Symbolism In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

The fire is the only hope that they have at living a normal life. When the fire is first made, it fills the boys with hope; however, like in the modern world today, the boys soon lose hope in being rescued. You can see the boys stop tending the fire, building shelters, and working together. This is because the boys have condoned themselves to being stranded forever. It is also here where conflicts spring up among the

Such as the time when they met with the blood cult member, the man used the last bullet in their gun to kill the cannibal cult member and escape from death. The man and boy fight for survival because they believe there are other survivors, the man is motivated to protect his son, the man has an unexplainable will to live, and he wants what is best for the boy. The man and the boy work together to get through the difficulties of traveling and find ways to stay alive. It is worth the man and the boy to fight for survival because they find many reasons to

It would be easier to take the baby roasting on the fire, but that’s not what they did. The man was not about the easy, he was about his son. The Son chose morals, and others over himself. As the book goes on, it becomes more and more clear that all the father cares about is his son. Every action he took was to make sure his son

For instance, when a ship passes by without seeing them, Ralph becomes agitated that the others would let the fire burn out. This shows how Ralph has matured and no longer leaves his rescue in the hands of his father, but rater assumes some control over the situation. In conclusion, character development can be seen by

I slept in the garage the night he died, and I broke all the godam windows with my fist, just for the hell of it (Salinger 44).” He was inexperienced with handling grief and death at a young age; rather than rationalizing the situation, he decides to take out his grief and frustrations though destroying property and hurting himself in the process. Coincidentally, this marks Holden’s physical deterioration and his self-destructive tendencies used as a coping mechanism; his damaged hand shows readers he is weak not only physically but also psychologically, a repeating imagery throughout the novel. His inability to handle reality and relinquish the concept of innocence is also a recurring pattern in the novel. Throughout the novel, readers get to know Holden through apathy and grief, especially through

In the post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, Cormac McCarthy reveals the appalling realization behind the desolate, derelict, and deteriorated society in which the protagonists, the man and the boy, experience with “a single round left in the revolver” (68). McCarthy portrays this contrastingly different Earth as “barren, silent, [and] godless” (4), depicting that the world in which the man and the boy live grows grayer and grayer as each hopeless day trudges on. While the perilous battle between survival and upholding morality stomp down the perpetual path to hope; bloodthirsty cannibals, ruthless gangs, and crippling starvation bombard the man and the boy, conclusively crushing the previously limited hope and spirit trapped “beyond the numbness and the dull despair” (88). The “richness of [the] vanished world” (139) depletes indefinitely as the protagonists plod

Camus conveys to the reader that in Oran there were ‘violent extremes of temperature’ which illustrates the harsh living conditions at the time of the war. He conveys that though countries may be at war and individuals may be suffering and dying due the Plague, the weather may not always correspond to this. This is because the weather, and humanity as a whole are indifferent to the struggle of others. Camus also shows that there was a lack of passion and love in the town itself as he says ‘everyone is bored, and devotes himself to cultivating habits’ (Camus 4). Through the course of the novel, we see that people come to love and care for their loved ones when there is an increase in hardship and struggle.

The man 's death symbolizes a loss of hope in the boy, but a motive that pushes him towards living the rest of his life through the final wishes of his father. Through his grief at the loss of his best friend, the boy whispers to the spirit of his father, “I’ll talk to you everyday...I won’t forget. No matter what” (McCarthy 286). With the use of diction, McCarthy appeals to pathos as he hints to the omnipresent spirit of the man that encompasses the boy’s daily actions. He has come to terms with the fact that he must fight for his own survival and “then he rose and turned and walked back out to the road” (McCarthy 286).

I walked out beyond the town to look at the weather. The bad weather was coming over the mountains from the sea.” (Hemingway 174); an omen of the metaphorical storm of a tragedy that would befall Jake and his compatriots. This tragedy is the result of the flawed characters, strenuous circumstances, and pessimistic, yet realistic, lack of hope the main character finds himself feeling in the conclusion of the book. The Sun Also Rises is a tragedy that depicts the miserable lives of expatriates coping with their mental and physical

Despite the physical travel the man and boy experience, the man has to protect the boy as well as continue to give him hope. The man believes it is his duty to keep “God’s own firedrake” (31) of hope and goodness safe from the physical, mental, and emotional horrors of the godforsaken world. However, the man and his wife cannot protect the boy from all pain and do hurt the boy whether it be physically, mentally, or emotionally with good intentions. McCarthy exhibits the underlying theme throughout The Road that it is sometimes better to hurt loved ones in order to help them through diction,

Then he finally understood that he had to leave his father alone to survive like he had been doing for his whole life. Then the most mysterious thing happens, a man walks up to the Boy and confesses that he has been following them for the longest time, and wants to take care of him. The Boy unsure if he should trust him asks him if he is carrying the fire. When suddenly a pregnant woman comes out of the bushes and gestures for the Boy to come with them; the Boy finally decides to follow them. After the man and boy’s journey ends, they learn that people will do absolutely anything to survive and will create excuses so they will not be blamed for what they are about to do.

With having a fire always going at night seems to give an image that as long as there is a fire, they would be alright. When the father is dying he tells his son, “You have to carry the fire…It’s inside you. It was always there” (McCarthy 279). All the boy wanted was to be with his father and when he’s finally leaving him to die, he knows he has to keep going for his father. Fire can be described in many ways as a light to keep on moving.

This illustrates the soldier 's selfishness since his scheme for the boots is quite inappropriate given the sick person 's situation (pg. 21). Lastly, Remarque incorporates a passage in which people faint while waiting to be served bones due to their lack of energy. The scene shows how the country is falling apart and could not provide its army with the basic necessities needed for keeping people alive and healthy. Remarque 's novel mainly focuses on telling terrifying stories that occurred in the war to show just how soldiers come out of war as

This boy wants to become a priest some day during a period of burning and destruction. This boy is comparable to the young unnamed boy in the Road who is being natured by his father to become a hero. They both live in a similar era of struggles ad are expected to become strong as they

He wants to prove himself worthy of becoming a soldier in the German army instead of a little boy in Hitler Youth. He sees another boy jump in and is determined to do the same, he succeeds. The reader learns his father is still bitter about his own time in the war and Dieter often refuses to give a second thought to his opinions. At this time he is blind of any consequences war may have on him, and is determined to join whether or not he be killed in the process stating, “If he ever got the chance to go to war, he would return with medals, not with whining complaints. Or perhaps he would not return, but in Krumbach every one would know of his bravery.