Would You Keep Walking?
A review of The Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Road is an interesting novel. It follows a father and son as they travel alone through a dystopian country. One interesting thing about the novel is that we never learn the names of the characters in the book. They are referred to as man and boy. They are father and son as well.
Despite all of that, we learn that the man and boy are traveling because winter is about to hit, and they want to be someplace warm. They have limited supplies and worry about making it to their destination before winter hits.
The story is mostly about the journey instead of the destination. It follows how the father and son struggle through a wasteland. They survive by breaking into abandoned houses and stores, trying to find supplies. Their clothes are worse for wear, and their shoes are tattered. They have to find places to sleep as well, especially since they have to worry about other surviving humans with ill intentions finding them.
Spoiler Territory
The story really focuses on the relationship between father and son as they are experiencing a dire event. It is interesting how the father wants to stay positive on their situation, but can’t shield his son from the harsh reality of the world they live in. The father remembers positive times before the mysterious event happened that caused the wasteland. It seems like the son doesn’t have memories of life before the event, so the son often questions his father about whether there were really happier times.
The event itself is mysterious as well. They never explained what caused the apocalyptic events. We are given subtle clues. It seems like a fire destroyed everything because there is continuous ash everywhere. The sky is always grey, and the rivers, lakes, and oceans are not blue, but the color of lead. Whatever happened caused all plants and the majority of animal life to die, leaving few resources. They come across human remains that seemed to have been the result of what happened during the mysterious event. The people are burned beyond recognition. Seems that the remaining humans have resorted to cannibalism because of the lack of food and vegetation.
The book is an interesting exploration of what to do if there is little hope for survival. I think that the book is specifically vague about the characters and the apocalypse because it wants you to put yourself in the father and son’s situation. Do you keep trekking on during the apocalypse, or do you give up? It is an interesting question that I am still pondering after reading this book, and I think you will too if you give the book a chance.