The Road: View on Cormac McCarthy

          Cormac McCarthy describes a devastated, drained, raped society. There is no need for money, government or even phones, iPods etc.  I believe that Cormac McCarthy has some truth to the world he is describing, but I also think that there are ways to prevent the world from collapsing.

Human greed, personal issues and lack of respect for the environment and world around us is the cause for the world’s destruction. Mr. McCarthy explicitly describes the effects from those things but he doesn’t really describe the causes.  I think in order to fix any problem you must know the cause. Cormac McCarthy does shine a ray of hope several times in the book, but he leaves a lot up to the imagination. I agree with him on several things how dangerous and desperate times lead humans to do desperate and dangerous things. He does a good job giving examples such as cannibalism, murdering and hunger.  The Road is a view into what the future can be for the human r ace, but it isn’t necessarily what is meant to be or destined for us.

father and son

Father & Son

A father is the man in a boy’s life who helps him define who he is and what he ought to be. A father is the significant on going symbol not only to his son but to the rest of the world. Since the beginning of time men have been in dominant power and have been the lead figures in life. In The Road the father is a protector, provider and stabilizer for his son. He will go any length and cost to protect his son. He even shoots a man who holds his son hostage leaving him with only 1 bullet left to protect them.

        Besides protecting his son’s life he protects his innocence in a cold world. He knows that not much is left so he shares with him bit by bit things he feels will be important to living. He even steps but to the plate after his wife abandons him and leaves him to care for himself and a child. It isn’t easy for him to forget the love of his life and pick up and start over. Instead of taking the tragedy of sorrow, death and poverty as a negative aspect of his life he learns form it and uses his experiences to pass on to his son.
        In The Road it is obvious that the son loves his father and looks up to him as a role model. He is young and is understandably full of questions, his father does his best to answer them and he doesn’t question his father he respects him. He also listens to what his father has to say and under the circumstances and conditions he is in he can be considered a grateful and admirable young boy. Leaving without a mother, TV, games, ipods, face book and twitter would all be deemed as hellish thing to live without. But the boy in The Road was thankful for simple things such as bed time stories and a coke. And superficial things no longer seemed significant such as money.
        The father and son in The Road exemplify the true meaning of what a man to boy 9father to son relationship should be like. Even with personal issues and the world around them they still find ways to enjoy life and move on from pain, this can truly be a humbling experience and anyone can take note from it

John Proctor, Hero or Stooge?

"Everyone is necessarily the hero of his own life story" -John Barth The definition to a hero is dependent upon one definition. A hero could be the guy who comes and saves the scared citizens from the evil villain or the smart guy who warns officials in time to save a town. But, I believe a hero is simple a person who stands up for what they believe in and embraces themselves and the human race. John Proctor is a respectable man who is bluntly honest and fair man. He is an example of what a protagonist who is a "perfectionist". John is a noble man, he of course despises hypocrisy, yet he is a hypocrite himself. This is not ironic because it is typical of humans to pick out flaws in others that they see in themselves. Striving to do everything "right" is what holds John back, as it is with several of the characters in The Crucible. To parallel with us in today’s society, people feel that they must fit in with the status quo or with what is popular. But this is what sometimes roadblock not only to life long success but with personal happiness. John in The Crucible constant tells his wife not to judge him, yet she clearly tells him that it is not she who is judging him but his conscience. He is so caught up with what the other citizens will think he can't forgive himself or Abigail for committing adultery. John Proctor is indeed, a hero he is a reflection of a genuine man in an unstable community. Though he has some difficulties “fitting in” he overcomes this and in the end does what he knows is right and proves he not only is an honest man but a hero.