving off the little had in the beginning. This leads the boy to ask “Are we going to die now?” Not only does this make the boy hopeless, this creates a new feeling in the father, desperation. The father sees his son’s “sunken cheeks streaked with black” (96), causing him to feel rage. The father has been hopeful, and positive this whole journey but now he is feeling the impact of starvation but also the morbid environment. They manage to survive a bit longer and finally come upon “[A] house tall and stately with white doric columns across the front” (105). The father decides despite his son’s constant warnings that “We have to take a look” (106). His desperation for food has overcome his cautiousness and care for his son. He is not aware of what is ahead of him and blindly enters with a gun and a sole hope for food. Even when he is faced “with a large padlock made of stacked steel plates” (108), the father continues. “We’ve got to eat” (108). Unfortunately they did not find any food down the hatch, unless you like human flesh. A bunch of people were locked up to be eaten and our main characters walked right into it. They immediately book it out of the house and hide until the people hunting them go away. This scene gave me anxiety but definitely showed the desperation of the father to feed his child. Also, it shows his caring attitude and dedication to keeping his son alive. He had brought him into a dangerous situation but makes sure that his son stays alive. He even says he was “going to run...and lead them away” (113) creating a distraction to save his son. He values his son’s life over his own, making him a selfless, but strong and intuitive character. This intuition is showed further when he realizes his own mistake. “It was desperation that had led him to such carelessness and he knew that he could not do that again. No matter what” (117).

We’ll see if this desperation ever returns, despite their current life of luxury in a bunker filled with supplies.

A Gray Beginning

Walking down this barren path Cormac McCarthy has set before me, all I can picture is a gray scene littered with the rotting corpse of the earth. The “ashen scabland” personifies the earth as a being, its body covered in lesions representing the death surrounding the characters (16). The earth has just sustained an apocalyptic war so I believe its injuries are justified. Despite this horrific description of the earth, McCarthy continues to pound the effect of death through similes. Just something as simple as a piece of meat, McCarthy has to say “It looked like something fetched from a tomb, so dried and drawn” (17). One of my other favorite similes is, “Creedless shells of men tottering down the causeways like migrants in the feverland”(28). This presents a vivid image of the people in this society to me and also dehumanizes the people down to shells. They don’t have a faith so they are not real men and they are struggling to survive. McCarthy then somewhat contradicts himself by deflating the power of death by comparing the cart to a bobsled. The father was “guiding the cart on the curves with their bodies in the manner of bobsledders” (19). Everything has to be a comparison to McCarthy, strengthening my understanding of the text but also painting a picture of the horrendous landscape covered in the unforgiving ash.

This ash attributed to death and destruction is continued throughout the exposition of the novel with the color gray. Gray is brought up to describe “day break,”(11) snowflakes, snow, a lake, “a gray window in the gray light,”(28) and many others but you get the idea. McCarthy utilizes color, specifically gray, as a stylistic element to describe the landscape but to also represent death and the spread of destruction. Wherever they look something is covered in ash, or they see something dead. Even in the father’s old house they find “a small animal dismembered and placed in a pile”(26). There is no escape from their impending death that surrounds them and the son already wants to die! He says “I wish I was with my mom,” who has died previous to this moment. The boy is already desperate to escape this horrific environment! I’m sure however if I was in his shoes I would feel the same way. Living off minimal food and walking by hundreds of dead people everyday would definitely not suit me. Despite this dreary and death related color of gray, McCarthy contrasts gray with other colors to represent other feelings, emotions, and to describe environments.

These other colors are yellow, blue, and black, each having certain meanings, some similar to gray while some different. Yellow was used to describe “leaves”(13), teeth, “firebrick in the hearth”(26), and a truck. Although these are not easily relatable, yellow has a much happier connotation as a color than gray. As leave one might think of life and living, contrasting the death and lack of color landscape portrayed in the story. Also, the firebrick in the hearth was painted yellow so that it wasn’t black. Black usually represents death and is shown by “black and twisted brambles”(21), ice, and darkness. Black has a much more mean or scary connotation in contrast with yellow. Black works hand in hand with gray to set the scene with a lack of color but filled with death. Finally, the last color, and one that I find most interesting is blue. Blue is used to describe the “wall of the mountain”(20), and “the sky”(18). I find this most interesting because one of these references takes place in a dream while the other taking place in the past. This color represents nothing in the current environment but almost provides hope for readers and the characters. I would take a blue mountain over a black or gray mountain everyday because of the happier and more serene feeling I get.

I picture a vast, barren, gray and dreary environment, crafted through personification and simile with death everywhere. Despite this hopeless setting McCarthy provides hope through other colors and leaves readers with a sense that maybe they will survive, and not everything is terrible.

Citations General

Picture Background: Wallpaperstock. "Gray Road Fields Trees Clouds Wallpapers." Gray Road Fields Trees Clouds Wallpapers | Gray Road Fields Trees Clouds Stock Photos. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Feb. 2017.

Book: McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.