preview

The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

Good Essays

Isolation is one of the most severe forms of punishment that anyone could be faced with. Cormac McCarthy shows the reaction isolation had on the characters in The Road. The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, follows an unnamed father and son as they travel towards the coast in search of safety after the world has been destroyed by a catastrophe. As they travel the road, the father has to protect his son from the threat of strangers, starvation, exposure and harsh weather. In The Road, Cormac McCarthy shows how humans react to isolation by when the man leaves others to suffer, taking drastic measures and when the man kills other men. McCarthy shows how the man reacts to isolation when he leaves other men to suffer. As the man and the boy were walking on the road, a man approaches them in harsh conditions saying he was struck by lightning. The boy immediately asks his father to help the man knowing he will die if he is left untreated. But in fear of their security, the man denied his son. “The boy kept looking back. ‘Papa?’ he whispered. ‘What is wrong with the man?’ ‘He 's been struck by lightning’ says the man. ‘Can’t we help him? Papa?’ said the boy. ‘No. We can’t help him.’ The man refused. The boy kept pulling at his coat. ‘Papa? Can’t we help him?’ said the boy. ‘No. We can’t help him! There 's nothing to be done for him’ the man said” (pg. 50, McCarthy). The boy is worried for the man who was struck and wants to help him, but the man doesn’t care about the other man. The man

Get Access