Hello blog followers!
Unfortunately this will be my final blog post, but hopefully at least a few of
you have been inspired to read The Road after hearing my thoughts about
the novel. For my last post I decided to analyze the father and son
relationship since as it changed throughout the story along with my final
thoughts on the book.
At the beginning of the
novel the boy looks to the father for knowledge and guidance, believing
everything his father replied in return. This is seen when the son wakes up
from a nightmare and tells his father about the dream. The son says, “It was a
lot scarier in the dream. I know dreams can be really scary, [replies the
father]. Why did I have that scary dream? [asked the son]. I don’t know. But
it’s okay now. I’m going to put some wood on the fire. You go to sleep, [says
the father].” (Page 36) In this scene you can see how the son is looking to his
father for the answers to his questions and for his comfort. The boy remains
very curious early in the book as he continually asks his father questions
about the road like, “Why are they the state roads?...But there’s not any more
states?...What happened to them?...How long a while?” (Page 43) However as the
boy experiences and sees more things on the road, he starts to learn to use his
own judgement and not rely on his father's “truthful” answers.
You start to notice the
son is doubting his father’s choices when he tells his father he wishes he was
with his mother, dead; how being dead would be a better life than continually
walking on this road without a destination in sight. However this doubt is most
apparent after the son is almost killed by the bad guys. After seeking shelter
and safety, the son asks his father, “Are we still the good guys?” (Page 77)
The son had been told the bad people are trying to kill them, yet he just
watched his father kill a man. He does not doubt his father’s love for him but
begins to doubt the choices he is making. This doubt is strengthened by the
father not letting the son give any of his food away to strays on their
deathbeds the father and son encounter along their journey.
Over the course of the
book you can see how the boy goes from believing every word his father says and
relying on him for everything, to questioning his father’s choices, and then
finally learns to use his own judgement. When the son and father go for a walk
on the beach and find their stuff missing when they return, the father wants to
kill the man who stole everything. However, the son is begging the father to
leave him alone. The son has realized all they have done to survive is take
others’ belongings from houses they raided and anything left in the road. This
stranger is doing the same thing, trying to survive, yet his father wants to
shoot him.
The final scene of the
novel truly shows the sons growth in maturity. When his father dies he realizes
he must persevere for his father and continue to “carry the fire.” The son
decides to do what he wanted to do all along, help and team up with others in
the same position as him. As he walks out to the road he sees a man. Hesitant
at first to trust the stranger, he eventually joins him as they take off on the
road to return to the stranger’s family and continue his journey.
Overall I really enjoyed
this book. Although it can become slightly dull at parts, I found myself
holding onto every word on each page. I would rate the book 9 out of 10 and
strongly encourage others to read it if you need a good book. However I can’t
stress enough this is not a summertime beach book, you need to be prepared for
the dark side of humanity. That is one of the reasons I think this story was so
unique is because very few books focus on the dark reality humanity can lead
to.
