The Road is a post-apocalyptic novel set in North America. The book opens nine or ten years after a global holocaust, which took place in the late 20th or early 21st century. Nearly all animal and plant life has ended.
The man and his son, never named, are among the last survivors scavenging the charred earth for food. All survivors are desperate. Many are thieves. Some are murderers and cannibals. The man and the boy are good guys.
Which is one of two motifs McCarthy uses. The boy frequently asks if they are the “good guys.”
There are other good guys.
You said so.
Yes.
So where are they?
They’re hiding.
Who are they hiding from?
From each other.
Are there lots of them?
We don’t know.
But some?
Some. Yes.
Is that true?
Yes. That’s true.
The man often describes the two of them as “carrying the fire.”
The two ideas are related but separate. The meaning of “good guys” is obvious, while “carrying the fire” is never explained.
Ordinarily, I’m not a big fan of this technique: leaving something vague for the reader to infer. I feel like, “OK author, you had something in mind; what was it?”
But in this instance, I liked it. I don’t know why. There are differing interpretations for “carrying the fire”; here’s mine.
The “fire” is the belief that humanity is not a cosmic accident and will not be exterminated by one, the belief that we are created in the image of the Creator and are the stewards of Grace and Beauty. The holocaust destroyed everything beautiful. Carrying the fire is the hope and commitment to seeing it restored…against all hope.
Making the man and the boy heroes I could cheer for.
The boy to his father:
Are you real brave?
Just medium.
What’s the bravest thing you ever did?
He spat into the road a bloody phlegm. Getting up this morning, he said.
The boy was born shortly after the holocaust. He never knew the world that was. His father tells him stories of it but thinks he must seem like an alien to the boy. When the novel opens, the boy’s mother is dead; both father and son have memories of her.
There are moments almost like joy. They discover a bomb shelter stocked with food and provisions. The boy gives thanks to the people who prepared but were unable to use it. Such moments are few and do not last. Most days are tedious misery or paralyzing terror. The reader never expects a happy ending, but in the end…there is a glimmer of hope. The fire burns.
My Rating: 4 out of 5 Stars
This is my second reading of McCarthy. I liked Blood Meridian, which is also quite grim. I’ll read more by McCarthy, but I may schedule him amongst some lighter fare.
Film rendition: The 2009 film starring Viggo Mortenson and Kodi Smit-McPhee is an excellent portrayal, quite faithful to the book, well acted, and visually bleak.
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