The Road: Analysis

The Road
Cormac McCarthy
287 Pages

1) The Road falls under the category of Science Fiction or Fantasy. Set in a post-apocalyptic America, the novel is stylistically very fragmented and vague from the beginning. While this is a peculiar writing style with short, choppy sentences, and lacking in quotation marks and, often times, apostrophes, using this style adds to the bleakness and mood of the novel.
“He lay listening. The boy sat by the fire wrapped in a blanket watching him. Drip of water. A fading light. Old dreams encroached upon the waking world.”
This passage reflects the short choppy style of the novel, as well as the morbid and depressing mood of the story.
2) The characters in this novel don’t ever have names. The two main characters are forever referred to as “Man” and “Boy”, and since they are the only consistent characters throughout the book, the author builds each ones character traits through interaction with the other rather than giving specific details. The Man in this story is a very interesting character to understand. The other shows us the Man’s character through his interaction with the Boy, his son. Throughout the novel, this Man’s only objective is to watch over his son, to protect him and hopefully find a way to give him a better life. His perseverance and dedication to “being the good guys” and truly protecting and raising his son in such a twisted world show that he really is a good person, even in a world that no one ever could have imagined. For instance, he has a pistol with only two bullets and eventually only one bullet. But instead of taking the cowards way out or killing other humans with it, he is saving it so he can kill his son if he ever has the need so that he won’t suffer or be eaten by the “bad guys”. In a sick and twisted way, this shows just how much he cares for the boy.
3) In The Road, the setting makes up a lot of the novel. The bleak, desolate apocalyptic setting sets the mood and the story. In this novel there is no set time, date, or place. This, paired with the lack of character names, adds to the feeling that this could be happening anywhere to anyone, which is one of the main aspects of the book. One of the reoccurring descriptions of the setting is the repetitive mention of the grey sky, and the coatings of ash.
4) The narrator in this novel is a very vague, omniscient view. It’s almost like there isn’t a narrator due to the writing style of the book. Because you don’t really get many feelings, it’s kind of like you are just watching it without feeling, without an actual voice telling you what’s going on. In this type of story, this is a very good narration technique. It, like the style of writing, adds to the bleakness of the novel.
5) One of the most significant themes in The Road, is the theme of Good vs. Evil. Throughout the novel, the Man assures the Boy that they are the “good guys”. The Boy is constantly making sure that the “bad guys” are the people who want to hurt them (thieves and cannibals), and that they are the “good guys” because they “keep trying, don’t give up” (hence the underlying theme of perseverance.) While this is true is many respects, throughout the book, events happen that question what is good and what is evil; what is the difference, and what is the grey area. To the father, killing a man in defense of his son is acceptable, because it is necessary to survive. However, how is this different from the cannibals killing in order to survive? The boy doesn’t always understand this, and doesn’t understand the need to always survive. But throughout the novel, the father always presses on, always keeps going so he can find a better life for his son, even if that means treading through the grey area of Good and Evil.
6) I would definitely recommend this book. While it is dark and depressing and in ways kind of twisted, it is a book that really makes you think about morals and feelings. It is actually a very touching book that works your mind if you let yourself get lost into the choppy sentences. I would scale this book at about a 7 or 8 on the difficulty scale. While the language itself isn’t very hard, the style of writing makes it kind of difficult to delve into. If you can get past the odd, short, vague sentences and really get into the book, you will come away with a new perspective about a lot of things in life.