Cormac McCarthy, author of the fictional story, The Road,
writes this story based on a post-apocalyptic time period to illustrate the
journey of a father and a son with a suspicious tone. The reader would not know
what to expect next with so many upcoming events, however in the story both of
the characters only wanted to survive and find safety, but in their journey
they experience many obstacles. The demise of mostly the whole world had the
two main characters terrified but united, but it all changed when they were
encountered their first challenge. The father felt threatened when a guy saw
them hiding and felt he had no other choice but to do what he thought was the
best, kill him, “The man fell back instantly and lay with blood bubbling from
the hole in his forehead.”(66) Trust was way gone since the whole world was
destroyed, morality was no longer in existence and both the father and the son
feared more than ever. They knew that from now on they had to watch each other
because there could be someone wanting vengeance for the guy’s death. The
father was willing to do anything to protect his son from this cruel new world,
but the little boy was more traumatized than he was before, he could not
believe his own father had become a murderer. The young boy started questioning
their own principles, he asked his father if they were still good guys and the
father said, “We’re still the good guys. And we always will be.”(77) Regardless
of all the commotion happening and all the evil that was left in the world, the
father still had his moralities, but the only difference now was that it was
either their lives or someone else’s. He did whatever it took for them to be
safe, but at times he had to risk it all or else they wouldn't survive, “We’ll
have to take a risk.”(79) When it came to food, shelter and safety they didn't know
what they would find when they crossed to a new place, the father wanted them
to survive because he had hope that they would find a new safe world in the
south. Even though the son saw the father differently ever since he killed a guy
right in front of his eyes, the father never gave up on their lives, he loved
his son and was the only person that kept him moving forward. The father would
always go look for their necessities and left the boy hiding, he would only
risk his own life. When wanting to survive principles become more difficult to
obey but there’s always a limit to were you have to take action. Having someone
to live for is what motivates someone to keep fighting.
