The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, tells a story about a father and son who try to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. Their goal is to survive the chaos of the new, dangerous world by traveling down a road towards the coast of America. Everything they own they keep in a cart or on their person, so supplies are limited. The only thing they have to defend themselves with is a pistol with two bullets. The story is full of tension as the father and son come across dangerous people and find along the way that could put an end to their survival. The story explores when and where hope could be found in a place so treacherous and evil. The father and son have different outlooks on how to get through their challenges and treat situations, which leads to very interesting dynamics and responses.

First, Cormac McCarthy’s writing for the book is unique, but it works for the environment of the story. The first noticeable thing readers may notice is the lack of quotation marks when the characters speak. While this concept can get confusing and sometimes annoying during back-to-back conversations, it helps play into the idea that the setting is post-apocalyptic and chaotic. If the quotations were included, I believe no difference would have been made, but reading this story without them adds to a deeper analysis of the chaos. Another key element you may notice is that the characters do not have names; they are only referred to as what they are. So “The Father” and “The Son.” This again adds to the idea that there is no structure in this world and that names are not important or even matter to these people, potentially because there are so few people alive that names are never heard. Through my reading, I wouldn’t have noticed it at first glance, but a professor of mine had brought up that McCarthy includes obscure vocabulary in the story that you may not notice from a casual reading. Some of these words include creosote, gryke, gullywash, dregs, salitter, vestibular, scabland, and catamite. While reading, you may glance over it and not even realize it, but if you were asked separately what these words mean, you may not know. Realizing this adds a twist to the intelligence and memory of the world compared to before the apocalypse in a structured world. For example, the only thing with a proper name mentioned is a can of Coke, which the son does not know about. Overall, McCarthy does a great job at picturing the chaos of the world just through his format and vocabulary, along with the imagery and descriptions.

The Father and the Son are the main characters of this story, and they are very different. The mother would be included, but she couldn’t handle living in the apocalypse and imagining the horrors that crazy people would do to them, and, spoiler alert, kills herself. The father believes that he must save the boy and keep them safe, so he is very protective and almost completely without compassion for others. He would do anything to keep his son safe, but anyone else is a potential danger and cannot be trusted. The Father is also very sick, which adds to the tension of the story. The Father knows that with no help, he does not have much time and will eventually die. He believes that he must do whatever to keep his son safe and promises him that they will always be together. If things ever do go south, he knows that the best option is for his son to die with him, but he struggles with following through on this idea. The son is very young and has basically grown up in this chaotic world. However, even with his father being the way he is and the madness of the world, he still represents hope and innocence. Whenever they encounter another person, the boy sees the good in trying to help them out, while the father detests his ideas. When they come across valuables, he also thanks the people who left them there and even admits that they wouldn’t take anything if the people still lived. There is also a religious touch included with the son. After they come across a strange, blind man, the son decides that they should offer him some goods. The man claims to be called Eli and thought that the son may be an angel. The father plays along with him and says that he could be a God and the two have a deep conversation about the bad of being the last God in this world. The son could religiously be seen as a holy figure who is compassionate and trying to bring hope to those in need when hope seems impossible. Despite their differences, it takes the two of them together to make it on the road, and they are both ones who shouldn’t have to worry about one another.

The best feature of this story, I believe, is the tension. As a survival book, there needs to be moments that challenge the protagonist and make the reader worry about their chances of survival. This story makes sure to include many moments of tension. From the start, there is little for the protagonists to work with. They are in a cannibalistic apocalypse, the father is sick, the mother has died, and they have limited supplies. Along the way, they come across many dangers, run out of food, and only have 2 bullets in a gun. A group of men in a truck stops by them, and one man takes the son hostage, causing the father to have to use a bullet to shoot and kill the man to escape. Later, the two come across a house and salvage its resources. Among searching, they find a bunker which is full of human bodies, some still alive, that people have enslaved to eat on. This leads to what I believe to be the most chaotic and intense scene. The residents arrive at the house, and the two run outside and hide. The father gives the son their gun and basically tells him to shoot himself if he is found. The father can’t let himself let his son die and refuses to move. Luckily, they weren’t caught. Eventually, they run out of food, but luckily, they come across a bunker that just happens to be completely full of all the food and supplies they could ask for. I know that they must come across goods to live and keep the story going, but I thought it was kind of lazy. The father just happens to decide to dig in a patch of grass, and there is a bunker underneath that is full of canned food and supplies to keep them alive. There are more highs and lows until they reach the coast, where the father inevitably passes away. When all hope seems to be lost and the reader worries about the future of the son, a family of good guys comes by and takes him with them.

The Road is a wonderful piece of contemporary literature that imagines the chaos of an apocalyptic world. It contains great characters that, while unnamed, have very diverse ideas and methods to approach the conflicts that they come across on their journey to survive. It captures how society would fall apart and how intense survival can be in a world that appears hopeless. I find this novel to be a very entertaining read and would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a thriller and an intense father/son bonding experience that they may not ever encounter.