The Importance Of Journey In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy
A physical journey is an important element in one's life, especially when it comes to the characters in The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In this novel, a young boy and his father travel through a post-apocalyptic world with minimal resources during which they only had each other as their sole companion. The novel does not discuss the father’s life before the apocalypse but it suggests that their journey is their life and it will always be. As a result, the story begins and ends with the boy and his father traveling and all they did in between was travel. Moreover, the boy was born into a ruined world which led the boy’s mother to say, “My heart was ripped out of me the night he was born so don’t ask for sorrow now.” Unfortunately, the novel leaves readers on a cliffhanger, but if the father and son found a safe haven then their journey would have a significant impact on the way they lived their normal lives.
Throughout the novel the father and son face challenges which would shape their personalities. As any child should be, the young boy was frightened of the things they encountered on the journey because initially “The boy was terrified. He put his arm around him and held him.” However, he learned how to be brave despite not gaining this trait until more than halfway through the novel. In one instance of the boy’s bravery, he used a quote his father told him for assistance and he told himself, “Just remember that the things you put in your head are there forever.” Thus, even though he continued to experience traumatizing incidents, he handled his reactions differently and acted bravely.
Rather than being fearful, the boy internalized what his father taught him and used it to his own advantage. As a result, this incident became a lesson he could take with him forever. Throughout their expedition they have suffered from starvation, hypothermia, and loss of a loved one. The young boy had a mother but she killed herself and before she leaves her family she discusses how they all should have died, “I should have done it a long time ago. When there were three bullets in the gun instead of two. I was stuipd”. Her death was the smartest decision of the novel, because their family could have died together and avoided the whole journey and that ending would have been poetic. Although, if that were to happen the novel probably would not have been written because it would remove a central part of the story but it was a very good idea. In fact, the father discussed his own death with his son and says, The quote suggests that the father wants to give his son a chance at life, even if it is a substandard one. Unlike the young boy who was born into the journey, the father was not born into this world which reduces the significance of this adventure in his life. The way the father lived before reduces his ability to realize that his behavior has a tremendous impact on others, but unlike the boy he does not notice it. On numerous occasions, the father had the opportunity to be unkind and his son stops him from doing so. For instance, when a stranger tries to steal their belongings, the father makes the stranger strip of all clothing and leave them, the boy noticed his father’s actions.
He was just hungry, Papa. He’s going to die.” The young boy gets emotional and tries to bargain with his father about helping the man, even after he was going to take everything they have and leave them with nothing. This is not the first unkind incident they have had with others and surprisingly, every time the boy does his best to assist others. Thus, throughout their travels, the father is teaching his son life lessons, like bravery, and his son is teaching him kindness.
Throughout The Road, a young boy and his father traveled within a world that was disrupted by an apocalypse to find a safe haven. Throughout the journey, the boy and his father experienced the boy’s mother’s suicide, hypothermia, homelessness, and altercations with strangers. However, before the father’s death, the journey allowed the boy to learn how to be brave and allowed the father to learn how to be kind to others. After the father passed, the boy stayed beside his father’s body for three days, but he was given the opportunity at a new life with a family who found him on their journey.
