The Inhumane Part of Humanity

Hey everyone! I just finished reading The Road and wow what a sad but also happy ending. I 100% suggest reading this book to anyone who is interested, however if you like action packed books with lots going on, this book is not for you. Also I will spoil the ending in this blog post so do not read further if you want to read the story.

I have mentioned this in earlier blogs, but I want to emphasize again that I think the reason this book is very cool and has an ever deeper meaning is because each reader can take away something different. Personally, the major takeaway I had was the power of a father and son bond. You see this from the beginning of the book when the son tells his father not to go into houses because he has bad feelings, all the way to the final pages as the father is dying and his son refuses to leave him. Once the son has finally accepted his father is dead he wraps his father in all of their blankets even though it means he is cold and continues south as his father told him to do so. Before his father dies, some of his final words were telling his son “he has to carry the fire” a metaphor for carrying on their legacy and the want to live. The fire will fuel the son. The father also tells him he will be lucky and will talk to the son each day as he acts as “God looking over him.” As the son starts to walk down the road he sees a man and after some back and forth asks him if he is “carrying the fire,” he replies yes. The new man also tells the son he has a son and daughter about his age. It can be inferred it is the same boy the son saw a while back in the book.

Another meaning and theme that can be taken from the novel is the inhumane part of humanity. We like to portray America as “good” and everyone is “nice” and “does morally right things.” The story contrats these good people as the son and father and the bad people they encounter who have to eat other humans or kill people for food. Even though it can be argued the father may have some bad qualities brought out in him as he makes the man who stole their things give them back and strip bare naked at gunpoint along with continually raiding houses for supplies and provisions. This novel shows the evil that can come out people in desperate times when trying to survive.

I think the inhumane part of humanity is extremely crucial and prevalent to life today as mass shootings and school shooting threats continue. Externally America is a success and appealing country to the eyes. But internally, our country is becoming a violent place. The inhumane piece is killing innocent people and threatening students to the point where little kids that should only be worried about Santa and the Tooth Fairy now have to worry about surviving each school day. I read this on social media the other day, “My daughter came home from school one day crying that she needed new shoes. I thought that perhaps someone had made fun of her shoes. She informed me that she realized during an active shooter drill, that if she’s hiding from the shooter, the lights on her Sketchers will give away her location. My baby is 8 years old and worrying about being shot because of her light up shoes.” This inhumane part of humanity has entered our country just like the father and son witness in the The Road with the battle between life and death.

This novel is pretty different than any of the books we have read in class. However, I think it is the most similar to The Handmaid’s Tale. It is sort of a stretch but some of the themes in The Handmaid’s could be classified as the inhumane part of humanity. For example the handmaids role in the novel is just to have sex and get pregnant. They have no other power or say in their actions. This can be seen as inhumane.

Sorry for such a dark post about the novel, but the story is pretty dark and depressing as a whole. Please talk to me if you are interested in reading this book!