The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

The Road, a post apocalyptic novel,written by Cormac McCarthy, tells the story of a father and son traveling along the cold, barren and ash ridden interstate highways of America. Pushing all their worldly possessions in a shopping cart, they struggle to survive. Faced with despair, suicide and cannibalism, the father and son show a deep loving and caring that keeps them going through unimaginable horrors. Through the setting of a post apocalyptic society, McCarthy demonstrates the psychological effects of isolation and the need to survive and how these effects affect the relationships of the last few people on Earth.

The way the human mind operates is a mystery to all. Through thinking that the mind is something that can be comprehended humans have created the art of psychology and psychiatry, where the inner machinations of one’s mind are turned into nothing more than phrases and terms. Between every person there lies a sense of morality, no matter who. The sense of morality is not the same though, as children we learn to feel pain and suffering as others do, and to put the shoes of others on. In the end, it seems, that almost all people brought up well as children, turn out to be the people considered to have a strong sense of morality and can feel what pains some must endure. Though the way being brought up does not define a

Early on in the novel, the reader begins to learn that the The Man and The Boy have a very close and intimate bond. Rather than causing a strain on the their relationship, the isolation that constantly follows the pair on The Road actually made their bond as father and son stronger . Traveling along The Road by themselves causes The Man and The Boy’s relationship to become extremely codependent. The Boy relies on The Man like any child would rely on their father. The Boy completely counts on The Man for everything, including food, shelter, clothes, and everything else that is needed to survive on The Road. The Man keeps them safe from the “bad guys” and keeps them alive and as healthy as he can. The Boy’s needs are always put before The Man’s needs. However, The Man depends upon The Boy just as much as The Boy depends on him. If it weren’t for The Boy, The Man would have been dead a long time ago. The only reason that he has survived this long is because of The Boy. Making sure The Boy survives is the only meaning that The Man has to his life. The Boy’s continued existence is the most influential motivation

The boy is very warm-hearted and appears to struggle to understand that danger could occur at any moment, whilst his father knows a lot more about what some people, “the bad guys”, do in order to survive. It could be seen that the child is very naive and therefore trusts others more than his father. However his trust in others teaches his father a valuable lesson; that not everyone is a “bad guy”. For instance when the pair come across Ely, the father is wary about him but his son is adamant that they give him a tin of food. This shows to readers that the boy has faith unlike his father. Another example is when the son sees the little boy; he begs his father to go back and help him and asks if he can go with them. I believe that he wants to help others as

Morality is a particular system of values and principles of conduct. My interpretation of this is the distinction of right and wrong. Everyone has a personal morals, whether it’s through a group, organization, or just the way their parents brought them up. Morals help create an organized society, they are like unwritten laws. There are so many morals out there the government could not make them all laws, so although morals help govern the world they are not actual laws. Without morals the world would be nothing but chaos. Being honest, fair and just, making the world a better place, respecting others, and being open minded are just a few examples.

The boy and the father have strong morals demonstrating a high level of authenticity, especially in a world where morality is extremely uncommon. To be ‘authentic’ means to genuinely be yourself. Although, as presented by Existentialism, one cannot be their true self until one has defined themselves. First, one must create their authentic selves, then they must live according to that (Varga). The father and the boy have strong principles to do what is right, even when their fellow survivors have completely abandoned morality altogether. At times, the father struggles with following said principles, however, he then justifies his actions which are purely for the safety of his son. This depicts that the father will do anything and everything to assure that the boy lives. The father expresses that “He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke” (5). When a man holds a knife to the son's neck, the father does not hesitate to kill him. Although this is

● Show how the weakest suffer, with slavery a possibility, and human life is cheap.

Violence is defined as a behavior involving physical or mental force intending to hurt, damage, or kill someone. In the words of Zak Ibrahim, peace is defined as the proliferation or the increase in the existence of Justice. But where does love fit in to these conversations? Violence cannot necessarily transform into love, but the presence of it is surely important. Violence involving our most loved ones, helps us find love and compassion in the toughest of situations, and leads us toward paths of peace. In this essay, examples will be drawn from Zak Ibrahim 's keynote presentation, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, Beautiful Boy; a film directed by Shawn Ku, and Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut.

When put into a scenario of what you would do post-apocalypse, the society may begin to question what is actually important. Everything is suddenly amplified and survival automatically becoming a key component to most. So what else can actually matters? Relationships are lost, but some may grow stronger. Ethics are tested, and beliefs suddenly change. In the novel, The Road by Cormac McCarthy, begins with America - or assuming the whole world- had gone through a unpredictable apocalypse. Combining what is left of the society and the world falling dangerously apart, it has caused them to go through many dangers to survive. Through all the disastrous events, the end of God and ethics, the father continues to show and represent his moral values through his son and refuses to forget any belief that he still has. For the movie, 28 days later, the protagonist of the story, Jim, wakes up from a coma to an abandoned hospital completely delusional to what has happened in London. When seeking out for help or any type of life that could be out there, he find himself in a deathly situation; A church full of zombies out for nothing but blood, until two other people save him and catch him up of London 's downfall of civilization. The tale is about the survival and heroics and how mankind tries to survive threw savage nature.

“You forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.” Memories are both a curse and salvation for people. Happy memories are the memories that we wish to remember, but are the ones we always forget or vaguely remember. Meanwhile, the memories that hold sadness and fear are the ones that creep up on us when we least anticipate it. They are the ones we attempt to tuck away in the back of our minds with lock and key, but always seem to find a way to appear and torment us. On the other hand, our happy memories can lead us to feel nostalgic about the past and cause us to fret about our present since things are not the same as they used to. In the novel, 'The Road ' by Cormac McCarthy, the story is set in post-apocalypse where a father on the brink of death, puts on hold his death to attempt to guide his son south through the cold United States. The cold is not the only circumstance they are at odds with, but also the constant threat of death from starvation, illness, and murder. Both the father and the boy are also not safe from their own minds. Their dreams turn against them causing them to have to confront people or memories from their past. Throughout their journey, the father and the boy both face pessimism, hunger, cold, fear, and much more.

Much of the novel takes place in the arctic or the “land of mist and snow” (56) which are symbols of the uncivil traits that the creature possess. The land can also be described as isolated, cold, and repulsive, much like the creature. The land is repeatedly referred to as the “unknown” or the “undiscovered” as civilization does not exist in such a place, humans avoid residing in such places due to the danger it poses, and due to the unfamiliarity of such harsh conditions. The creature is also avoided due to the same reasons, he is unfamiliar and appears to be dangerous to society. On the contrary, in The Road, the state of civilization does not agree with the internal condition of the boy. The novel takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, in which much of society has reverted to animalistic characteristics in pursuit of survival. It would be expected that the boy, who was born into this destruction, to be inhumane and barbaric. Rather, the boy is a remnant of humanity and civilization in an uncivilized world. The contrast between civilization and the boy is highlighted throughout the novel, the actions of the boy juxtapose the situations civilization endures around him. “If he is not the word of God God never spoke” (5) the boy is compared to a godlike figure, in a world that appears to lack faith and hope. Civilization has essentially failed within the text; however, it is ironic that the boy is born succeeding the end of

    Morals are all about how a person views what is right and wrong for themself. A person dictates what good morals are for themselves individually. Factors like where you live and what your religion is plays a big factor in what you believe to be right and wrong, but ultimately it is what a person believes inside themself. Good morals are important in life because like the author Clay Tucker-Ladd said, “they could guide your life minute by minute towards noble goals, rather than your life be controlled by self-serving motives, customs, accidental occurrences, bad habits, impulses or emotions.” (Tucker-Ladd). Morals ultimately tell what a person's personality is. If a person is selfish and only does things that would bring them joy at whatever cost, they more than likely have bad morals because they do not think about how their actions affect other

The word ‘moral’ is defined as a person's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. But who on the planet is the decider of right and wrong? Is it God who justifies acceptable and not acceptable? Usually, the basis of morals comes down to a selfish individuals thinking. The ability to be selfish clouds the ability to think of the consequences or outcomes of others. Sometimes what a person believes to be the right thing in their mind, however, might actually be causing harm. Andrew McCarthy states that, “The idea that we cause harm by doing what we perceive to be the right thing, that’s another theme that interests me. Because most people don’t intend to cause harm, they cause harm by doing the

When the world was destroyed by the nuclear fusion, all that is left of humanity have turned into savages, willing to kill, rape and eat anyone for their own survival. However, the little boy, who was born to the post-apostolic world, is more humane than anyone. The little boy has been exposed to the gray ashy and dead world, but lives a life of willing to give rather than receiving. In many cases, the boy wants to help strangers along the road, but the father refuses to help them. The boy in the novel is compared to Jesus from the bible. The boy’s role as a savior in the story can be related to Jesus’ role coming into the world with a minor difference. The boy is concern for the survival of humanity and does everything in his power for goodness to live on. In

Morality is the key to a good person. Morality is the quality that drives individuals to better the environment around them and, while doing so, better themselves in the process. Morality is a quality that shapes and develops the world we live in. If all families were built from the ground up such as, the father being the family leader and the mother being the one who keeps things in order amongst the family, then there would be much less problems in the world that we live in today. Traditional families hold values that a single parent cannot teach to their children. Values like loyalty and maturity are imperative to a good citizens character. Traditional families. Morals teach kids the true meaning of a relationship. This kind of teaching helps kids develop into