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Cormac Mccarthy The Road Analysis

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Death is a constant theme in The Road, by Cormac McCarthy. In the world they live in now, death is all around them. Almost all the people, plants and animals have died off by now and there is little to nothing left. “There was yet a lingering odor of cows in the barn and he stood there thinking about cows and he realized they were extinct”(120). Because there is nothing left, the boy and the man are the only thing eachother has right now and they are the only thing keeping each other alive. “If you died, I would want to die too”(11). People also turn to death as a better option in this book, as if it is a way to get out of this horrible world. If the boy and the man were somehow split up or in danger, they feel as if there is no other choice but to end their own lives. “Don’t be afraid, he said. If they find you you are going to have to do it. Do you understand”(113). The man has to put the boy in a position that nobody should ever have to be in. Death is always an option to them and this is a constant reminder. …show more content…

The boy is the mans everything ad vis versa. “They slept huddled together in the rank quilts in the dark and the cold. He held the boy close to him. So thin. My heart, he said. My heart. But he knew that if he were a good father still it might well be as she had said. That the boy was all that stood between him and death(29)”. The love between the man and the boy is so strong, that, that is what stands between the man and death. The mom even stated before she killed herself that she would take the boy with her if it wasn't for the man. Because she knew also that the boy will be the man's only will to

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