Janae Bailey's Ap English IV January 3,2014 5th period
Cormac McCarthy's heartfelt story " The Road" shows how the man's demise helps illuminate the obstacles the man and the boy overcame, so at the end when only the boy was left, he could be left knowing what to do.
Throughout the story, the man teaches the boy how to survive on the road they are traveling. With faith on their side, the man tells the boy that they are truly the "good guys" and in every encounter they have with others, every struggle, and in every dilemma success will follow. There was numerous topics of death surrounding the man and the boy, but they kept hope. The boy asked "are we going to die?" and the man responded with "sometime. Not now." The man knows that their road will soon end, but he continue his journey forcefully to give the boy more courage on how to survive.
Furthermore, the man knows he is coming to his final demise and he realizes that sooner or later he will have to leave the boy in the world they inhabit. The man mentions once in the story that "everyday is a lie..But you are dying. That is not a lie." The man's perspective of world is everything that comes to life, must have a ending point. The man is now on his last leg, coughing up blood, and he informs his son that he needs to "carry the fire" that is inside him. The boy asks the man to come along, but the man states that he cant. He "cant hold (his) son dead in (his) arms. (He) thought (he) could but (he) cant." The author shows the profound relationship between the man and the boy, and tries to make the author realize humanity has to make hard decisions in life even if it hurts themselves.
Finally, the story ends with a mystery. The enigma of the connection that remains between father and son. The man believes that he has been assigned by God to protect the boy. The man wants and believes for a future that might also maintain braveness, fairness, and humanness for the boy, even if the man is long gone. This story makes the reader question whether the man was depressed because he was leaving his son in the world they inhabit or was he depressed because he will not be there to protect him no more.
