The Road Comparison of Characters Essay Example

The Road Analysis Complete with desolate, dreary imagery and a sense of nihilistic depression, Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel “The Road” demands into question the true significance of being alive in the world and whether two individuals, despite their opposite backgrounds, can ban together and survive against all odds. The two protagonists headed south in this novel are highly contrasting from one another in terms of their outlook on life and more or less means of continued existence. Therefore my analysis paper consists of the contrast of the main characters. When reading Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, I couldn’t help being beaten by the contrasts between the two characters that we are set up to follow on their journey. The young boy is innocent, hopeful, accepting, unquestioning and always looks for the shear goodness in another and strives to help the less fortunate despite his own desperate circumstances. His father (referred to as “the man”) however is world-wise, distrustful, cautious and apprehensive even as he attempts to project a facade of optimism toward his son. He has seen too much and is furious with the world but now can only assist his biggest yet the best burden (his son) on their long, endless and winding road toward an indeterminate future being painfully aware of what mankind is capable of. Anything that could be seen as a threat towards this oddly paired team is handled differently in the eyes of the interpreted father and son. The boy views the best in everyone and pities the other individuals even though he himself, is suffering. On the opposite end of the pole, the dad is intent of shear survival. He puts his son ahead of everything and everyone, maybe the biggest sacrifice of all. The son is birthed in this hellhole of a universe and has never known any world other than the bleak inhospitable surroundings through which they traverse. He progresses on the road with the man believed to be his father and insists that they (he