Ivan Dang

Per. 1

11-20-12

The Road Review and Summary

Timeless and magnificent, The Road by Cormac McCarthy ties the warm bond of father

and son with the somber world they habit. The disembodied tone in the piece prevents it from

being understood completely by human emotion. It separates the father and son from the reader

and cause the book to become distant and pitiful. The lack of names and quotations prevents the

slightest emotion from being conjured up through mere words. Emotion is created by the plot

line itself. Though dull and mundane at times, it is accompanied by tiny sparks of love,

devastating crashes of fear, and a wave of tears.

The scene opens in America’s phantom state, it is void of warmth, the only warmth in the

setting emits from the father and son’s 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit bodies. The father and son are

walking south to hopefully avoid the harsh winter cold. There are many small instances of

common father and son bonds in the book like the time when the father gave his son the last can

of Coca Cola. There were also some moments when they shared the last of their hot coco by the

fire, and when the father taught his son how to swim. When they encountered a barn, the father

took his gun and gave it to his son. If the son is to get captured by one of the road agent, he

would shoot himself. The father tells his son to stick the gun up his mouth and pull the trigger.

Though the son never shot himself, it reflects how desperate the father is in doing what’s best for

his son. There was imagery of burnt bodies and hopelessness seen in the actions of the thief who

tried to rob the father’s cart. The father caught him and held him at gun point and told him to

remove his clothes, leaving him to die in the cold. In the end the father got shot in the leg with an

arrow and used his flare gun to kill the man who shot him. Though the father didn’t admit or tell

his son that he killed him, it was obvious he did. When the father died of his sickness, the son

mourned over him, nut found a new path of life in the end. The son followed another man with a

little girl and a little boy about the same age as him. He was accepted in a new family and carried

on the fire.

When the father caught the desperate thief scavenging through their cart, there was a rush

of frantic emotion surging through the scene. The father became merciless; the thief once

unforgiving is now diminished to being pitiful, and the son, a miserable heap begging his father

to let the thief go. The gun adds to the tension that most ruthless of them all is given the most

power. The father underwent a role reversal, as he used to be loving and loyal to his son. It

appears that the father is stricken by sheer hunger, making him a beast and illustrating the how

easily and quickly humanity can be lost.

Upon the scene where the father entered a barn filled with prisoners, it instantly became a

nightmare which kept growing. There was a rush of action as the father ran from the helpless and

destined to be eaten people. Yet the father did not rescue them for fear he will be captured as

well. However the boy was not permanently affected by this incident and remained pure at heart.

If the boy explored the barn instead of the father, the boy would have made an attempt to rescue

them and the boy may have been captured. This scene dramatically enhances the perspective of

the father and contrasts it with the son. The father’s man goal is for his son and him to survive,

and the son follows along and helps others. The son fed a mysterious man who called himself

Eli, and the father did not.

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Ivan Dang

Mrs. Laura Sajnog

AP Lit

25 November 2012

W;T Assignment

When Vivian explains how metaphysical quandaries are addressed, but never resolved

(Edson, 48) it relates the Vivian’s current situation. The doubt that of Vivian’s survival is

brought up but it is never cured. This instance also relates the real life because humans ponder

upon monumental factors of life that are so grand, they cannot even change it. It is included

because it educates the audience on the lack of power humans have. People can only reflect upon

issues, and by doing so they learn to accept it rather than changing it. Vivian accepts her

devastating fate, and makes it clear that she doesn’t attempt to change. She is an abstract

character contemplating on her past rather than her current, dying condition. The theme of

humans being bounded to an unchangeable life full of problems unable to be resolved is made

clear by Vivian.

When Vivian explains to Susie about how she’s in a quandary, having these… doubts

(64), the doubt refers the Vivian’s chances of survival. Her tone now shifts from being confident

to being distraught. During Vivian’s lecture she does not experience any doubt upon describing

John Donne’s sonnets. Yet now, stricken with painful cancer treatment, she is placed in doubt

and experiences first-hand how painful the lack of knowledge can be. The repletion of the

phrases How are you feeling today adds to Vivian’s doubt. She is hooked up to numerous

machines and is being thoroughly monitored, there seems to be no need to ask that. The phrase

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therefore ironically serves no purpose as what is said is different than what is intended by it. The

purpose of the phrase is to make Vivian feel like the doctor cares about her, the doctor only cares

for the data. Jason says this phrase the most and creating ma mask over himself making him

appear like he cares even though he doesn’t.

The third metaphysical thinking is when Vivian explains wit’s purpose. John Donne

provides wit to be used as an invaluable exercise for sharpening the mental faculties (20). In

simpler terms, wit educates the reader. Since it is difficult to understand, one must ponder on it

for a lengthy time. In order to evaluate it, it must take skill, skill which is developed from wit.

This relates to the theme that wit is a strong tool that humans have to explain the otherwise

unexplainable. John Donne uses wit in virtually all his sonnets making them increasingly

complex.