Goodness In Analyzing Connor Mccarthy's The Road

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Analyzing Connor McCarthy's, The Road, the theme of goodness permeates the novel. Goodness is seen as. Throughout many sections of the novel, goodness, doing the morally correct thing or being in a morally correct state of virtue, is shown through The Man, The Boy, and the other characters' actions. From beginning to end, the father's love for his son is shown. The father’s omnipresent unconditional love causes the focus of goodness in the book to be on his relationship with his son. Throughout the novel, the father and son face many hard obstacles due to the rugged, gruesome setting. Although they could easily make many decisions without a moralistic outlook on life throughout their journey in post-apocalyptic world, the father wants and tries …show more content…

As they travel along the road, they see different types of people, and not everyone is as friendly and morally just as they are. Traveling each day in search of a safe haven or just a permanent place to stay, they start to become scarce on materials. Growing weary and tired, The Man cannot go on as he used to. Incapable of moving, the man starts to teach The Boy about life and all of its endeavors. After receiving insight on justness and morality from his father, the Boy begins to ask questions. Wondering if a little boy they had once encountered was alright, The Boy asks the Man what he thinks. The Man replies, "Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again" (McCarthy 281). From this quote, one can infer that he knows his time is limited and that he wants his son to understand some things. By saying this, tells his son that goodness is out there, and that you just have to find it and learn from it. With this insight and many others much more that his father shares, the boy starts to understand more of what it means to live a life of goodness in a harsh world. His father in fact states that there is goodness in this harsh world, and that all he must do is find it. As the novel continues, the boy finds a new family. Showing the newly instilled fire of goodness in the boy, McCarthy states, “He walked back into the woods knelt besides his father. He was wrapped in a blanket and didn't uncover him but he sat beside him and he was crying and couldn't stop. He cried for a long time. I'll talk to to you everyday, he whispered. And I won't forget. No matter what. Then he rose and turned and walked back out to the road." Through the boy’s words and actions, one can see the maturity of the boy, the love he has for his father, and evolution of their relationship. In the past The Man took care of the The Boy, but now The Boy cares for the Man. This shows that the boy learned from his

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