The road, Cormaic MacCarthy's post apocalyptic novel reveals a father who will give up just about anything, even his life to protect his son in a time of chaos. His actions shape the overall meaning of the work as a whole. One of the father's objective is to reach the South where his son and him could survive more easily. There it would be warmer and also there would be food. They find a comfortable place where they sheltered for a few days but then the father tells his son "we cant stay... It was for us and it will be for others and we don't know who they will be and we cant hear them coming. It's not safe" (42). Fear is seen through this conversation as the father is afraid that someone can find them and hurt them. It was a time of survival of the fittest and he knew that most people were too selfish to think for other's survival so it was better for them to go alone. But then, the father finds himself in a difficult situation in which he kills a man in order to save the only person hes got left, his son. From there on they keep moving but the child starts to realize that his father has changed and that he no longer cares for others, that his childhood is over and that his father will do whatever it takes to protect him. Obviously the little boy doesn't know how to react to that. He asks his father "are we still the good guys?"(77) as he is confused and shocked by the actions that his father had taken earlier. Initially he doesn't understand why it had to be that way but then he seems to realize that it was the only way they could of made it alive. Then the father, knowing that his son might be seeing him as an evil person explains him saying "My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you" (77). There's irony used in this quote as the father implies that God appointed him to protect his son no matter what. In conclusion, the man's dead marked a changing phase for the story and the father, he does not only stop caring about his own health but focuses more on protecting and providing his son all he can. He seems to be preparing the little boy to survive in case he dies.
Friday, January 16, 2015
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