Essay Cormac Mccarthy and Father

Submitted By emmafae23
Words: 1424
Pages: 6
Open Document
Emma Schrock
Period 2
Final draft
Hero’s Journey Essay
The hero’s journey archetype or the quest exists in all of literature and especially when the hero has to overcome challenges and grow in intelligence and as a person. The novel begins with a father and a boy who are making a journey across a road, but it is set in a post- apocalyptic world. Neither of them have a name which adds to the tone that it could be happening anywhere and to anyone. Stylistically, there are no chapters, no quotation marks etc. This could suggest in the new world there is no electricity etc and only exist in very limited amounts. They are always “carrying the fire” and as long as they are carrying it they will be safe and secure. In The Road by Cormac McCarthy the main character through the pattern of the hero’s journey, goes on a journey in a post apocalyptic world to gain freedom and a sense of hope when there is none.
The first stage that the son must undergo to complete his quest is known as the separation stage- call to adventure and refusal of call. The hero, who is the son, must start on his adventure when his mother leaves and their world’s falls apart. The son and his father decide to leave and in a sense gain freedom. This is the call to adventure in the novel because some information is received and it tells us why they start their journey. The whole book is a refusal to call. Throughout the entire book, in the back of both the father and son’s mind there is a part of them that wants to die and give up. They wonder if it will be worth it in the end, if they survive. He writes “we are still going south. Yes. So we will be warm. Yes.”(McCarthy 10). At the beginning of the novel the boy seems to know what is happening, but he really doesn’t. Throughout the book, he persistently asks his father what is going on and why and also when things will get better. The father puts on a mask frequently and pretends to have hope, even when he doesn’t because of the powerful love he has with his son. The man believes that God will help him protect the boy. He also has a pistol which is a symbol of safety and love with the boy. Without these stages of the hero’s journey we would miss the crucial explanation of why they want to gain freedom and a sense of hope when there is none.
The next stage the son needs to complete is initiation- road of trails and atonement with father. When the father and son first begin their journey they are faced with many issues and conflicts almost immediately. Shortly into their journey they come in contact with a pack on cannibals scavenging the road in search of food. They are always faced with the possibility of starvation from their lack of food. Shelter is also a major trail in this novel because “he had no strength to carry the child. The few blankets they had would not keep them warm (McCarthy 102). This was a constant thought in both of their minds through the entire novel. They only had a few goals and many were part of their road of trails. The father and son wanted to get to the “other side” as quickly as possible, have enough food, and have some sort of shelter every night. Even though the road of trails was an issue it is crucial and especially in this book, because there would be no book in a sense without it. This whole book is just series of trails- how they overcome them, have a new trail then overcome that one. Because of the road of trails that they get past they continue to have hope to get them through until there obstacle.
The final stage the hero must complete is the return- rescue from without and cross the return threshold. Throughout the book, there is anticipation if they will make it out healthy, even just alive. There rescue in the novel comes after the father dies and the family “magically” appears and rescues him. This brings up a point of them not being alone the whole time, meaning they could have been “helped” earlier, but McCarthy made a certain point not to. He states “the
Show More

Related Documents: Essay Cormac Mccarthy and Father

The Road Essay

Road A Desolate Future of Anguish In “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, a father and son, who are nameless throughout the book are in a world of desolation and despair after a devastating apocalyptic event. Cormac McCarthy was the third child of two brothers and three sisters. Charles Joseph and Gladys Christina McGrail McCarthy named Cormac after his father Charles but Cormac later in his young adult life changed his name to Charles to Cormac after an Irish King. Here, in this book review by Janet…

Words 1072 - Pages 5

Ebuka Enweani Semantics 3035 paper

culminate into something greater than the sum of its parts. One of the best examples I can easily discuss from the top of my head is Cormac McCarthy. He is mostly known to the average person for the film adaptation of his novel, No Country for Old Men, but that piece is only one of the many examples one can bring up to analyze the nature of semantics in his prose. Cormac McCarthy is commonly associated with westerns and other works that share similar themes with the genre. He deftly uses this genre’s direct…

Words 1415 - Pages 6

The Road Cormac Mccarthy Analysis

Marymar Vacio Writing 37 E Instructor Gray October 30, 2016 RA A “good guy” traditionally has the characteristics of helping those in need rather than causing harm. However, Cormac McCarthy defies that traditional perception on good guys throughout his novel, “The Road.” In the story, a man and his son travel through unrecognizable southeastern America after a nuclear attack, witnessing the evil humans are capable of when trying to survive with no permanent shelter or supply of food. With death…

Words 1998 - Pages 8

Cormac Mccarthy The Road

the man and his son in “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy demonstrates how much the man loves his son because when a person loves someone, they tend to feel that they have a responsibility for that individual, they feel that they have a duty to protect that person. They feel proud to have that duty. The wording used by the author is very purposeful and clearly shows that the father feels he is solely responsible for protecting the boy at all costs. Cormac McCarthy uses words such as “job” to highlight…

Words 290 - Pages 2

Cormac Mccarthy The Road Analysis

your own survival except now multiplied. In the novel The Road, Cormac McCarthy uses setting to reinforce the theme survival by a father and son traveling in a post-apocalyptic world. McCarthy introduces…

Words 680 - Pages 3

Cormac Mccarthy The Road Essay

In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road fire holds two significant meanings. One is that fire is the manmade cause of the catastrophe that obliterated humanity, made total destruction and turned earth into a living hell. The other is that fire is a symbol of hope for humanity and of the human spirit. The two protagonists—a man and a boy—who are traveling across a burned America in search of warmer weather use the phrase “carrying the fire” (60) to give each other hope that they are indeed the good guys. In…

Words 447 - Pages 2

The Road Essay

Lack of a Better Name Post-apocalyptic life is something that people have feared and prepared for ages. Many people have predicted the end of the world. Many people have wondered how the world will continue after the apocalypse. In The Road, Cormac McCarthy provides the reader with some cultural values that will ensure the humanity is kept alive and some that will destroy it. Maturity is needed in a post-apocalyptic life. Without it, no one would take a leadership role and guide the people. With…

Words 1380 - Pages 6

Conrad and Mccarthy Essay

How do Conrad and McCarthy make what’s horrible, so interesting? Both Conrad and McCarthy have a way of enticing the reader to feel somewhat repulsed and horrified yet also intrigued. People have a natural tendency to be morbidly curious, for example we become captivated and cannot look away from horrible car crashes. Psychologists and scientists believe that we tend to look at car accidents because the accident provides the observer with a close encounter without being directly involved. Similarly…

Words 2453 - Pages 10

Hope Essay

endure, hope in the face of death and fear. One of the major themes that Cormac McCarthy emphasizes in The Road is hope: hope for a better world, hope that there are still good people out there. McCarthy uses the son as a symbol of hope throughout the novel to engage and grasp the attention of his readers. Hope is what progresses the novel, therefore without hope there is nothing. The sons character is a symbol of hope to the father throughout the novel. In the father’s perspective the son is almost…

Words 921 - Pages 4

Symbolism In The Road

one that is especially important is the symbol of the savior, portrayed through the boy. There are several examples in the text that justify the suggestion that the boy is indeed a symbol for the savior. In the post-apocalyptic novel The Road, Cormac McCarthy uses the boy as a symbol of the savior, meant to be a leader for his and his father’s journey to the coast, as well as a leader for the journey of the world itself to perhaps make an attempt to repair itself.…

Words 1022 - Pages 5