Literature Analysis #8

Literature Analysis 8

The Road

By Cormac McCarthy

1. The Road is the story of a man and his son who are trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world.  The father keeps the son safe in this dangerous territory as they face scavengers and cannibals.  The father feels that it is important to keep his son as sane as possible during this time so he won't end up like the crazy people around them.  The son feels safe with his father as they venture until the father begins to grow ill.  This illness causes the father to die and the son is left with a choice to join a colony.  He decides to join this colony since they can keep him safe and he thinks of them as a new family.

2. The theme of the story is the power of family and love.  The father loved his son and wanted to see him safe and unharmed.  He gave his son morals to give him humanity in the inhumane times.  Without the father's love for his son, the father would not have lasted as long through his disease and the son would have been lost.

3. The book has a depressing tone.  The father and son must survive through these difficult times.  They are constantly facing death without food or water.  When they do have food and water, scavengers are trying to take it from them.  The father is also trying to keep his son sane in this insane world.  It is tough for the audience to watch this child grow up in this environment.

4. McCarthy uses setting, characters, and syntax to represent the theme and tone of his book.  The setting is a desolate wasteland which immediately connects with the depressing tone and gives the reader a feeling of emptiness.  His characters are constantly struggling to survive and face death often.  His syntax shows how the characters connect with each other and the importance of family in these trying times.