References
Adams, Tim (2009, December 20). Cormac McCarthy: America’s great poetic visionary The
Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2009/dec/20/observer-profile-cormac-mccarthy
Adams states the novel is the greatest novel of the decade; a bold statement, but one I believe to be true. Adams emphasizes the novel’s ultimate theme is goodness rather as opposed to simply a bleak apocalyptic tale which some scholars argue. He points to McCarthys use of Old Testament literature, and remarks on the use of apophatic literature in his novels wherein social norms are obsolete and life itself is stripped bare to emphasize the message of God and love. I also chose this article because he talks about the background of McCarthy writing the novel, and the inspiration he took for conversations with his son to use for dialogue which I’ll mention in “about McCarthy”.
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American Standard Version. Bible Gateway.com.
https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/American-Standard-Version-ASV-Bible/#booklist
This is arguably my most important source besides the novel The Road, and the two texts will be compared to illustrate The Road as a religious allegory. In particular, I will focus on The Old Testament themes of good versus evil, New Testament themes of love and hope, as well as in Revelations the apocalyptic theme.
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Binge Break (2020, December 30). The Road (2009) - Old man [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=roUjENsQz0U
The Old Man is a significant charater in McCarthy's work, being the only named character— Ely. Ely, a reference to the Prophet Elijah is significant as he announces the arrival of Christ, which McCarthy employs to allude to the foretelling of the new Christ.
Broncano, M. (2014). Religion in Cormac McCarthy’s Fiction: Apocryphal Borderlands (Vol.
13). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315851310
Broncano’s monograph states there is two different perspectives most people have on The Road. Some find theological dimensions to McCarthy’s work and relate it to a Christian tale, while others state the negativity surrounding life and God in the novel is more indicative to the reading as an atheist approach. I agree with Broncano that whatever one’s opinion is about theology there is undeniable religious themes in McCarthys work that has the ability to teach about God. This article is particularly important since it mentions The Road as an apophatic reading, its use of biblical language, and the boy as a symbol of light which represents the battle between good versus evil.
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Carey, Jesse. (2014, October 3). The Weird History of Christian Apocalypse Movies. Relevant
Magazine. https://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/weird-history-christian-apocalypse-movies/
Carey notes the genre of apocalypse movies are inherently linked to Christian narratives; they all allude to the prophetic apocalypse foretold in Revelations in The New Testament. Furthermore, Carey points to the systematic threat of rape seen in these movies which is exhibited in The Road, which other articles often ignore. Carey argues the disturbing nature of apocalyptic narratives and movies and emphasize how artists depict Godlessness as the cause of barbarity and lack of civilization, hence God [Christianity] being essential to civilized society.
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Dansby, Andrew (2009, December 5). Cormac McCarthy novel and film based on it rich with
doubt and humanity. The Houston Chronicle.
Dansby doesn’t make an argument about the existence of religion [Christianity] in The Road; he outright states the unequivocal nature of religion imagery in the novel and the film, seen primarily through the good versus evil theme in biblical scriptures. Dansby points to McCarthy’s interview about prayer, in particular, his opinion that prayer doesn’t have to be explicit saying or rituals but can be personal and complex. Furthermore, he notes McCarthy’s belief that a holy person can be equally doubtful and faithful, which I argue is best seen in the Man, and how goodness is innate, as shown through the Boy. I thought this article was significant as the writer emphasized how the film adaptation is as equally religious as the novel which many neglect to mention.
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Davis, Ben (2021, May 3). What are the 8 characteristics of rituals? Mvorganizing.org
https://www.mvorganizing.org/what-are-the-8-characteristics-of-rituals/
Davis argues there are 8 main elements to religious rituals; five which I use to prove in my proposal that there is a distinct use of religious ritual which the Man and Boy abide by. These elements are gestures, repeated actions, significant words spoken, a link to the past, and wholehearted participation. Davis also mentions the heathen as an uncivilized person who doesn’t recognize God which is exhibited in the story through those who are in barbaric, cannibalistic cults.
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DeCoste, D. M. (2012). “A thing that even death cannot undo”: The operation of the theological
virtues in Cormac McCarthys’s “The Road”. Religion & Literature, 44(2), 67–91. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24397670
DeCoste argues the novel is undisputedly a Christin narrative; unlike others who believe McCarthy uses nihilism to argue the nonexistence of religion. Contrarily, DeCoste believes cynicism during times which are seemingly Godless can pave the way for faith, hope, and humanity. He points to the novels apocalyptic setting and barbaric actions of antagonist as a method of revealing New Testament themes of love and Christianity as a means of salvation.
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Goldammer, K. Moritz Artur (2020, November 12). religious symbolism and iconography.
Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/religious-symbolism
The article indicates theories of religious symbolism doesn’t have to be a concrete item such as the cross in Christianity but can be abstract which in turn makes the symbol more meaningful to the religious follower. I argue this theory can be seen as the Man and the Boy “carrying the fire” their main method of ritual performance, whereby humanity is preserved in the soul. Additionally, the unconscious and its relation to religion is mentioned in the article which I argue is in correlation with the Man and the Boy; the Man unconsciously realizes the Boy is God.
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Loki (2017, February 25). The Road - Ending Scene (Full HD) [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zaoC_RhpIA
This clip is of the final scene of the movie, The Road. This scene is significant regarding “carrying the fire” and its relation to the prayer relic. “Carrying the fire” connotes carrying humanity and godliness which the Man believes to be intrinsically inside the Boy, and he stresses the Boy to seek out the fire in others.
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McCarthy, C. (2006). The Road. New York: Vintage Books.
The predominant text that will be examined in the project. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road as a religious allegory demonstrated through Myth (the Boy as the Christ figure), ritual (primarily through invented prayers and repeated actions), and symbolism (carrying the fire. McCarthy’s novel is unique as dialogue withholds the use of quotations and conversations between characters are short and pointed. His minimalistic writing style emphasizes the conflict between and the correlation between love and family in religion. Furthermore, the novels simplicity is indicative of the novel as seen through apophatic theology— the protagonists are stripped of the environment, their names, and their identities. McCarthy’s novel highlights the importance of having a strong belief system during times of inhumanity.
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Movieclips Classic Trailers (2013, November). The Road (2009) Official Trailer #1 - Viggo
Mortensen Movie HD [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bO8EqMsxOiU
This clip is the official movie trailer for McCarthys novel. The movie, as noted by many scholars and bloggers, is a very accurate representation of the novel. In particular, the film emphasizes the apocalyptic setting of the novel, and how the world of the characters are reduced to survival in the simplest of ways. This emphasizes the ability to view the works through apophatic (or negative) theology, and its relation to positive theology.
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Nisly, L. L. (2019). The sacred idiom shorn of its referents: An Apophatic Reading of The Road.
Christianity & Literature, 68(2), 311–324. https://doi.org/10.1177/0148333118784746
Nisly emphasizes the importance of the setting in conjunction with the novels religious overtones, and how its related to the apophatic (or negative) theology as the lack of humanity allows the characters to look inward to their faith, and their use of religion as hope in a setting limited by savagery. Similarly, McCarthy uses limiting language to demonstrate this approach, for instance stripping the characters of social norms, going as far as removing their names and identities.
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Pudney, E. (2015). Christianity and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. English Studies, 96(3), 293–
309. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013838X.2014.996383
In this article, Pudney proves McCarthy’s work is a Christian allegory by analyzing the themes of Christian symbolism including the contrast between fire and darkness, and its relation to civilization versus barbarity, and the Boy as the Christ figure and his beliefs and their correspondence of New Testament themes of love. Importantly, Pudney’s arguments regarding secondary character Ely, are unique amongst other scholars: he believes Ely is a representative for those who are against the pro Christian stance of the novel.
Simmons, J.B (December 2020). Five Surprising Lessons of Hope in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.
[Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.jbsimmons.com/blog/five-surprising-lessons-of-hope-in-cormac-mccarthys-the-road
Simmons argues there are five main themes represented in The Road, which are also biblical themes. Importantly, Simmons notes the comparison between father/son dynamic of Abraham and Isaac to the Man and the Boy, which often goes unremarked upon in other sources. This article gives a unique insight to the novel because Simmons has written his own apocalyptic books providing an in-depth review to common themes of apocalyptic novels which McCarthy wields in his works.
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Skrimshire, S. (2011). “There is no God and we are his prophets”: Deconstructing Redemption in
Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. Journal for Cultural Research, 15(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/14797585.2011.525099
Skrimshire’s work references The Road, and its between the Messiah/Christ figure and apocalyptic eschatology in early Judaism and Christianity. The Messiah represents a vision of hope for the future, which is McCarthy’s work is demonstrated through the Boy. He gifts the Man hope much like a prophet would, that there is still humanity in a seemingly evil world. The journal also considers the paradoxical nature of God: he represents death to some, and an affirmation of life by others.
Smith, Andrew. (2013). Locating the self in the post-apocalypse: the American Gothic journeys
of Jack Kerouac, Cormac McCarthy and Jim Crace. In EcoGothic (p. 134–). Manchester University Press.
Smith mentions that the apocalyptic setting of the novel is akin to new beginnings, which I argue is similar to the Book of Revelations in The New Testament. In particular, the apocalypse was though to be positive by early Jews and Christians who believed destruction of civilization would renew the covenant between man and God, and through this struggle, man would gain a greater understanding of Godliness and piety. Furthermore, Smith mentions the allegory of The Road to a journey, like how searches for religion are often regarded as a search of meaning
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Spurgeon, S. (2011). Cormac Mccarthy: All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, the
Road. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
Spurgeon’s work is distinct amongst other sources as he focuses on ethics of The Road, and their relation to the apocalyptic setting of the novel. The limited setting in the novel emphasizes the importance of ethics, when they are seemingly rare in the bleak society demonstrated through the inherent goodness of the boy, and how he acts as a moral compass for the Man. Similarly, the author points to the Man as a figure of both a common man struggling to find religion, and a prophet who shows his faith through his devotion to the Boy. Spurgeon also references the battle between good and evil and its relation to Christianity, as “good” represented by the holiness of religion.
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The son is the messenger of God, his voice: (2015, April 24). [Blog post] Retrieved from
https://ontheroadwithcormac.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/religion/
The blogger emphasizes the novel is dystopian and a piece of apocalyptic literature, with themes of survival, violence, anarchy; all of which I believe are exhibited in the Christian Bible. The post emphasizes three main reasons in which the novel is a religious story and how the Boy and his equation to the Christ figure. This is achieved through the Boy’s physical appearance, the mercifulness he displays despite being surrounded by cruelty, and his primary mission which is to “carry the fire”— a significant symbol omitted in several other critical approaches to the story. “Carrying the fire” is a symbol of hope and goodness the Man looks toward as a moral compass which he believes the Boy carries inside him (innate holiness), which is what keeps him pure in the barbaric setting.
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Trotignon, B. (2014). The Persisting Relic of Prayer in Road by Cormac McCarthy. Revue
Française D’études Américaines, 141(4), 197–209. https://doi.org/10.3917/rfea.141.0197
The article emphasises the importance of prayer in the novel, and how this is demonstrated through the communication between the father and the son as shown through promises. Firstly, the Man vows to protect the Boy with his life, and the Boy promises the Man to remember him after his death. Furthmore, Trotignon argues that the son fulfilling his promise to remember his father at the end of the novel is an act of prayer which I will mention regarding the importance of rituals in the novel.
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Tylerankarlo (2010) “The Road is a Christian Allegory” [Review of the book The Road by
Cormac McCarthy]. Goodreads. https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/450189-the-road-is-a-christian-allegory-final-post
Tylerankarlo provides a concrete analysis on elements of The Road, and their direct correlation to biblical events. For instance, the time stopping at 1:17, the Boys innocence and its relation Adam and Eve, as well as characteristics of God and their association with the Boy.