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Recently, I’ve had a fever for Cormac McCarthy’s writing. In 3 weeks I’ve read Blood Meridian, No Country for Old Men, and the one I finished last night at 12:48am on Saturday, was The Road. One more of the few books that I can sit down and read in one sitting, and that is The Road. I’ve read this book multiple times, watched the movie, and it’s an emotional book. I’ll start with some background on the author, give a summary of the book, break down key themes, theories of its allegory, the movie vs the book, and finish with my personal takeaways.

Cormac McCarthy

Born in 1933 in Providence, Rhode Island, McCarthy spent most of his earlier life in Tennessee. He’s a well accomplished American author and playwright, who specialized in Southern Gothic, Western, and post-apocalyptic genres. He’s widely regarded as one of the greatest writers of the 20th and 21st centuries. He started college at the University of Tennessee but didn’t graduate, so he could focus his time exclusively on writing. 

With great authors, I appreciate them more when I learn about their influences. McCarthy was influenced by philosophies from Schopenhauer and Nietzsche. Schopenhauer promoted philosophies regarding a godless universe, predetermination, and pessimism. Nietzschean themes in McCarthy’s writings are moral relativism and will to power. You can see these philosophical themes peppered in McCarthy’s writing. 

Literary influences for McCarthy included Southern Gothic writers such as William Faulkner who he once described as one“greatest authors of the last century,” and James Joyce. Traces of Faulkner and Joyce found in McCarthy’s writing are found in the use of long sentences, modern techniques, minimal punctuation, mythic tones, morally ambiguous characters, and themes centered around emotional burdens such as guilt and the trauma from the past. 

McCarthy’s writing has a lot of shared elements with the King James Bible for its language and rhythm. There’s similar dictation, sentence structure, and build up of mythic and epic characters and moments. Overlapping themes found in McCarthy’s novels and the King James Bible include the apocalypse (different interpretations), violence, redemption, and judgement. Other writers that have been key influences for McCarthy are Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad for their existential questions, human savagery, and dark themes. Melville wrote Moby Dick and characters such as Captain Ahab and Judge Holden are similar, in that they both are antagonists that raise philosophical questions. Joseph Conrad’s most famous novel Heart of Darkness highlights the darkness and capacity for evil that men inflict on one another. 

The last major influence is history and the American Frontier mythology. Specifically The Indian Wars with the Comanches, the Mexican American War, and the violent chaos of frontier life.

McCarthy published his first novel, The Orchard Keeper, in 1965 and would continue to release famous works such as Blood Meridian, All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. He was famous for being reclusive and rarely making appearances for interviews. He lived the majority of his life in El Paso, Texas and in New Mexico. A shocking detail about McCarthy is despite his fame and achievements he spent his early career in poverty. 

Specific to The Road, McCarthy was inspired to write this novel because of a trip he had with his young son, and the character of the boy is modeled after him. The story itself has been said to be a personal allegory for McCarthy, where the father’s fear of death is McCarthy reconciling his own mortality and relationship with his son. The allegorical meaning behind The Road from this lens is the worry parents have about the world they will leave for their own children. Shoutout to parents out there who are being amazing role models, mentors, and providers to their children so they can pass the torch on to them. One of the most lasting and noble legacies someone can give, is raising children who will make the world better than they found it. That being said, I think this story resonates strongly with parents who have experienced the joys and pains of parenting. 

On June 13, 2023, at age 89 McCarthy passed away leaving behind a rich literary legacy.

Summary

The Road follows a father and young son traveling in a post-apocalyptic United States. We never know what the cause of this ever was, we just know that the landscape is covered in ash, the sun is dim, vegetation is almost non-existent, animals are dead, and most humans out of desperation have turned to extreme violence and cannibalism. On their journey they push a shopping cart filled with their limited possessions. Their goal is to head south toward the coast in search of warmer weather and greater chances of survival. This story is bleak and our characters are almost always vulnerable to danger. It’s a deeply intimate story that alternates between moments of sudden danger, encounters with other survivors on the road and quiet tenderness between father and son. 

The most powerful element of this story is focused on the father trying to teach his son to “carry the fire” before his health fails him. We’ll talk more about the profound symbolism of the fire in a moment. 

Key Themes

This is a book that’s like eating a sophisticated dish. Chances are, you’re going to eat a McDonalds meal very differently than you would at a Michelin star restaurant. There’s more effort, attention to detail, and an experience that you’ll appreciate if you take the time to enjoy it. Not to say you can’t do the same with a McDonalds meal, but one came from an artist and the other from an industrial machine being managed by a teenager. Now for that disclaimer, let’s dive into key themes. 

Parental love and sacrifice. The father’s purpose, his divine calling which he mentions several times as being his responsibility from God, is to keep his son alive. He’s completely devoted to protecting the boy, he takes no risks in the book and doesn’t show mercy to those who threaten him. While you read this book, notice the innocence and purity of the boy in contrast to the darkness all around him. He’s a diamond in the rough, the light in the darkness, the child in a corrupted world.

Morality in a world that has none. As mentioned before this story takes place after a major collapse in society and in the natural world. Ash, death, and destruction are everywhere. Desperation breeds selfishness, violence, and the absolute worst bruteness that man can give. Bands of thieves, cannibals, liars and rapists roam like predators in search of prey. Despite the dark hopelessness mood, the father and son self impose themselves as the “good guys” who constantly remind themselves that they are “carrying the fire.” They have morals, and refuse to become like the bad guys. I will unpack the symbolism behind “carrying the fire,” but as a preview to make a point, I will say that fire has been interpreted to mean divine potential. Juxtapose the bad guys and the father and son. One has degraded to a barbaric animal kingdom like state that only cares about satisfying basic needs, while the other recognizes a fall from grace, and intends to protect their goodness. The father at times doesn’t show compassion or mercy, but the boy does. It’s up to the reader to decide who’s right and who’s wrong. If you’re familiar with the last of us, this feels similar in that characters have to make difficult ethical decisions that determine their survival. 

Hope and resilience. Another interpretation for that flame that the boy and father reference when they ask one another, “are you carrying the fire,” is hope. In the scope of the book, hope could be living, human decency, or something as simple as finding better circumstances.

Mortality and legacy. One of many reasons why this book is emotional, is that the father knows he will not survive long and that danger is all around them. His dialogue with his son throughout the book is one of imparting wisdom and lessons to the boy so that when the time comes that the father dies, he will be independent enough and ready to carry on the fire without him. 

The last theme I’ll unpack is the fall and fragility of civilization. Total societal and ecological collapse in the book shows how quickly humanity will degrade itself to primal survival. The bad guys seem to be everywhere, and nobody is spared. The father and son come across cannibals, scavengers, and slavers. This is a dark book, they discover live humans being stored like meat in a basement, they see horrific violence, and they narrowly escape being victims to these bad guys.  

Allegories 

One of the takeaways I’ve enjoyed from reading McCarthy is trying to ascertain what allegories can be found in his different stories, and this one has many. There’s no right or wrong answer, but here’s what I found.

Religious Allegory. Evidence to support this is the symbolism of “the fire,” the boy as a Christ figure, and the fallen world. The father and boy always remind themselves that “we’re carrying the fire.” A common allegorical reading I’ve seen in discussions online is that the fire represents divine light, purity, innocence, or the Holy Spirit. Christianity uses fire and burning as the power of the Holy Ghost and its purifying influence. The boy shares strong qualities of a Christlike figure and it’s his innocence that is guiding the father to protect him. On several occasions the father declares that he’s chosen by God to protect the boy, suggesting there’s some divinity surrounding them. He says, “If he is not the word of God God never spoke.” Additional supporting evidence of the boy’s Christlike attributes, is when he pleads on behalf of the wayward characters they meet on the road. There’s an old man who lies about his age, blind and wanders because that’s all he knows to do. When he’s blind, he sees the boy and doesn’t believe the boy is real, in fact he believes it’s an angel. When they meet him, the boy pleads that they share their rations and rest with him. Later in the story, the boy and father are exploring a boat and discover their shopping cart full with everything they own has been stolen. They quickly follow tracks in the sand and ash to subdue the thief. Based on his appearance he’s scarred, missing fingers from what we assume were cut by cannibals, wearing moldy rags and plastic that’s been turned into shoes. At gunpoint, he gives everything back but the father inflicts “eye for an eye” justice by telling the man to give them everything including his clothes. The thief and boy plead for the father to show mercy, but he shows no remorse in that this is justice. In Christianity, Christ is the mediator for sinners. He pleads with the Father to show mercy when justice should be made. A powerful takeaway in this moment is that despite knowing the thief left them with nothing, now that the shoe is on the other foot, as I read this I felt the father should’ve shown mercy. Last supporting evidence that this is a religious allegory, is that this is a fallen world. We don’t know how it was destroyed, but we do know it’s barely inhabitable. This state of being is like a fallen Eden or even mortal world that Adam and Eve enter after being banished from the Garden of Eden. Like Adam and Eve, the father and son are the last bearers who carry that fire in a fallen world. 

Parental Love. The Road as an allegory for parenthood. This book is extremely relatable with its themes of parental love and parenthood as a divine mission. The Father says many times and in many ways, “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God.” It’s the duty of every parenthood to protect, nourish, and teach their children. The child in the story is innocent, compassionate, and hopeful. It’s because of his goodness that the father has to protect and educate him against the evils of their fallen world. Despite the differences to the real world and the story, that noble and divine right exists outside of the story to protect children and help them carry the fire when we leave. 

Mortality. This is a fallen and dangerous world that the father and son are living in. They’re in constant danger and reminded of death everywhere they go. It’s in this vulnerable state, that they’re reminded of their mortality and the fragility of their existence. The father is growing weaker, coughing blood, and reminded daily that death is inescapable. This decline represents mortality, the journey towards the sea is a reminder that life (not to sound pessimistic) is a march towards death, and the legacy we leave is the only thing that remains. That legacy that the father leaves to his son, is the fire. The goodness, knowledge and values that the boy will carry on from this father after he’s gone. 

Civilization’s Fragility. There are a lot of creative interpretations and predictions of what civilization would like if it were to collapse. Reading this I was reminded by movies and books such as Book of Eli, Mad Max, I am Legend, the Walking Dead,  and A Quiet Place. Reason being, these are worlds that exist in chaos. The survivors become scavengers, and without the social contract in place, morality is almost non-existent and cannibalism is rampant. Quite literally, mankind has shifted to become more like the animal kingdom where strength preys on the weak, and it’s unrecognizable to the old world. However, at times the old world and the new become blurred. The father recalls memories of places they pass by and introduces the boy to some of the joys of normal life. For example, when they go swimming for fun, they have a shopping cart the father will give the boy rides in, and on a special occasion they find a Coca-Cola that they share. It’s in these moments of normalcy and play that they escape from the harshness of reality, which I think is beautiful. A highlight here where we can read between the lines and relate this to ourselves is this. When you’re in the dark, seek out little moments of beauty as an escape. I’ve written an amazing 5 star blog about this that I’ll share here. These moments of beauty don’t have to be grandiose, often the most powerful are the smallest ones. Such as enjoying a swim, a walk in the sunshine, or taking a moment to appreciate an ice cold Coca Cola while the world is going through chaos. This is excellent parenting by the father, he seeks out and finds opportunities to bring his son happiness where he can. Carrying the fire. The father doesn’t allow himself or the boy to succumb or be paralyzed by despair. They push forward with hope. 

Environmental Destruction. The father and the boy are living in a corrupted and toxic world. Throughout the book, McCarthy describes the world using the most depressing imagery. The sky is dark and grey and there’s lots and lots of ash. It’s always falling from the sky, it’s on their clothes, it’s frosted the land, and even noticeable in the characters lungs. There isn’t an exact number I was able to find online, but the word ash is used over 150 times. This isn’t by accident, it’s intentional. It represents a reminder of ruin and residue from the old world which is dead or dying. And nature is dying all around them. A waterfall is created sporadically due to a flash flood. Trees are always falling over, and there’s an unnatural creature drinking from a lake in the beginning that doesn’t sound natural or recognizable from the old world. McCarthy only gives hints as to what caused this, for example. In one passage he says, “the clocks stopped at 1:17. A long shear of light and then a series of low concussions.” Based on what we know, we can put this together and safely assume this was the cause of nuclear bombs. If we look at the bombing of Hiroshima, the thermal radiation obliterated vegetation, blast waves knocked down trees and created rubble, firestorms released radioactive soot into the sky, and radiation poisoning from “black rain” then erased life away with contamination. The father and the boy seem to live in a world that was bombed and contaminated. The father is coughing up blood, there is one mention of an unrecognizable creature roaming the landscape, and life is choking all around them. 

Existential Struggle. There are a lot of iceberg style moments of nihilism and meaninglessness. In the Underline This Podcast episode found here about the Old Man and the Sea, I discuss in Hemingway’s writing that he uses surface level writing that clearly has deeper and profound meaning. The father and the boy have found meaning and purpose by carrying the fire, but the question of God’s existence in the new world is one of doubt. A chilling line says, “there is no God and we are his prophets.” Reading between the lines, this is saying that God doesn’t exist, and the survivors that roam the world now are walking proof. It us up to them to create meaning from a meaningless world. The father finds hope and meaning through his care for the boy and his innocence. The fire in this allegory is finding meaning in what we see in the flames. The father sees hope, hope that his boy and the goodness within him will live on. And that’s what fuels his fire. A powerful message to be found here is that humans must choose hope, even in absurdity. Find meaning and clarity to drive you towards a greater purpose. This reminds me of a quote from one of McCarthy’s influences, Nietzsche who said, “He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” There’s some real world application for all of us, and clearly demonstrated in The Road. 

Movie vs. Book

There’s a film that came out in 2009 starring Viggo Mortensen and directed by John Hillcoat. The film stays true to the book in its visually grim atmosphere and imagery. The dialogue is easier to distinguish in the film, since McCarthy’s writing is notorious for its minimalism. What does that mean? It means there’s no quotations, no attribution to who says what, and there are fragmented sentences. The world building is consistent in that there’s a lot of ambiguity about the apocalypse. Where the movie fills in the gaps of the book, is that it’s able to control the visual narrative. Specifically, when juxtaposing the old vs new worlds. The old world is colorful, warm, and full of rich lighting. While the old, looks like it’s expired. 

The character depth is a little more rich in the film, but it has to be since a good portion of the book is just inner dialogue and memories from the point of view of the father. I had a much more emotional response from the book than the movie, but I did get goosebumps in the film when they mention carrying the fire and doing a chest bump with their firsts. 

Overall, the film is a faithful adaptation. It’s worth watching, but it’s not an Academy Award winning film. Between the film and the book, the book is superior. I only recommend the film because I think it’s a worthy adaptation and helps readers have a better understanding of the book.

Personal Takeaways

My takeaways from The Road came in the form of reminders. 

First, it’s a reminder that love, hope, and a strong purpose can be a fire in the darkness. 

Second, how we face ruin matters more than asking why me. I’m reminded by the film The Count of Monte Cristo, when there’s a birthday speech being given about facing the adversities in life. You can watch it here, but the Count says, “Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. You must look into that storm and shout as you did in Rome. Do your worst, for I will do mine! Then the fates will know you as we know you: as Albert Mondego, the man!”

Third, values can be an anchor or a floatee. When we genuinely choose to live up to our values and standards, making a moral choice is something we’re grounded by. It keeps us from floating away by the currents, if we don’t live it becomes a passive thing or a floatee. We’re at the mercy of the currents.

Fourth and final takeaway, legacy is the fire we carry and pass on to the next generations. What will our legacy be? Achievements? Money? Chasing pleasures? All of that can be taken away. Or will it be something of strong value. Principles, courage, mentorship, and selflessness.

Let’s not forget to carry the fire, face adversity with courage, and don’t forget to call your parents or children. 

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