The
Beauty of The Road
Within
the post-apocalyptic world of The
Road,
not much is beautiful. The land is burned, homes abandoned,
carcasses cover the cold ground, and the nature of human morals are
all but forgotten. The
Road seeks
to shock and disgust the reader at every turn. From the horrids
of a cellar full of human livestock, to a father wondering if he will
be able to brutally murder his son if the time comes. The
Road has
everything to make a shiver run down your spine. The
Road never
fails to tug at your every heart string while simultaneously
describing the worst acts of humanity imaginable with no shortage of
detail. Many could call this a violent, unreadable book.
However, this is not a mindless act to freak out the reader or
a novel written by an ex-horror movie screen writer attempting to
cash in on all of the missed out gore. The dark, messy, and
brutal qualities of The
Road serve
a purpose, to establish a realistic telling of the world after an
apocalypse. In reality it's very likely humanity would turn
against themselves given the right circumstances. Social
etiquette, morals, and empathy are all traits of humanity that are
likely to dissipate very quickly as lust, hunger, and survival take
the forefront of concern. A novel that develops characters
throughout this world and exposes them to these atrocities reminds
the reader of the reality of human nature. Faced with starvation
and death, humans are capable of committing horrible crimes for
survival. No amount of exposure to a clean, caring society (in
contrast), will be able to erase these tendencies lying just below
the surface. So what's the point of all of this? Why
write a novel with gruesome rapes, killings, and cannibalism? Simply
to prove a point that humans are innately evil? Well, not
exactly, by proving that humans are innately evil the writer is also
proving that humans have the choice to be moral and good. The
man, being faced with the boys innocence, has proven that humans
maintain the ability to uphold their beliefs of morals and "carry
the fire". Because the man wishes to protect the boy and
the boy's innocence, the man has chosen to survive without carrying
out these atrocious acts. The man and the boy are both willing
to die before they allow themselves to become evil. Humanity
has the choice to die as humans, or live as devils. Throughout
all of the pain and suffering of this world one thing remains good,
the innocence of the boy, protecting humanity. It is through
this contagious light that the man's dignity remains in tact as he
defends his son from evil. The man's focus remains on the life
of his son and the road south to a better life. The land is
burned, homes abandoned, carcasses cover the ground, and the nature
of human morals are all but forgotten, but the beauty of the road,
the beauty of innocence remains.
A thoughtful discussion of major thematic ideas of the novel, including a few general references to the plot that supports such a view.
ReplyDeleteThe discussion of how the novel isn't just an exploration of the negative traits of humanity is especially thoughtful. Do you think the novel is also exploring ideas about hope?
On a different note, you might try shorter paragraphs in your response, as one long paragraph might seem a bit overwhelming to some.
I love this assessment, but I do not believe that brutal murder is the correct description of what the man would have to do. I view it as a mercy killing, but the term brutal implies that it would be violent and against the boy's will, but the boy has said that he wants to die.
ReplyDeleteHey Aaron, nice post. I pretty much agree with all of what you wrote. I particularly like the point you made about what the boy represents in the story. He acts in a sense as the line that the man cannot cross. The boy constantly needs reassurance that he and his Papa are indeed the "good guys." So I definitely agree with your assessment of his character in relation to the style.
ReplyDeleteI actually disagree with what Andrew said because I understood what you meant about the brutal murder of his son. There was that description of how the man said he'd have to bash the boy's head in with a rock if the gun were to run out of bullets, and he really struggled with that thought. If that isn't a brutal thought, then I don't know what is. So I hear you there.
Overall, it's been really cool to read about what other people, in this case you, think about the Road (which as you can guess, I am also reading).
P.S. if you don't mind me asking, what is the background image?
Not to bash Andrew, as I fully understand where he is coming from, but I would have to clarify that you interpreted that line as I did in writing it. My intentions were to help illustrate some of the most horrific parts of The Road, and let's be honest, I can't imagine anything worse then bashing your own son's head in with a rock. An act, weather or not actually considered by the reader to be murder, would definitely be seen by The Man himself as murder. On a different note the background used on this blog was a random theme provided by blogspot. I figured it seemed fitting to the abandoned, apocalyptic 'feel' of The Road.
DeleteI liked your look at the second part. However I don't believe the author is trying to portray people as innately evil. But maybe a look at how people adapt, or what lengths they are willing to go to to survive. I know I for one would love to have been a member of the household holding the human livestock. Not because I love to eat people and be nasty, but because it would be an efficient way to survive. The book really follows the saying "When in Rome...". I am not saying you are wrong, but that is just my view on the situation the world is in.
ReplyDeleteWell, I think it's important to note that the author is making a large point that "when in Rome" doesn't necessarily mean "be Roman". I think the author is using the man and the boy to contrast this idea of being innately evil and eating people versus continuing the hard way and carrying the torch. It's easy to give up and eat people, its hard to retain your honor and humanity. I think a large message is that in their case it's better to die a human than live as an animal.
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