Cormac McCarthy's
The Road
Religion 2812-081 Project by Beth Power
Cormac McCarthy's bestselling novel The Road, and its acclaimed film adaptation starring Viggo Mortenson is "full of religious imagery and themes" according to Andrew Dansby and numerous other scholars. The Road accounts an apocalyptic America— "Barren, silent, godless" (McCarthy, 4)— and the journey of an unnamed Father (Papa) and Son (The Boy), as they make their way west to the ocean, while avoiding the many perils of the road.
About McCarthy
Described as an "hermetic prophet", McCarthy, an elusive yet acclaimed figure in literature uses grim religious allegories in his famous works such as The Road, Blood Meridian, and No Country for Old Men (Adams) . According to Adams, McCarthy states The Road is inherently a story of family and goodness illustrated through channeling the Old Testament, where McCarthy "often envisions the worst". Despite this, and McCarthy identifying as an agnostic, critics such as Andrew Dansby have referred to the novel as one of his "least doubtful works", focused on "innate goodness" reflective of the Boy and carrying the fire in The Road.
Reviews
"His most compelling, moving accessible novel... Amid this Godot-like bleakness, McCarthy shares something vital and enduring about the boys spirit, his fathers love and the nature of bravery itself"- USA Today
"We find this violent, grotesque world rendered in gorgeous, melancholic, even biblical cadences... Read this book"- Rocky Mountain News
"The Road is a wildly powerful and disturbing book that exposes whatever bedrock lies beneath grief and horror. Disaster has never felt more physically and spiritually real" Time
Trailer
Argument
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road uses religious allegory to display how humanity and goodness is most important when morality is scarce, as exhibited by the Boy as the Christ figure (see Myth). I argue that the symbol of “carrying the fire” (see Symbols) proves adhering to religion is a method to maintain humanity and acts as a commentary which questions if society should shift towards more religious attitudes. In situating The Road as a Christian narrative demonstrated through apocalyptic eschatology (see Apocalypse) and its mythic, ritual, and symbolic contents, McCarthy emphasizes the importance of religion to civilization, and religion as essential to the family as opposed to many modernist who believe religion as a corrupting influence to society. As Pudney succinctly asserts: "The Road is open to both hopeful and despairing interpretations. These contradictory interpretations bear close resemblance to the man's conflicting thoughts about God and the status of his son". In particular, McCarthy puts forward an image of religion as a complex and personal decision, which can benefit the self rather than act as a burden.