Annotated Bibliography The Road By Cormac Mccarthy
Justin A. Garcia
Ms M. McKenzie
English IV AP, Period 8
May 15, 2014
Anotated Bibliography
Knox, Paul D. "Okay Means Okay": Ideology and Survival in Cormac Mccarthy 's, The Road. 4th ser. vol 70 Issue 2 (2012): 96-99. EBSCOhost. Web. 15 May 2014. .
A literary critique is presented of the post-apocalyptic novel "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, focusing on the ideologies of the two main characters and how they came to adopt them. The author suggests that the characters see a binary world of good characters and evil characters that is constantly reinforced through saying the word "okay." The author also discusses reassuring language, physical and mental health, and morality. The power of companionship can be observed through the relationship
and mutualism that the two main characters, the young boy and his father, share during their journey to warmer lands from what used to be northeastern United States. The duo comes across many obstacles and cannibalistic groups along their way, causing them to make tough decisions that they must both agree to. Along their journey, the two come across an old, beat down man. The father refuses to give the man any food, but the boy insists that they share a can of peaches. The father and son develop a way of agreeing with one another when the father says, “okay,” and the boy replies, “okay,” as well. The two repeat the word “okay” when they come to an agreement on a situation. The repeated word began to represent a mutual understanding between the two. Garcia 2
As the father begins to die an agonizing death of black lung, the boy lays by him, cares for him, and attempts to reassure him. The boy and the father exchange a final conversation in which the boy worries that he will not be able to hear his father’s reassuring voice after he has passed. The father replies, “You will…You have to make it like the talk that you imagine,” this suggest that the boy has told his father of voices that he hears. Possibly of his mother and other family and friends. The boy says, “okay,” which in turn the father returns a mutual, “okay.” The conversation end as the father states that he will begin coughing violently again if he continues to talk. The boy then says his final words to his father, “It’s okay papa, you don’t have to talk. It’s okay.” The second okay represents the boys attempt to reassure his father for one last time. This article does not describe the end scene in which the boy is rescued by a family that had followed the duo. The family consisted of a husband, his wife, and two children, a son and daughter. Throughout the novel, the son would tell his father he heard voices of children or often saw a boy or girl his age scampering around the ruins they passed. The duo agreed on the idea that the sounds and sightings were a figure of the boys imagination. They’re agreement ended in the exchange of their infamous word, “okay.” The father of the family of four walked up to the boy, in which case the boy drew the revolver that he kept from his father. The man offered to give him a chance to join the family in their fight for survival. The man told the boy, “I promise you, if you put that there gun down and come with us, you’ll be okay.” The boy looked over his shoulder at his father’s lifeless body, and looked back at the man, then said, “okay.” The man repeated, “okay.”
Ms M. McKenzie
English IV AP, Period 8
May 15, 2014
Anotated Bibliography
Knox, Paul D. "Okay Means Okay": Ideology and Survival in Cormac Mccarthy 's, The Road. 4th ser. vol 70 Issue 2 (2012): 96-99. EBSCOhost. Web. 15 May 2014. .
A literary critique is presented of the post-apocalyptic novel "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, focusing on the ideologies of the two main characters and how they came to adopt them. The author suggests that the characters see a binary world of good characters and evil characters that is constantly reinforced through saying the word "okay." The author also discusses reassuring language, physical and mental health, and morality. The power of companionship can be observed through the relationship
and mutualism that the two main characters, the young boy and his father, share during their journey to warmer lands from what used to be northeastern United States. The duo comes across many obstacles and cannibalistic groups along their way, causing them to make tough decisions that they must both agree to. Along their journey, the two come across an old, beat down man. The father refuses to give the man any food, but the boy insists that they share a can of peaches. The father and son develop a way of agreeing with one another when the father says, “okay,” and the boy replies, “okay,” as well. The two repeat the word “okay” when they come to an agreement on a situation. The repeated word began to represent a mutual understanding between the two. Garcia 2
As the father begins to die an agonizing death of black lung, the boy lays by him, cares for him, and attempts to reassure him. The boy and the father exchange a final conversation in which the boy worries that he will not be able to hear his father’s reassuring voice after he has passed. The father replies, “You will…You have to make it like the talk that you imagine,” this suggest that the boy has told his father of voices that he hears. Possibly of his mother and other family and friends. The boy says, “okay,” which in turn the father returns a mutual, “okay.” The conversation end as the father states that he will begin coughing violently again if he continues to talk. The boy then says his final words to his father, “It’s okay papa, you don’t have to talk. It’s okay.” The second okay represents the boys attempt to reassure his father for one last time. This article does not describe the end scene in which the boy is rescued by a family that had followed the duo. The family consisted of a husband, his wife, and two children, a son and daughter. Throughout the novel, the son would tell his father he heard voices of children or often saw a boy or girl his age scampering around the ruins they passed. The duo agreed on the idea that the sounds and sightings were a figure of the boys imagination. They’re agreement ended in the exchange of their infamous word, “okay.” The father of the family of four walked up to the boy, in which case the boy drew the revolver that he kept from his father. The man offered to give him a chance to join the family in their fight for survival. The man told the boy, “I promise you, if you put that there gun down and come with us, you’ll be okay.” The boy looked over his shoulder at his father’s lifeless body, and looked back at the man, then said, “okay.” The man repeated, “okay.”