Philosophical Essay on 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy

Running head: ESSAY
PHILOSOPHICAL ESSAY ON ‘THE ROAD’ BY CORMAC McCARTHY
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1ESSAY
Tragedy is a very powerful tool of expressing emotion in a literary work. The expanse of the
human suffering is triggered by the emotions of the characters and the background of the
literary works (Williams, 2013). The masters of tragedy have always looked forward to
convey the concept of tragedy and lead the readers to the argument of how to deal with the
suffering. The Road, is a similar powerful novel by Cormac McCarthy, which highlights the
travels of a nameless father and a son, through the rugged American West for ‘keeping the
fire’ going.
In the novel, The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, the writer expresses the immense power of the
human beings to adopt and live in the emotional state of the theological issues. The
inevitability of death is the primary factor of living a life. The urge to live is just another step
towards death (Bloom, 2014). One of the examples of such an event is when the Man is
forced to kill a cannibal in order to save the Child. The human relationships and the value of
life accordingly is the significance of the purpose of life. In McCarthy’s, The Road, the post-
apocalyptic America, and the struggles of the son and the father represents the death of the
earth as well as humanity. However, the tiny speck of fire is the hope that makes mankind
survives in the times of the utmost disaster.
A similar representation has been reflected in director John Hillcoat’s film adaption of the
book to the popular film, The Road. The film is an allegorical representation of the journey of
life. When the Woman commits suicide, not being able to withstand the perils of life, the
Man and the Child embarks on a journey with the motto of ‘carrying the fire’. The religion of
the survivors is the will to live and the journey is the worship of life (McSweeney, 2013). The
various adventures by foot, little food and fighting the cannibals become the highlights on the
road to survival. The will to survive, not for self but for others, leads the Man to safely reach
the Child to the coast, where he dies. The endless roads are not limited to the death of a
person, but to the greater purpose of life which lies ahead for the survivors. Death is not a