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.