While his son is clinging on to hope, telling him that he will save some food for the father, the man accepts the approaching death serenely. His change in stance is clearly demonstrated through him using the very words of his wife: “it[death]’s here”(56)(278). However, the difference still remains. While the wife had wanted to take the son, who symbolizes hope, with her, the husband says that he can’t(279) and encourages the boy to go on. This, the possession of hope, is the decisive distinction between the couple’s stance on death. In a world where everything previously known disappeared into ash, anyone would meditate on death. The wife was one to resort to death for comfort, whereas the husband remained faithful to life. Though the husband adopted his wife’s attitude towards death by the end of his life, he still differs from the woman in that he maintained hope for mankind even though he was resigned about his own life. In writing The Road, Cormac McCarthy successfully illustrated the conflict between life and death, hope and
While his son is clinging on to hope, telling him that he will save some food for the father, the man accepts the approaching death serenely. His change in stance is clearly demonstrated through him using the very words of his wife: “it[death]’s here”(56)(278). However, the difference still remains. While the wife had wanted to take the son, who symbolizes hope, with her, the husband says that he can’t(279) and encourages the boy to go on. This, the possession of hope, is the decisive distinction between the couple’s stance on death. In a world where everything previously known disappeared into ash, anyone would meditate on death. The wife was one to resort to death for comfort, whereas the husband remained faithful to life. Though the husband adopted his wife’s attitude towards death by the end of his life, he still differs from the woman in that he maintained hope for mankind even though he was resigned about his own life. In writing The Road, Cormac McCarthy successfully illustrated the conflict between life and death, hope and