Road Is All

“Life is a journey that must be traveled no matter how bad the roads and accommodations.” - Oliver Goldsmith

Highways made a vast contribution on the geographic landscape of America in a multitude of ways. In the past, roads throughout the United States have been neglected since the rise of railroads. The only existing roads that were located outside the cities were farm-to-market roads, which were unpaved, poorly marked. During this time, specifically during the 1910s, automobiles were highly expensive and only bought by the rich. As time continued, automobiles prices began to decrease, which resulted in an increase the amount of cars bought. With a larger quantity of the population owning cars, highways had to be reconstructed. The rebuilding of highways affected the United States because it resulted in society’s ability to travel vast distances

In Machado’s “Caminante No Hay Camino” he uses the meaning “road” to mean something akin to the path of life. Like Machado, many authors use “road” to symbolize the path of life or something to do with life. It is very easy to picture. Close to everyone has seen at least one road or path in their life. They believe, like as one does in a road trip, there is a set destination with sporadic stops along the way. Most road trips are strictly planned out, but many stops can randomly happen at anytime. Also like a road, one cannot go

The people one meets and the relationships created along the way can mean an immense amount to someone and, to another, simply just be a single stop along the journey of

I glance amusedly at the photo placed before me. The bright and smiling faces of my family stare back me, their expressions depicting complete happiness. My mind drifted back to the events of the day that the photo was taken. It was Memorial Day and so, in the spirit of tradition my large extended family had gathered at the grave of my great grandparents. The day was hot and I had begged my mother to let me join my friends at the pool. However, my mother had refused. Inconsolable, I spent most of the day moping about sulkily. The time came for a group picture and so my grandmother arranged us all just so and then turned to me saying, "You'd better smile Emma or you'll look back at this and never forgive yourself." Eager to please and

1) The road could be a metaphor for continuing to move ahead against adversity. Frequently, gore and horror are detailed throughout their journey, yet the man and the boy continue to travel south, not knowing what they will experience, but still maintaining the drive to persevere. The most powerful example of their drive to continue against adversity is when the man was fading away, and he advised to his son, “You need to keep going. You don’t know what might be down the road.

There has always been a demand for roads in the United States as roads are essential in the development of a nation. The national interstate highway system was America’s solution for the need of a road system that would stretch from coast to coast. The United States Interstate Highway System is a landmark project and often considered one of the greatest public works projects in American history by making travel by automobile faster, cheaper, safer and more convenient. New roads have been a necessity on our country ever since Henry Ford began to produce the automobile back in in 1903.

In the novel, Into the Wild, by Jon Krakaur, Chris McCandless, a man who rejected the societal norms within civilization, becomes a wanderer and journies on to find a greater purpose in life within the wilderness. McCandless is met with the struggles of independence and conflicting human emotions. So then we have to ask, is life on the road suited for everyone? Life on the road may not be suited for everyone, but it’s a sort of freedom that people are willing to experience. However, life on the road demands a certain lifestyle that requires a sense of independence and knowledge - what some people who demand it lack. Although people are willing to experience life on the road, it’s a difficult lifestyle that isn’t suited for everyone, and requires

In order for someone to reach their destination they have to go on a trip or journey. One question that has been debated is if the journey is more important than the destination. Some people say that there is no point in going on a journey if someone doesn’t have a destination. The idea that the journey is more important than the destination is true because in the journey it is possible to meet new people, view new things, and make friends.

Why do you think McCarthy has chosen not to give his characters names? How do the generic labels of “the man” and “the boy” affect the way you /readers relate to them?

This year’s family vacation was one for the books. With my aunt living in Tennessee, we do not get together as often as we would like so my family decided to go to Nashville, Tennessee. When we started our trip, it was 6 a.m. and it was nothing short of fun and laughter along the way. Never having been to Tennessee before, I figured I’d enjoy the eight-hour ride of sight-seeing and laughter with my family. When we were a few miles into the trip, the mountains of Georgia were breathtaking. While I was enjoying the scenery, another thing that I found enjoyable about this trip was the conversation that I had with my family. We went on talking about life in general, all the struggles, and childhood memories that we had. We even talked about years

For someone to be on the road, people usually assume that they have lost hope in life, or that they were not that determine to maintain a place in our social class.Those who decided to live on the road do it for a different reason, reason that are either a push or pull factor. Someone who has helicopter parents, or having a difficult time trying to fit into society can find a reason to venture out and find self. Someone who felt like they no longer have a purpose in life, can find it by going on the road, because no one know you better than yourself. When writing a story of your life, do not let anyone else hold the pen. Just like the north star, which helped slaves find their way from slavery and captivity. In order to find true self, risk must be taken. While life on the road can seem like an act of avoidance of reality and problems, it can help someone find a purpose for life and their true self, therefore I believe that life on the road, is helpfully for those who are struggling with problems.

This is a perfect metaphor for the many crossroads that people face in day to day life and how, depending on character, we choose our way. Also, just because one is walking the same path as someone else doesn’t mean there footsteps will land in the same places. Figuratively speaking, the trail is always wider than our bodies so there is always room for one to put their own spin on anything. Even if the trail you are walking has been trampled on, you can still make it your own “road less travelled” and that will make “all the difference”.

By living a life on the road, people are able to avoid family problems. For example, one of the reasons Chris McCandless leaves his family to live a life on the road is because of his father. After graduating high school, Chris went on a cross-country trip. He ended up in the El Segundo neighborhood he lived in as a child and found out about his father’s affairs with another woman. Throughout college, Chris’ disgust toward his father grew and festered over time, due to Chris’ nature of not being confrontational. Soon after graduating from Emory University, he “was unencumbered, emancipated from the stifling world of his parents and peers, a world of abstraction and security and material excess, a world in which he felt grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence” (22). After graduating, all of the hate toward his father was left behind because of Chris’ departure from his family’s lives. He left because he felt like society was “stifling” and uncomfortable. When he left, he felt “unencumbered, emancipated” which makes it seem like he was enslaved to society before he left it. Chris also felt like staying within society resulted in him feeling “grievously cut off from the raw throb of existence,” which is why he left to live a life on the road, a life that wasn’t cut off from the “raw” part of the world. However, McCandless didn’t just escape society because of his family problems, he also

The quote from Willa Cather, “The end is nothing; the road is all.” The quote means that the journey to getting to the end is more important than the outcome of the journey. The journey getting to the end is the most important part of the experience because, during the journey is when you develop friendships with the people you are with in the experience. The end of the journey is the end and you would’ve not gotten there if it wasn’t for the journey that you were a part of.