The Road by Cormac McCarthy Character and Significant Plot Devlopments
What does the father find in the barn? Outside of the barn? Why is this significant and what do these items indicate about the setting?
Inside, he finds bales of hay, seeds, grape flavored powder, basket full of masonjars, a drainpipe, a trellis, a broom, . When he goes outside he finds apples and fresh water. These items are significant because they each resemble a possibility of life.
Why does McCarthy continue to avoid specifying where the protagonists are?
Maybe because the protagonists don't even know where they are. It also allows every reader to relate by imagining the setting anywhere.
The Man tells the boy that he is the one who has to worry about them (protection, food, clothes, etc.), but the boy says he's the one who has to worry, too. What does the boy worry about?
The boy worries about the Man remaining a good guy, he has to worry/make sure the man does the right thing and helps others when they can.
What has happened to the crows? What does their disappearance suggest?
The crows have died due to the apocalyptic accident. Their disappearance suggests that the man and the boy are not traveling in a straight line.
What do you think the boy represents?
The boy has the potential of representing a god. He is the symbol of hope and a future and good in the world.
The father has already made reference to his son being a god. What does he mean by that?
The father is clearly a religious person, and he believes that his son can make a difference in the post-apocalyptic world.
For what reason do they stop for the night with the old man?
They stop with the old man because they boy wants to. They realize he is weak, and the father seems curious about the experiences the man had been through.
After the father finds his son, who had wandered off while he was asleep, what does the son tell the father he has found?
a train
A few days after meeting the thief, the father and son are walking through a town -- what does someone shoot at the father's leg?
an arrow
The father and son come to a stone wall -- what is hanging from the wall?
human heads
Ely
only named character, Ely isn't real name, represents Elijah the prophet
What does the boy accidentally leave on the beach?
pistol
Thief
steals the man and boys belongings, man makes him strip and leave, boy wants to help him
After leaving the hidden cellar and stopping for the night, the son asks the father a question -- how does the father answer? (from 26-30)
the father ask where he has heard such a term when the son asked about their long-term goals
After the father and son hide from the people walking towards the nice house, why does the father give the son a gun?
to kill himself if the people find him
Locate two examples of foreshadowing in this section. Predict the next developments in the plot.
Example: The boy's dream/ the man's coughing- His father dies
What does the father do when one of the men they are spying on walks toward their hiding place? (from 11-15)
the father pulls out a gun
What happens to the son when the man reaches their hiding spot?
the man gives the son a drink of water
What does the father say when he and his son enter the hidden cellar
"Oh my god"
How many bullets does the man have in his gun at the beginning of the story?
2
How does the Road end? What does this reveal about McCarthy's message to the reader?
The road ends with the Man dying and the Boy is taken in by a family (man, woman, 2 children and a dog). This reveals that in spite of complete destruction, goodness and hope still exist.
After setting up camp, the father wakes up and the son is gone; after looking for him, what does the father see the son doing?
rushing across the field
Ely
An old man the man and boy meet on the road. He says his name is Ely, but later admits that this isn't his real name, as he doesn't want people talking about him or knowing where he is. He says he has "lived like an animal," and is struck by the sight of the boy. At the boy's convincing, the man shares some food and their fire with Ely, but the next morning they leave him.
The Thief
An outcast from a commune who steals the man and boy's cart and supplies while they are exploring the beach. They catch up with him, and the man makes the thief strip off his clothes at gunpoint. Despite the boy's protests, they then leave the thief shivering in the road with no chance of survival.
What kind of orchard do the Man and the Boy find? Why is this significant?
Apple orchard. It is significant because it alludes to the garden of Eden/apple is the fruit of knowledge.
"If they saw different worlds what they knew was the same" (180). Compare how the man sees the world with how the boy sees it. What might it be like to never know about the world as it is now - to grow up in ruins and ash?
Boy- Grew up in the post apocalyptic world. - motivated, innocent Man- Knows both the old world and the new world. - depressing, loss hope.
What does Ely mean when he says, "There is no God and we are his prophets?" (170).
Ely believes that God is only present when the people of the world are present the world is. But since much of the world is gone, the only part of him left are his prophets.
"People were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didn't believe in that. Tomorrow wasn't getting ready for them. It didn't even know they were there" (168). What is does Ely mean?
He is talking about the people who believed in the apocalypse and prepared for it. He claims that preparation was not going to help anyone because tomorrow couldn't be predicted.
What evidence is there that the boy is feeling hopeful about their journey?
He knew the names of towns and rivers by heart and he measured their progress daily. He wonders about the ships. Hopes for another father and little boy sitting on the beach carrying the fire.
Why does the father let the son play in the surf?
He knows the son has been wanting to see the ocean all of his life. He allows his son to remain innocent and play, trying to rekindle their relationship. He also wants his son to make his own decisions and take risks in like without him.
Why doesn't the old man tell them his real name?
It may be trust. It could also be that without an identity or purpose, a name has no meaning.
Explain what this idiom means: "Beggars cant be choosers" (169).
It means that if one is begging for something, they clearly aren't able to chose want they want.
How many bullets they have and what they use them on.
The Man and boy have two bullets left. The man uses one bullet on the blood cult member who threatened to kill the boy, leaving them one remaining bullet.
What does the man say about good dreams and bad dreams?
The Man says good dreams are dangerous because it is death calling you. Bad dreams mean you still have fight left in you.
Why does the boy cries afterward?
The boy maybe cries because he was cold, and it wasn't as good as he expected. He maybe knew that his father was dying and that the world was falling apart.
What does the boy say he threw away? What is the significance?
The boy threw away the flute his father made him which could symbolize the maturation and transformation the boy goes through as he becomes less innocent.
What does the father want the old man to tell him? Why?
The father wants Ely to tell him where the world went. He believes that the old man may know the reason for the apocalypse and the whereabout of the survivors.
When the old man asks what the man and the boy are, explain the reason why they cannot answer.
The man and boy know they are not robbers or cannibals, but they do not know how to explain themselves. They know they are the "good" guys. What are the good guys? Who are they? They view themselves as survivors and travelers, but those are the only standards. Everyone who is alive is traveling and try to remain as survivors. They have a lack of identity and cannot identify themselves.
The Boy
The man's son, a young boy who was born just after the nameless apocalypse. The boy is defined by his relationship with his father, on whom he depends for survival, and his own innate kindness and innocence. The boy constantly asks the man questions, looking for reassurance and some kind of order in the world. Despite the horrible circumstances he has grown up in, the boy is the most compassionate and pure character of the book. He trusts almost everyone he meets on the road, and wants to help them by taking them along or giving away precious food. This is mostly childish naiveté, but the boy also feels like he is bearing the moral responsibility of the pair, making sure he and the man act ethically and remain as the "good guys." The man looks at the boy as a kind of religious figure, a golden-haired angel who is a last bastion of humanity and purity, while the man himself is willing to use violence to protect the boy's life. When the man dies the boy continues on, though he continues to talk to the man in his head.
The Man
The nameless protagonist of The Road. It is never explained what position the man held in the pre-disaster world, although he does know the scientific names of parts of the brain and is an excellent shot with a pistol. Throughout the novel the man is mostly defined by his extreme devotion to his son and his resourceful perseverance in surviving. He is haunted by memories of his wife, who committed suicide rather than face the apocalyptic world in which the characters live, and the pre-disaster world, but he has made the rare decision to keep surviving and "going down the road" despite the horror of the post-apocalyptic world. The man resolves to be one of the "good guys" and to keep "carrying the fire" of humanity and goodness, but he is not afraid to use violence, especially to protect the boy. The man has some kind of respiratory disease that makes him cough up blood, which worsens throughout the book and ultimately kills him.
Describe what they find when they arrive at the beach.
The ship is named Pajaro de Esperanza, or Bird of Hope, and hails from Tenerife, a Spanish island. The boat has not been ransacked, and while the sea apparently has destroyed most of its contents, it turns out that much remains. The man is able to retrieve some clothes for himself and the boy. He also recovers a toolbox, a bottle of gas, and a sextant, which "was the first thing he'd seen in a long time that stirred him" (192).
Why does the sun not appear?
The sky is covered in ash and the atmosphere is extremely polluted.
Suggest reasons for the new distance the father senses between himself and his son.
The son becomes more independent as the father becomes weaker.
Why does the wind off the water not smell like the sea?
The wind smelt like Iodine, due to radiation or nuclear contact?
Was the disaster was truly worldwide or might it have been confined to just one continent? Why? What evidence is there that everything has been destroyed?
There is also no other sign of life or migration except for the shipwreck with the Spanish writing.
Why does the boy give food to Ely, though Ely admits he would not do the same?
They boy is not afraid of others. He wants to help people and knows Ely is obviously struggling.
What do they do when they arrive? Why?
They sat on the beach, staring at the ocean. Then, the boy ran into the ocean, cold and naked. The boy may have done this to experience the ocean and "wake himself up." It gave him an opportunity to take a risk and be independent from his father.
Setting
United States, somewhere in south east but unclear. Father and son travelling South towards heat. Takes place in "the not too distant future"
What do the father and son do the morning after the father finds the house and barn?
Wrap themselves in blankets, eat apples, and drink the water.
After exploring the house the father heads back outside -- what does he find?
apples
What does the father wash out of the son's hair?
blood
What type of vehicle is the road group that surprises the father and boy using to travel?
diesel truck
Finish the line: "Borrowed time and borrowed world with borrowed ____ with which to sorrow it."
eyes
Along the road, the father and son spy a group of people climbing out of a truck -- what are the people wearing?
gas masks
After leaving the nice house, the father and son come to a gas station -- what do they find there?
gasoline
What flavor of drink powder did the man find?
grape
After the father's leg is injured, what does he do in retaliation?
he shoots a flare
What do the man and boy find roasting on a spit at a camp?
infant
What is attached to the shopping cart that allows the man to look behind him?
motorcycle mirror
What does the wife use to commit suicide?
obsidian flake-medical blade
After the confrontation with the man who found their hiding spot, where do the father and son stay for the night?
out of sight in the woods
What does the son find in his pocket that the father and son share?
raisins
What two supply items does the man worry about the most?
shoes and food
It starts raining and storming on the beach -- how do the father and son find their campsite?
the father hears the rain falling on the tarp
After leaving the gas station, what do the men that stop the father and son want?
the men ask what they have in their cart
Blood Gang Members
trying to kill everyone, cannibals, the man and the boy are afraid of them
The Man
unnamed, boy's father, one of the good guys, believes son is God
The Boy
unnamed, light in father's life, the possible messiah
The Woman
unnamed, the boy's mother and man's wife, commits suicide at beginning