The Road Cormac Mccarthy Analysis

Words: 1998
Pages: 8
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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 at every corner, the man has to adjust his values based on the situation to survive and protect himself and his son from evil. The good guys are portrayed as the man and his son, while the bad guys, or evil, are presented as the cannibals. In “The Road,” Cormac McCarthy presents the theme, good guys vs. bad guys, through multiple experiences that the father and son undergo; demonstrating how even during humanity’s darkest times, there can still be hope and goodness in the world. In the story, these dark times consist of nearly all the survivors from a nuclear attack, except for the man and his son, resorting to cannibalism in order to avoid dying from starvation. During those times, a repetitive question the son asks his father is, “Are we still the good guys?” …show more content…
bad guys theme is visible in the man’s actions and reasoning vs. the cannibals. Although the father kills a man and does not want to help those in need at first, he continues to be a good guy because all he does is to protect his son. He is influenced by his son to continue being a good guy as well. In the story, the readers can see how the man goes from not caring for others at all to having mercy and being considerate. He realizes his son is one of the last to have goodness in him. He admires him for it and wants him to spread it. Even in a post apocalyptic setting, the boy continues to have a good heart in a cannibalistic society, where the struggle to survive leads people to
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