The Road

Why do you think McCarthy has chosen not to give his characters names? How do the generic labels of â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† affect the way you /readers relate to them? While reading The Road, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy, I was jerked from the warmth, comfort, and safety of my home and thrown into a cold, dark, and desolate world, walking alongside â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy†. McCarthy composes his work so graphically that readers are drawn right into the story.I believe Cormac McCarthy wanted the figures in this book to be universal, so that the reader could imagine him/her self as â€Å"the boy† or â€Å"the man† at any given moment, and to be able to feel as they do. To do this McCarthy did not designate the characters in his book with names, and because of this, I was able to connect with â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† on a personal level and envision myself uniting with them in their chilling journe y. As the reader, I was deeply overwhelmed with many mixed emotions such as compassion, sadness, happiness, disgust, remorse, and fear.I have pity for the characters in the book The Road, because â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† have to pass day to day struggling to survive in a frigid bleak world where food is scarce â€Å"They squatted in the road and ate rice and cold beans they’d cooked days ago. † â€Å"Already beginning to ferment. †(McCarthy 29). The landscape is blackened, and mankind is almost extinct â€Å"The mummied dead everywhere. †(McCarthy 24). As I read on I noticed myself connecting more deeply with the characters.When the boy’s mother takes her own life, I was deeply saddened and my heart broke for â€Å"the boy† simply because his mom, someone he cherished and loved so much, had given up on hope and faith and deserted him. I just wanted to take hold of the child and comfort him even though at this moment he has no clue his mother has left. I also felt sorry for â€Å"the man†, one, because he has to tell his child where his mother is â€Å"For the love of God woman. What am I to tell him? † (McCarthy 58), and two, because his love and best friend was in such despair and there was nothing he could do to impel her to stay.As a mother, in some ways, I also felt sorry for the mother in this book, because most women dream of the day she will have a child of her own to love, care for, and teach, but this mother had to give birth to her son after the great catastrophe, and instead of bringing her tears of happiness, it brought tears of sorrow. She now knows that she has to raise her son in this dark and barley habitable world and that it will be a constant struggle to survive. â€Å"My heart was ripped out of me the night he was born†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (McCarthy 57).On the other hand though, I am also disgusted with the mother for the one reason that she gave up, and now her family , especially her child, has to suffer the consequences due to her actions, but again, given that I put myself in her situation, would I do the same thing? While reading I also felt deep sadness in many parts, for one instance, when â€Å"the man† dies, at this point in the book I had tears streaming down my face. â€Å"He slept close to his father that night and held him but when he woke in the morning his father was cold and stiff. † â€Å"He sat there a long time weeping†¦ (McCarthy 281). â€Å"He knelt beside his father held his cold hand and said his name over and over again. †(McCarthy 281). At one part in the book, remorse, disgust, sadness, and compassion were the stirred emotions that hit me all t once. It was the time when a thief robs â€Å"the boy† while he is asleep on the beach. When â€Å"the boy† was first robbed I was angry and disgusted with the thief who had robbed a sleeping innocent child, I could never see myself doing th is especially in a situation where food is hard to come by and staying warm is almost impossible!When they finally catch up with the thief â€Å"the man† points the gun at him and threatens to shoot him. â€Å"The boy† is pleading with his father not to kill the thief. â€Å"The man† says to the thief â€Å"Take your clothes off. †(McCarthy 256). â€Å"Take them off every goddamn stitch. † (McCarthy 256). Eventually the thief is completely naked, â€Å"the boy† and the thief are begging â€Å"the man† not to do this, but the man looks at the thief and says â€Å"You didn’t mind doing it to us. †(McCarthy 257). Now I feel that the thief is getting what he deserves.When they leave the thief standing in the road â€Å"the boy† becomes extremely upset, â€Å"And They set out along south with the boy crying and looking back at the nude and saltlike creature standing there in the road shivering and hugging himself. â⠂¬  â€Å"Oh Papa, he sobbed. †(McCarthy 258). I am now starting to feel the compassion the boy has towards the thief â€Å"He was hungry, Papa. † â€Å"He’s going to die. †(McCarthy 259). They finally take the thief’s clothes back and pile them in the middle of the road and I am glad of this.Later as they were lying down at camp I believe the man was starting to feel guilty, and he spoke â€Å"I wasnt going to kill him, he said. † â€Å"But the boy didnt answer. † â€Å"They rolled themselves in the blankets and lay there in the dark. † â€Å"He could tell the boy was awake and after a while the boy said: but we did kill him. †(McCarthy 260). When â€Å"the boy† made this comment I felt deep remorse and disgust in myself for having felt so harshly toward the thief in the beginning.I also felt happiness and relief in this story when â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† found the underground shelter beh ind the house in the field, I felt as if I was there with them discovering the grand riches this den held! â€Å"Oh my God, he whispered. † â€Å"Oh my God. † â€Å"What is it Papa? † â€Å"Come down. † â€Å"Oh my God. † â€Å"Come down. † (McCarthy138). â€Å"Crate upon crate of canned goods. † â€Å"Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. † â€Å"Canned hams. † â€Å"Corned beef. † â€Å"Hundreds of gallons of water in ten gallon plastic jerry jugs. †(McCarthy 138).In this underground hideaway was everything they needed to survive. I was so overwhelmed with joy and comfort that I forgot for a moment about the cruel cold world above. During many portions of this novel I experienced also many sensations of fear. The most prominent passage is where â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† come across a house and both are vulnerable due to fatigue and starvation. â€Å"They’d had no food and littl e sleep in five days and in this condition on the outskirts of a small town they came upon a once grand house sited on a rise above the road†(McCarthy 105).As they start toward the house â€Å"the boy† becomes frightened and â€Å"the man† or father tries to reassure him that everything is okay and that they have to go inside. At this point I am feeling a little uneasy about the two entering the house. As they cross the porch â€Å"the boy† is trying to convince his father not to go inside, agreeing with the boy I imagine myself in his shoes and I am pleading for â€Å"the man† not to enter. â€Å"The man† is determined and tells the boy â€Å"We’ve got to find something to eat. † â€Å"We have no choice. †(McCarthy 106).When inside the home â€Å"the boy hung on to his hand. † â€Å"He was terrified. † (McCarthy 107). While investigating the house they come across a door in a room next to the kitchen that m ight have been considered a pantry at one time. â€Å"In the floor of this room was a door or hatch and it was locked with a large padlock made of stacked steel plates. †(McCarthy 108). â€Å"The boy† again tries to plead with his father to leave, and I again right along with him, but now my tension and curiosity is starting to rise a bit, wondering what is underneath this door. The man† believes there is a significant reason for this door being locked, so he makes his way to the tool shed â€Å"half dragging the child and went sorting through tools† (McCarthy 109). He retrieves a shovel, heads back into the house, and pry’s the door open. Now I am holding my breath just waiting for the outcome, good or bad, I do not know, but I am very anxious. â€Å"He started down he rough wooden steps. He ducked his head and then flicked the lighter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (McCarthy 110).â€Å"Coldness and Damp. † â€Å"An ungodly stench. † (McCarthy 110). What came next caught me completely off guard! Huddled against the back wall were naked people, male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. † â€Å"On the mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt. † â€Å"The smell was hideous. † â€Å"Jesus, he whispered. †(McCarthy 110). Now I am in a complete state of shock, fear, and disgust. Unbelievable! All at once I am feeling the fear and shock of â€Å"the man†, â€Å"the boy†, and the mangled victims that have been terrorized, probably raped, eaten or at least half dismembered and eaten by the wicked and ruthless barbarians! Then one by one they turned and blinked in the pitiful light. † â€Å"Help us, they whispered. † â€Å"Please help us. †(McCarthy 110). My heart is now beginning to race. When they finally reach the top of this grave, â€Å"He shoved the boy through the hatch and sent him sp rawling. † â€Å"He stood and got hold of the door and swung it over and let it slam down and he turned to grab the boy but the boy had gotten up and was doing his little dance of terror. †(McCarthy 111).As if this horrific and vivid image engraved in my head was not enough, McCarthy immediately throws me into a sheer state of terror and panic. â€Å"†¦ the boy was pointing out the window and when he looked he went cold all over. † â€Å"Coming across the field toward the house were four bearded men and two women. † â€Å"He grabbed the boy by the hand. † â€Å"Christ, he said. † â€Å"Run. † â€Å"Run. † I had to literally set the book aside, go outdoors, calm down, and smoke a cigarette to calm my nerves. Finally my heart rate returned to normal and I picked up the book and continued to read.After I completed this part in the story and discovered that â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† had escaped I got up ch ecked on my children to reassure myself that they were asleep safe and warm in their bed, I quickly ran back through the house like a child with a sense of fear that something was going to jump out and grab me at any moment, I jumped in the bed got as close to my husband as possible and eventually drifted off to sleep. When I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I was astonished at how deep I was able to connect with the characters and the fact that this book touched me as deeply as it did.It also made me think what if†¦? In reality if this were to happen would I have the courage and strength of â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† or would I be like the mother as McCarthy states it â€Å" †¦a faithless slut†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (57), who has taken death as a new lover. Over all I personally believe that this novel was absolutely fantastic, even though I had nightmares for a few nights after I had completed the book. This just goes to show what a great writer McCarthy is, he touches his readers so deeply they even dream about his work. I would defiantly pick up this book and read it again just for fun. The Road The post-apocalyptic novel â€Å"The Road†, written by Cormac McCarthy was published in 2006. [1] It deals with the journey of a father together with his son, who try to reach the coast after America, its nature and civilisation has been destroyed by some catastrophe. Therefore some important issues are implied: travelling, fear of death, nuclear war, goodness, religion, cannibalism and of course the relationship between father and son. Maybe that is the reason why McCarthy dedicated the novel to his son: John Francis McCarthy. In 2007 McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction for this novel. 2] In 2009 the Novel was made into a film, also called â€Å"The Road† and directed by John Hillcoat. [3] There are some interesting aspects, regarding the similarities and differences between the novel and its cinematic adaptation. The Novel Cormac McCarthy tells the story of a journey, made by father and son. They survived a nuclear catastrophe, which is not described in detail and want to go south in order to reach the coast. They have a card in order to carry their habits. They hope for a humanitarian climate, nourishments and other peaceful survivors. Due to the apocalypse, they have to deal with a lot of trouble during their trip. In order to survive despite the lack of food, a lot of people became cannibals. Cannibalism is no option for the man and his son, because they belong to the good ones. Therefore they have to be carful who they trust and their search for food is more difficult. In addition they have to take care for their clothing, especially for their shoes because it is very cold since the catastrophe. [4] â€Å"Mostly he worried about their shoes. That and food. Always food. † (McCarthy, 2006: 17) [5] The most problematic aspect is the fathers task to raise his son under such circumstances without neglecting the sense of humanness. The world he knows was completely destroyed and there is no common childhood. The son has to cope with aspects like cannibalism and suicide very early. He also has to accept the circumstance, that his father is going to die sooner or later and that he needs to be able to live on his own when the time comes. His father tries to prepare him as good as he can. McCarthy tells the story among 287 pages. He uses 3rd person narration, where the narrator is omniscient, because he knows about thoughts, dreams and fears of the father and his son. His style of writing without chapters stresses the travel motive. It highlights the fact that the protagonists have to go on and on until they reach the coast and that there are no other important stages in between. Another important technique is the avoidance of names which means that both protagonists remain anonym. This technique highlights the aspect, that in case of a nuclear catastrophe, this scenario could happen to anyone. The father and his son serve as representatives for humankind. In addition there are no concrete names of places which indicates, that this scenario could not just happen to anyone, it could also happen anywhere in the world. There are two more aspects, which remain unclear. The first one is the fate of the mother. The book does not make clear what happened to her because for them, it does not matter. She is gone and that is all they need to know. Secondly there are no details mentioned when it comes to the catastrophe which also indicates that it is not important what happened. The man and his son are alive and so they have to challenge the circumstances, indifferent what caused them. â€Å"The clocks stopped at 1:17. A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions. (†¦) A dull rose glow in the windowglas. (McCarthy, 2006: 52) McCarthy creates a very desperate imagery. His preferred chosen words are dark and sad. He uses short sentences, which guarantees that the novel is written in a minimal, but tough very closely style. [6] â€Å"No list of things to be done. The day providential to itself. The hour. There is no later. This is later. All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one’s heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes. † (McCarthy, 2006: 54) Even the dialogues between father and son or between them and strangers they met are very short. In addition there are a lot of details described, no matter if they are tolerable or hardly shocking. â€Å"They could smell something cooking. Let’s circle around, the man said. (†¦) They left their food cooking. (†¦) What is it? He said. What is it? The boy shook his head. Oh Papa, he said. He turned and looked again. What the bay had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit. † (McCarthy, 2006: 198) The two unnamed Protagonists The son is about 10 years old and was born after the catastrophe. That is why he does not know the world as it was before. He has although no childhood like one would think of. He has to grow up without his mom, knowing that his father will also fade away one day. Therefore he has to learn very much important skills in a short amount of time. He has no real toys and no other kids around him. In contrast he knows how to kill himself and feels responsible for his father, who became ill. It is important to say, that the son serves as a symbol for hope. â€Å"He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke. † (McCarthy, 2006: 5) Not only for his father, also for other people they met. For example Ely, the second stranger they met thought that he was an angel. Within the story the young boy grows from a child with a lot of questions and fears to a boy with a big sense of humanity, who knows a lot about the world he lives in and feels responsible for other people. â€Å"The man squatted and looked at him. I’m scared, he said. Do you understand? I’m scared. (†¦) You’re not the one who has to worry about everything. The boy said something but he couldn’t understand him. What? he aid. He looked up, his wet and grimy face. Yes I am, he said. I am the one. † (McCarthy, 2006: 259) The father can be characterized as a reactor. Whenever it comes to violent actions he is just acting in self-defence. He knows the world as it has been before the catastrophe, and feels sorry for his son but he also knows that he can not hold the horror away from him. He faces the fact that his son h as to live on his own one day and that it is his job to make sure that he will be able to do so. Therefore he is distrustful when it comes to strangers. He always reminds his son to be less helpful and a bit more wary but often he does not succeed. In addition he is very ill and weak. The only reason why he is able to go on without committing suicide is his son. Everything he does is for him. â€Å"He held the boy close to him. So thin. My heart, he said. My heart. But he knew that if he were a good father still it might well be as she had said. That the boy was all that stood between him and death. † (McCarthy, 2006: 29) Ending The ending of the novel is a happy one. They manage to reach the coast and the father dies in peace. After some days other survivors appear. There is another man, a woman and two other children, a boy and a girl. The boy talks to the man and makes clear that they belong to the good guys who â€Å"carry the fire†, which means that they do not kill and eat other people. After he made that clear, it is okay for him to go with them. Therefore the ending implies a new beginning, because it could be possible that the boy and the girl create descendants one day, which would be a first step to get a new population. â€Å"The woman when he saw him put her arms around him and held him. (†¦) I am so glad to see you. She would talk to him sometimes about God. He tried to talk to God but the best thing was to talk to his father and he did talk to him and he didn’t forget. † (McCarthy, 2006: 286) The Movie The movie â€Å"The Road† was published in 2009. John Hillcoat (Director) and Joe Penhall (Screenplay) produced a cinematic adaptation of the novel with the same title and story which takes 111 minutes. The role of the father is played by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays the role of the son. [7] As already said, the story is almost the same. There are just a few changes within it. For example there are some flashbacks to the time before the catastrophe and shortly after it, when the mother was still alive. In addition there are some omissions because of details which would have been too shocking, like the passage with the infant corpse. [8] Despite those supplements and omissions Hillcoat and Penhall did a really good job. They managed it to copy the imagery of McCarthy’s special style of writing into the atmosphere of the film. Therefore they used a number of techniques. [9] The depressive and sad atmosphere is easily created by mostly grey and brown colours. Furthermore the film was produced in wintertime, when there automatically lies snow and the trees are without leaves. The film implies no ordinary scenery, because it is not a complex story. The contrast comes when the flashbacks to the time before the catastrophe are shown. The colours change into very intensive ones, it is summer and you always hear nice piano music. One could also argue that the piano serves as a symbol for the presence of the mother and for civilisation because it represents culture. When the father remembers his wife there is always piano music which accentuates the scenes. Later in the film he has to cut an old piano into pieces in order to get wood for a fire. This is a clear indication that he is angry with his wife because of her decision to commit suicide. Those scenes are different to the few passages about the mother in the book. She is not a big issue in the novel. Within the book the story is told by an omniscient 3rd person narrator. In the cinematic adaptation the man tells the story. This is a contrast to the book, where the actions, feelings and thoughts of the man are part of the narration. On the one hand one could argue that this contrast is problematic because in the end the father is going to die and the way of narration could be too personal. But on the other hand Hillcoat and Penhall had to choose someone who tells the story and they had no other opportunity if they want to have the option of flashbacks and omniscience. According to the protagonists there is one other existing difference. In the book the boy seems to accept his fate and tries to make the best out of it. He grows up very fast and is rather adulty than childish. In the film he collects some artefacts like a broken comb of his mother, wears her clothes and also has a few toys. He is often scared and cries when he is. All in all, the boy is played like a child and not as grown up as he is described in the book. The overlapping aspect is the importance of â€Å"to carry the fire†. He is always asking if someone carries the fire, which means not to kill other people and disregard morality and values. The biggest difference between the novel and its cinematic adaptation is the ending. In the book it is described as a happy end. The father dies, the son meets another family who also carries the fire and can go with them. In addition the family has a daughter, which means that there is a new beginning for civilisation implied. This procedure is the same at the end of the film but there are some details which change the situation. Firstly the thumbs of the veteran are missing or garbled. That was also the case when they met the thief who has stolen their cart with all their goods. Those missing fingers can lead to the suggestion that he had been a member of a cannibalism commune. This would also fit to the question why a family should voluntary incorporate another hungry child. In fact there is no food left and every additional person is a risk at the same time. One also has to remember that they have a dog in the movie, which is pure luxury according to the circumstances they live in. According to those details there are two possibilities: either they are just as friendly and careful as the boy and it is an act of charity, or they see their chance in getting extra food without killing someone of their family or group. Novel or Movie? In my opinion both works are really great. I like the novel of McCarthy very much because of his style of writing and the atmosphere within the story. The dialogues are short, concise and therefore fit totally in. In addition the characters with their actions, thoughts, feelings and dreams as well as the ending of the story are simply realistic. There are some differences when it comes to the cinematic adaptation but those are no reasons for regarding the film as inferior. As already said, I think that Hillcoat and Penhall did a great job because it must have been very hard to transport McCarthy’s style of writing into a movie. What I like most is the ending of the film. It is less clear than in the book and every viewer can decide which option seems to be more realistic. I think the interpretation of the ending refers to ones personal character traits. If the viewer is as prudent, distrusting and sometimes hopeless like the father he will maybe be more likely to see it critical. In contrast a viewer who is as optimistic as the son will probably see the details as unimportant and therefore recognize the ending as a happy end, like the one of the book. This opportunity of individual interpretation is a great aspect of the movie.Bibliography McCarthy, Comac. The Road. New York: Vintage Books, 2006 http://www.buecher.de/shop/krimi–thriller/the-road/mccarthy-cormac/products_products/detail/prod_id/22749892/session/0c16e28341622398e76f09549b0dc89c/ (23.02.2012) http://www.cormacmccarthy.com/works/theroad.htm (23.02.2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/ (23.02.2012) http://sweetcheese.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/41jilx9r0rl_ss500_.jpg (23.02.2012) http://quaterlyconversation.com/the-road-by-cormac-mccarthy-review (23.02.2012) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/ (25.02.2012) Movie: â€Å"The Road†, Universum Film GmbH: 2009 http://www.beyondhollywood.com/the-road-2008-movie-images-gallery/the-road-movie/ (25.02.2012)