I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book; The Road by Cormac McCarthy. I found it to
have a lot of allegorical and intrinsic meaning besides the mere outcome of the
story itself. Intrinsic or underlying meaning is very important for me in appreciating any work of art. The road gave me (and other readers/watchers I’m sure) an image of a world
that can come as a result of our highly consumerist and pollution-based
lifestyle. I believe, however, that the underlying message of the book that the
author Cormac McCarthy was trying to communicate is that we only need the
basics to live, or in other words don’t OVER consume. The imagery throughout
the story reflects this simplistic ideal he seems to metaphorically spread
throughout the novel.
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| A scene from the movie "The Road" 2009. |
Firstly, the novel uses very simple labels for the main characters. In the post apocalyptic world McCarthy takes us to, humans are the only living specie and the survivors are so few that even names are not relevant anymore. The two main characters are “the man” and “the boy”, “the mother” also plays a brief cameo. Another important thing to note in this book is the author’s decision to not use quotation marks wherever the characters speak. Quotation marks are another thing that, in this novel, is representing luxury and the author chooses to emit them, again inciting us towards simplicity.
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| "Growth Economics" painting by Alke Schmidt, showing similar imagery to The Road. |
The second suggestion in the book that makes me think of living simple is the grocery cart that the boy and the man use throughout the story to carry all their goods, which were basically food, a car side mirror so they can see what is coming behind them, clothes and other brief shelter and protection items. A grocery cart is something I associate with simplicity, food, and home appliances that I need to live comfortably. I don’t know if McCarthy did this purposefully, subconsciously, or it’s just me perceiving the moral of the story to be as such, however, the important thing is at the end it worked. It made me think of living a simple life.
Another important image that represents simplicity is the naked beast walking in a pond in the darkness at the beginning of the story. As a result of over indulgence and greed, a once vital and powerful beast is now a weakened, naked one. The beast in the story is not a real beast, rather it is a dream that the Man has about a beast that has lost its armor and strength and it is now wondering hopelessly in search of prosperity. The beast represents humanity in a post apocalyptic world lacking in natural resources. The beast can also represent the very world that the man and the boy now inhabit, a vicious world devoid of richness and direction.
Overall, the
scenery in this novel is very powerful and it is a well-written piece of
speculative fiction. I would recommend the
Road as a read for anyone with some spare time on his or her hands and is
interested in environmental literature. This is an important time for
environmental movies and literature because of the drastic climate change that
is upon us. Stories with powerful visionary scenery like this are necessary for
people to wake up and smell the pollution. There is also a movie that was made after the book, I have not yet seen it, here is the trailer for the move as well as a good deal to purchase the book from CDS books and DVDS online store.
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