What Role Does Hope Play In The Life Of Pharmac Mccarthy

McCarthy’s The Road exemplifies the struggle to survive throughout the entire novel. In the most trying times, during the longest stretches without food, the father’s persistence and confidence

After traveling on the road for what appears to be years in an apocalyptic environment the father and son come across a treat: a can of Coca Cola. The Coke can symbolizes a number of things for McCarthy: the deprivation of his characters, the disintegration of consumer-capitalist society, and the magical quality of everyday things in this setting. When the world has smoldered away to a husk of its former self and life becomes a struggle for survival, something as small and insignificant as a can of Coke symbolizes a powerful connection to the past and an escape backwards if only for an instant. Besides the can itself, the father’s decision to give it to the son symbolizes his priority of putting the boy before himself. It represents our collective

The intentions of actions help decide whether it is morally good or evil. The man has many more blurred moral situations than the boy throughout the novel. One example of this is when he kills the “roadrat”(35), out of self-defense for his son. The man assures the boy “[they] are still the good guys”(39) even after he killed the man, because his initial intent was not to harm him. McCarthy demonstrates the idea that good gets evil and evil gets evil with the outcome of the “roadrat”. He refuses not to harm the boy and man and therefore gets killed. Although this exact situation is not the basis of the norm morality in modern society, it still helps demonstrate the triumph of good. In a regular world this intention of good can be applied to simple things, such as; a small lie in order to protect others. The novel helps demonstrate principles by using the extremes. In an apocalyptic

Cormac McCarthy’s brain child “The Road” is a postapocalyptic novel that illustrates the harsh reality of the world. This story serves as a truth that humans, when stripped of their humanity will take desperate measures in order to survive. The reader learns; however even when it seems all hope is lost good can still be found in the world. The son character of this story illuminates this philosophy. He is a foil of his father and shows how even a person never accustomed to the luxury of a normal life can still see goodness.

In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the son does not display any selfish thoughts throughout his travels with his father, but rather the contrary. At the beginning of the novel, the son runs toward a little boy standing alone in hopes to help him, though he is scolded by his father. As the father and son continue on their trek, the boy does not seem to stop mentioning the little boy, “What about the little boy, he sobbed. What about the little boy?," (McCarthy 86). Despite his father’s disapproval, the son pleads that they should accompany the little boy and bring him along their journey. He fears the for the little boy’s survival since he believes the little boy to be alone without a “papa”. The son offers to split his food rations to accommodate the little boy, even though he is well aware of the scarce food supply him and his father encompass. Along with the encounter with the little boy, the son again displays his generosity and concern with an old man named Ely, “The boy took the tin and handed it to the old man. Take it, he whispered. Here," (McCarthy 163). As the boy watches the old man eat, he turns to his father to ask the same question: can we keep him? and once again the father opposes the idea. Also in

Throughout the novel, survival is a constant objective for the boy and his father. McCarthy’s gripping and frightening moments are most obviously interwoven with this theme. Soon after the death of his father the boy looks up and sees that “someone was coming. He started to turn and go back into the woods but he didnt. He just stood in the road and waited, the pistol in his hand” (McCarthy 281). With the approach of this new potential threat, the boy’s safety and survival are brought into question. As the strange man comes near, a tension builds while the boy tries to make a decision that could quite possibly affect the rest of his life. The tension dissipates when it is revealed that the man is not a threat, but a

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

The love between the protagonists in the times of hardship is the most profound relationship in the book and the strength of it raises the standard of the novel. The relation of the father and the son is very strong and symbolizes protection to the child. They take the initiative to struggle and live in an apocalyptic place which has been completely destroyed. The father is like the soul of his son and the very last hope for the son to survive .The son finds support in his son when he goes through the stages of loneliness and despair. It is a natural way for people to rely on others for support and by survival instincts; it is deeper when there is such a close relationship between a father and a son. McCarthy in terms of characterization makes the buy very innocent as he does not know how to differentiate between the “good guys” and “bad guys”. He wants to help everyone and on the other hand the father is very strong and is wise. He lives each and every day as a normal day so that he can keep his son strong as well. The father is very intelligent as he responds to his son questions thoughtfully to keep his son’s hope up. The father is very optimistic even when they are facing a hard time moving forward. To quote, “The lay listening, Can you do it? When the time comes? When the time comes there will be no time. Now is the time. Curse God and die. What if it doesn’t fire? It has to fire. What if it doesn’t fire? Could you crush that beloved

In order for a child to live in a complete and happy family, the paternal love plays a major role in a child’s life, especially the love of a father which is as much important as a mother’s love. Moreover, a father’s love is one of the greatest influences on the child’s personality development throughout his/her life. A father’s love brings a sense of protection of security in a child. In the novel The Road, Cormac McCarthy present the great example of paternal love. The novel deals with a post-apocalyptic story about an unnamed man and his unnamed child as they move toward the south to find a better place to live after the catastrophic event. The son is the only reason for the father

Throughout the novel, McCarthy illustrates the unconditional love the man has for the boy. This is depicted by the continuous sacrificing of necessities to keep the boy healthy and alive. McCarthy uses imagery to illustrate the hopelessness of the world and the daily struggle to stay alive by describing their living situation as “squatted on the road and ate cold rice and cold beans” (29). The use of the word “cold” has a negative connotation, showing the deprivation of luxuries and necessities of the world. The words “rice” and “beans” usually staple goods demonstrating the bare minimum they have to consume. The man internalizes the situation thinking, “So thin. My heart he said. My heart” (29). The syntax, specifically repetitive short sentences, demonstrates the everyday tension and grave society they are part of. This description also shows the love of the man towards the boy, which can be seen from the action of the man hugging the boy. Although they are struggling, the man overlooks these struggles, solely focused

This passage, like so many others, shocks the reader. It is nearly impossible to comprehend this level of cruelty. McCarthy describes it objectively, as if this type of horror were commonplace, which it is in this novel. The novel focuses on the kid's existence in a world of depravity that seems foreign to the reader but is all

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

He tells a man that was a threat to them in the forest the following: “You think I wont kill you but you’re wrong. But what I’d rather do is take you up this road a mile or so and then turn you loose” (65). In this quote it is evident that nothing is going to come in between the man and his son, even if it involves taking a life. A second quote McCarthy uses to reiterate the man’s protective nature is as follows: “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you” (77). The man tells this to the boy to make him feel safe as well as to explain to the boy why the man must be so serious. McCarthy effectively utilizes these quotes to convey to the reader that the man is protective of his

As shown when they encounter the thief with their cart, The Boy and The Father do not always agree. We find the boy continuously fighting for the morally right, although often unreasonable, solution for situations. The Father, has to explain, although it was once the right thing to do, it is the wrong thing to do for the predicament they are in. The reader can sympathize with The Father as he explains something to his kid that most fathers do not have to; that morality is not an option if your life is at stake. McCarthy leaves the audience’s mind stirring as they query some of the choices made by The Father, by not directly stating if his decisions were the right one. One of these decisions is not questioned until the very end, when we are

“When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him”(McCarthy 3). What McCarthy really means is that The man’s and The boy’s actions are a reflection that comes from the effects on how the setting of The Road could have changed their psychological traits. Because the boy was born into this disastrous and scary world, The man felt that the boy was his responsibility. The man would do anything in order to make sure the boy will survive. Similarly, the boy, being only young in age feels sympathy for the man and shows that he is thankful for The Man’s comfort. The boy even shared the “last” coke with The Man, which was shown by McCarthy explaining “He looked at his father and then tilted the can and drank. He sat there thinking about it. It's really good, he said…Yes. It is…You have some, Papa”(23).