The+Road



**The Road**

**By: Cormac McCarthy** **Novel Study by: Sebastian Major**

Cormac McCarthy’s //The Road// is bleak and tersely written portrait of a destroyed and rotting America. The world is cold, dark, covered with ash, inhabited by shiftless drifters and vicious cannibals. We follow the progress of a father and son, simply called “The Man” and “The Boy”, as they try and escape the coming winter by following a derelict asphalt road. The two are forced overcome hunger, cold and the ever present threat of their fellow humans. Along this journey the two are made to confront their own mortality and contemplate their reason for living. Despite a hopeless world in which they are placed, the father and son commit themselves to surviving while staying true to a few key principles that make them “good guys”. At times the need to survive and the imperative to be a “good guy” conflict. The lines of between right and wrong are often blurred, but the commitment of these two characters to one another remains the only steadfast thing in McCarthy’s dark future.

**In what grade level/course would you teach this text? Are there others for which it might be appropriate?**

The direct and uncluttered prose that that defines //The Road// makes it quite readable, and even appropriate for grades 9 and 10. However, the content is decidedly mature. The book deals with issues of mortality, despair, hope, love and the extremes of the human condition. It deals with these themes in often oblique and less-than-obvious ways. The text may seem straight forward, but its very simplicity can mask a great deal of thematic complexity. To penetrate the simple veneer of the prose and delve into the difficult questions being posed by this book it takes both a high level of Thinking/Inquiry Skills and some experience reading critically. The book also includes some rather disturbing scenes, including murder, descriptions of desecrated corpses and cannibalism. I would be concerned that Grade 9 and 10 students may not yet have developed the maturity to approach this subject matter from an academic perspective. As such I would use this book in Grade 11 Academic classes, Grade 12 University and Grade 12 College Preparation classes.

Courses: ENG3U – Grade 11 Academic English – University Preparation ENG4C – Grade 12 Applied English – College Preparation ENG3U – Grade 12 Academic English – University Preparation

**What are the main ideas/issues/teaching points which you would emphasize when teaching the text? (Consider the knowledge possibilities: social, topical, cultural, textual)**

The following are a number of themes and teaching points that I would emphasize when teaching //The Road.//

**//Teaching points: Genre//**

**Speculative Fiction:** Cormac McCarthy’s //The Road// can be considered a piece of speculative fiction insofar as it posits a possible future for planet earth. In teaching this text we would explore what is meant by this genre category. Speculative fiction is a large umbrella term that encompasses a number of sub-genres such as science fiction, fantasy, utopian/dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction to name a few. When teaching //The Road//, I would also be teaching the elements of this genre. After working to define “Speculative Fiction” with the class, I would ask them to determine how //The Road// conforms to this genre and how it challenges it. For example, much dystopian speculative fiction is a satire of current politics; by contrast //The Road// does not concern itself with politics and instead focusses on human relationships and personal morality in a post-apocalyptic world.

**//Themes//**

**Morality:** The characters in //The Road// have a rather complex system of morals. I would challenge my students to identify the moral code being employed by “The Man” and “The Boy”. The world of //The Road// is one without laws, without community or any type of societal structures. The reader is made to confront a world where most people have abandoned all recognizable codes of morality. Cannibalism is perhaps the most visceral example of how human beings have left behind even the most basic morals. However our two protagonists see themselves as “the good guys” precisely because they refuse to abandon a few simple principles. I would ask my students to examine how they construct their own personal moral code. I would then have them examine how the morals of our protagonists are tested throughout this narrative.

**Life Vs. Death:** We learn very early on in //The Road// that “The Boy’s” mother has committed suicide. We also learn that The Man chose not to commit suicide and tried desperately to talk his partner out of the act. “The Boy” often says that he wishes he was dead, or that he doesn’t care if he lives or dies, but is always sternly reprimanded by his father. “The Man” is clearly dedicated to preserving his own life and the life of his son, but the reason for this is not always as clear. I would ask my students to consider why life is so highly valued by our protagonist. The book forces us to confront the value of life in a destroyed world. I would have my students examine why our protagonists choose to continue on, when death is an option chosen by other characters in the book.

**Hope:** On one level //The Road// seems like a rather hopeless story. At one point “The Boy” asks “The Man” what their “long term plan is”. The man has no real answer for his son. They don’t seem to have any safe place settle, and they seem doomed to wander the country endlessly. Despite this the father and son continue to share a number of tender moments and refuse to succumb to despair. Is there hope in //The Road//? Perhaps Cormac McCarthy is trying to suggest that there is something intrinsically good in human relationships. The fact that familial bonds seem to withstand the breakdown of society, offer a small glimpse of hope in this bleak imagining of the future. I would challenge my students to seek out the hopeful moments in this text. I would ask them to think about what the author is trying to tell us about the nature of hope.

**What are the issues / challenges you might encounter in teaching the text?**

The Road is not a particularly long novel, but it is by no means an easy read. It’s bleak imagery, disturbing content and obscure plot trajectory can make it a hard book to stick with. Firstly, the book does not have a traditional story arch. Certainly we watch the characters grow and develop, but there is not a concrete “plot”. The characters have no stated goals, other than survival, and as such there is no rise in action. Instead there are only small episodes where the moral integrity of the characters is tested. This of course is done intentionally by McCarthy to make his readers feel like the hopeless drifters he describing. It works to great effect, but that sensation may discourage young readers from actually finishing the book.

Secondly, the disturbing images of cannibalism, murder and slavery may prove difficult for some students to read. There are moments in this text that are truly terrifying. Despite the fact that I would be teaching this to Senior students, there may still be instances where students feel uncomfortable.

Thirdly, the themes in this book are not blatantly obvious. There are not immediately obvious passages that sum up the key concepts the McCarthy is trying explore in //The Road.// Students may need more prompts and clues from the teacher in order to unpack this text. As I mentioned earlier, the terse prose and simplistic dialog can obscure what is actually a profoundly complex examination of the human condition. Students may need to be led a little more directly towards the themes present in this book.

**Describe one possible assignment / activity which you could use when teaching the text. How does it connect to the curriculum expectations of the course you are teaching?**

__**Past as Prologue**__

In //The Road// the reader is never given a clear explanation about what has happened to world in the future. We are instead given eerie descriptions of a cold, ash covered, animal-free landscape. The cities are destroyed, there is no government and many people have taken to cannibalism. In this assignment students would be asked to write a prologue to //The Road// where they would describe what events led to the world as it appears at the beginning of the novel.

Students would be expected to reference specific things from the novel (the ash on the ground, the cannibals, the unusually cold weather, the lack of animals etc.) and imagine how they came to be.

The Prologue must be roughly 3 pages double-spaced in 12 point font. It must include:


 * A description of the world immediately before the catastrophe.
 * an explanation of political/societal factors that led to the fall society
 * an explanation of the different stages society went through before arriving at its state in //The Road//
 * Possible reason(s) why the world was allowed to fall apart.
 * A Brief introduction of “The Man” character

**Curriculum Expectations** //Reading and Literature Studies// //1.3 Demonstrating an Understanding Content and 1.4 Making Inferences// In this assignment students need to identify the important ideas in the text in order to establish them in their prologue. They also need to explain the understand the implied ideas in the text. The assignment specifically asks them to make inferences and extrapolate on things that are simply implied in the text through imagery.

//Writing// //1.4 Organizing Ideas and 3. Applying Knowledge of Conventions// In this assignment students have to organize the ideas that they have generated from reading this text into a the form of a prologue. They need to use the correct style in order to convey these ideas. They will also be practicing correct, spelling grammar and paragraph structure.