The Road Themes

The Road Themes

Death
1. Personified as a lover pg. 58
  1. "You can think of me as a faithless slut if you like. I've taken a new lover, He can give me what you cannot."
2. The boy has never seen cows or fish
3. The reader becomes more aware that the man is dying as the novel progresses.
  1. In the night he woke in the cold dark coughing and he coughed till his chest was raw.... He knelt there wheezing softly, his hands on his knees. I am going to die, he said. Tell me how I am to do that"
  2. Evidenced by the his worsening cough and the increasing amounts of blood that he spits out.
4. Even descriptions with vivid colours and textures are a reminder of death.
  1. He considers the dreams of his wife to be a calling from death.
Paternal Love
1. The theme is ubiquitous given the relationship of the two protagonists
2. the man's thirst for survival is fueled by the love for his son
  1. "the boy was all that stood between him and death"
3. the man does not wish to "save" his son from civilization's destruction, rape, murder, and cannibalism by killing him preemptively
  1. "Can you do it? When the time comes can you do it?"
4. he leaves the pistol with the boy whenever he explores a new and potentially unsafe location alone.
5. unflinching decision to shoot and kill the man who threatens the boy's life
  1. "If you look at him again I'll shoot you"
6. As the man lays dying, he tells his son to eat his share of food, instead of keeping it for himself in hopes of regaining his health. These small gifts and sacrifices are strong examples of his paternal love.
The Good Guys vs. The Bad Guys
1. The man never once crosses the line of cannibalism. This can be considered the ultimate end to humanity, as it begins to devour itself.
2. To the father, they are the "good guys," even though the father commits a murder for the sake of his son.
3. Are we carrying the fire?
4. He feels that the stories his father tells of their heroic survival are not truthful. Perhaps worst of all, the boy cannot agree with his father that the right thing to do is to refuse to help others who are in dire need, especially when they have not shown any evidence of being dangerous.
5. The reader (if not also the boy) perceives that in such a difficult world, the distinction between good and evil is rather nuanced; people's actions taken at face value are far from enough to determine whether someone is a "good guy" or a "bad guy."
Trust
1. On the surface it is expressed through conflict with other people on the road
  1. In response to "Are you a dr.?" Do I look like an imbecile to you?
2. Only the boy trusts others, for example Ely and the thief.
  1. Just help him, papa. Just help him
3. Though he often seeks reassurance, the boy also realizes that his father may not always be truthful about their chances of survival. The boy admits that he thinks his father might lie to him about dying.
  1. "Okay. I might. But we're not dying"
4. In this respect the son's trust in his father is forged out of necessity
  1. "I always believe you.... Yes I do. I have to"
Faith and Doubt
1. the father's quest south to ensure his son's survival is carried out with religious fervor
  1. "The child was his warrant.If he is not the word of God God never spoke"
2. the man treats his son as an individual above all others, with a devoutness that arguably surpasses the usual sentiments of paternal love, affection, and protection.
  1. "What if I said that he's a god?" (145)
3. the man expresses doubt about the presence of a higher power.
  1. Then he just knelt in the ashes. He raised his face to the palling day. Are you there? he whispered. Will I see you at the last?
4. Ely denies the possibility of God's existence in such a destructive place as earth
  1. "There is no God and we are his prophets"
  2. Where men cant live gods fare no better. You'll see"
Survival and Resilience
1. McCarthy tends to focus on the unusual behavior required in such circumstances, for example of the marauders or cannibals
2. The man also attempts to steel himself for the possibility that he may have to shield his son from unspeakable evil by killing the boy himself.
  1. "Can you do it? When the time comes? When the time comes there will be no time ... Could you crush that beloved skull with a rock?"
3. we see the beginnings of a new society arising from a state of nature, one where the security of the group is the key binding motivation.
  1. "Behind them came wagons drawn by slaves in harness and piled with goods of war and after that the women, perhaps a dozen in number, some of them pregnant, and lastly a supplementary consort of catamites ..."
4. In the face of the atrocities they witness, the boy and the man retain a purity of hope and strength of vision that fuel them forward in their journey across the desolate land.
Naming and the Authority of Memory
1. The Road incorporates significant themes regarding memory and narration. These themes are often difficult to grasp through McCarthy's obscure language or references and almost impenetrable prose
2. Storytelling and naming, accordingly, are forms of authenticity and power, lending reality to those objects or concepts which are described or named.
  1. "Make a list. Recite a litany. Remember"
3. Though the man attempts to reject his dreams as death's lure away from the sobering reality of his impending end, these dreams in some way validate the existence of his previous life.
  1. "things no longer known in the world.... He thought each memory recalled must do some violence to its origins.... What you alter in the remembering has yet a reality, known or not
  2. This passage also demonstrates the significance of memory for a person; the mind remembers and thus The passage also validates phenomena which may no longer exist. Failing to remember and to name these phenomena render them forever lost.

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	Created by elspeth almost 11 years ago