No Good Thing Ever Dies: Examining Redemption and Hope in the Road and A Canticle for Leibowtiz

When one mentions an apocalypse it brings up images of entire worlds completely devastated by a nuclear war in movies and novels, worlds very distant from any actual reality experienced in human history. While humans never have encountered such world-ending apocalypses, humans have experienced instances where a disaster, natural or man-made, resembles a world-ending trauma of smaller magnitude, similar to a mini apocalypse. In the twenty-first century, events like the terror attacks in New York on 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, and the typhoon in the Philippines were mini-apocalypses in their own regard. Of course these events had a damage on their societies physically like a world ending disaster, but the extent to which these events changed the world was much more profound than flaming buildings or flooded cities. Changing ideologies politically, socially, and spiritually, these “mini apocalypses” transformed people’s thoughts on the world. People challenged the political actions of nations, questioned their own beliefs, and struggled with the cruelty of the world. These surreal events transformed how people regarded their world and left many people bewildered and wondering how “we” could prevail against evil.

Oxford English Dictionary defines redemption as “the action of saving, delivering, or restoring a person or thing.” This definition contains an almost Christ-like undertone, implying for redemption to occur, a person must restore goodness in a world befallen by human sin. In both texts The Road and A Canticle for Leibowitz, Cormac McCarthy and Walter Miller utilize characters that must redeem and atone for worlds crushed by this sin. However, the worlds differ severely in the manifestation of redemption, one successful, one fu...

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...e world, the question still arises from both points in a philosophical standpoint, “Are all humans destined for evil like A Canticle for Leibowitz, or is there goodness still inside like the boy and his father on the Road?” Humans certainly are capable of monstrous evils, for example, 9/11, the Mumbai Terror Attacks, and the Holocaust; however, all were caused by one particular evil entity. For one single insane act, thousands of others felt a sincere feeling of sorrow and prayed, sent help, and grew closer as fellow human beings. Despite Miller’s brilliant novel depicting humans as people forever destined for destruction and evil forever, human history contradicts it. Towers may fall, buildings may burn, and lives may be lost, but from these ashes humans will rise like a phoenix, growing stronger and showing the goodness lying in each man’s heart for all eternity.