The Road Blog 3

I did not expect The Road to conclude the way it did. After many hardships, the man and the boy finally reach the coast. The boy is disappointed because he wished to see the blue ocean but instead it was gray like the rest of the world. The man and the boy stay near the ocean for a couple of days to rest. At one point, a scavenger tries their cart with their food and supplies but the man caught him before he could escape. The man made the scavenger give back all of their supplies, including the clothes he was wearing, leaving him naked and unprotected from the dangerous environment. The boy tried to persuade the man to forgive the scavenger but the man wouldn't listen. It is obvious that the boy is much more compassionate than his father. The father becomes increasingly sick and dies because of it. He tells the boy to go on without him, but the boy has difficulty doing this. Luckily, another man who has been following the father and son offers the boy a place to live and be protected. The boy is reluctant at first but he accepts the offer and he made the right decision to trust the man.

However, the most interesting part of the end is the last paragraph. It is completely unlike the rest of the book, and it surprised me when I first read it. The narrator speaks of trout that lived in the mountains and "on their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming". I reread this beautifully written section many times trying to understand its purpose and meaning. While the entire book centers around the lack of life and beauty left in the world, this section focuses on life and the world that used to be. I think it represents how man essentially caused the end to the magnificence of the world and created a gray, ashen land. The narrator is lamenting the fact that the world could "not be made right again". This passage was the most thought-provoking of the entire novel, and it seemed to be written in "vintage" McCarthy style with distinct prose. Although there are still some uncertainties regarding the story, I felt very satisfied and moved by the ending to The Road.

The Road Blog 2

The Road is a shocking and haunting novel. It took me a while to completely adjust to Cormac McCarthy's abrupt sentences and his way of blurting information in fragments, but I have come to appreciate the writing's simplicity. In the novel, the man and the boy are still on their journey to the coast, hoping to find refuge there. They are wary of every person they see, which was puzzling at first because it seemed to me the only way to survive in a barren world would be receiving help from others. However, two scenes in the story made me understand why the father and son could only rely on themselves. First, they encounter a man from a group traveling on a diesel truck. The stranger is interrogated by the father but he offers the two some food. The father does not believe him, which was a good decision because the stranger grabbed the boy and threatened to kill him. The father shoots the stranger and the boy is covered with his blood as he and his father run away. This scene was the most exciting part of the novel so far, yet it was extremely haunting to see how men turned on each other when they are in need. The second scene was shocking to say the least. The man and boy search an empty house for food and they find a locked door in the pantry. Despite the boy's protests, the man uses a spade to open the door and descends the steps. As soon as he sees what lies down there, he knows they are in immediate danger. The reason was that he saw several scared and naked people lying against the wall, and even a man with no legs lying on the mattress. These people were captured and were now being eaten by other men because of the lack of food. Although cannibalism seems unrealistic right now in our civilized world, it could be a possibility following a near apocalypse similar to the novel. It reminded me of a clip from a movie we watched in psychology where the survivors of a plane crash decided to eat the remains of the victims in order to survive. Even though killing people for food is going a step further, it showed that people can do unconscionable things to live. McCarthy contrasts the terrible things done by some survivors with the love between the man and his son. 

The Road

To follow As I Lay Dying, I decided to read The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A common aspect of these novels is that their plots revolve around a perilous journey that seems hopeless and ultimately meaningless. In The Road, a man and his son, who are unnamed, travel across the country after an apocalyptic event hoping to reach the coast. All the color and beauty of the world has vanished, and they must wear masks to live in the ashen environment. One reason I chose to read a book by Cormac McCarthy was that I read that he was the modern day equivalent to William Faulkner. After only reading through a small portion of the book, I can understand the comparison. Both authors use dialogue sparingly and they both use simple and sparse diction. Similar to the family's conflicts in As I Lay Dying, there is some misunderstanding between the man and boy since the boy can't understand the world that the man had previously lived in. However, it is clear the father and son must rely on each other to survive, whereas the family constantly quarreled in Faulkner's novel. The plot of this book somewhat reminds me of the movie I Am Legend, which I guess was alright. So far though, I think I prefer The Road to that movie.