Creative Writing On Mccarthys The Road

The Road by Cormac McCarthy is a unique and memorable novel. The author introduces, and develops, the tender relationship between a father and son, against the backdrop of a post-apocalyptic disaster. The violence and grizzly concepts make this novel not a good choice for the literarily sensitive, the love-story between the Man and the Boy is a gem not to be missed. As the title implies, McCarthy’s style is simple and consistent, providing a contrast to the complex subject matter of the novel.
The point of view selected by McCarthy for The Road is third person omniscient. However, there are some major differences between this narrator and most traditional third person omniscient narrators. The story is certainly told in third person, but this person frequently moves into the mind of a character. At times, it feels as if The Man is recounting the story. Entire paragraphs depict his views, reminiscences, and insights. The intimacy then retreats back to third person omniscience once again. The following paragraph demonstrates this:
“He [The Man] woke in the morning and turned over in the blanket and looked down the road through the trees the way they'd come in time to see the marchers four abreast. Dressed in clothing of every description, all wearing red scarves at their necks. Red or orange, as close to red as they could find. He put his hand on the boy's head. Shh, he said” (141.1).
The shift from intimacy to distance is the unusual aspect of this narrative voice, and is perhaps one of the elements that makes it so interesting. Third person omniscient narration provides the author with a large amount of choice. It allows him to shift between characters, to impartial accounts of a place, and to lyric imageries that only make sense within the context of a novel.
It is no easy feat to blend what is essentially a horrific account of feral cannibals with an affectionate father-son relationship narrative. There is much nastiness featured in the novel, some examples being: humans being held awaiting butchery; sexual slavery; a child cooking on a spit. As an author, McCarthy does not shy away from disturbing ideas as content. With this in mind, he is perhaps a good person who write a story exploring the impacts of an apocalyptic catastrophe.
This level of violence, though, does not hinder the moving father-son story that is the backbone of the novel. The author incorporates many loving instants between The Man and The Boy and all of them read as genuine and believable.
A large proportion of the story reports what has gone as a result of the tragedy. The forests are now void of animals, society has dissolved, and good, moral humans have pretty much vanished. When McCarthy writes about The Man's memories or an element that has disappeared since the apocalypse, he moves easily into both a dejected and commemorative tone.
McCarthy moves between two main styles in this novel. When he is depicting something major that has been devastated or lost by the disaster, he writes lavishly, using lyrical language style. The following passage from early in the book provides a sound example: “He rose and stood tottering in that cold autistic dark with his arms outheld for balance while the vestibular calculations in his skull cranked out their reckonings. An old chronicle. To seek out the upright. No fall but preceded by a declination. He took great marching steps into the nothingness, counting them against his return. Eyes closed, arms oaring. Upright to what? Something nameless in the night, lode or matrix” (19.1).
Words such as “autistic” and “Vestibular” are not very often used in this kind of a context. McCarthy has obviously used such intense language deliberately, in order to draw his reader into the tone of the moment.
Another interesting stylistic choice of the author’s is that to omit much punctuation and quotation marks where other authors would include them. His dialogue is minimalist and unique. The following demonstrates this concept:[The Boy:] It's really cold.[The Man:] I know.[The Boy:] Where are we?[The Man:] Where are we?[The Boy:] Yes.[The Man:] I dont know.[The Boy:] If we were going to die would you tell me?[The Man:] I dont know. We're not going to die. (144.1-144.10)
The title The Road is very simple and provides plenty of context for the story to come. McCarthy has simply named the novel after its main setting: the road.
It is beneficial to consider McCarthy's title in terms of similarity with his style of writing; he sustains a stable and simple prose style. Furthermore, the title emphasizes the book's theme of impermanence. It is noticeable that the characters in The Road do not remain in one place for any longer than one week before returning to life on the road. The dwellings have been deserted; domestic life has almost totally been eradicated.
It is similarly worthwhile considering planned destinations within the story. Although the title implies that the characters are heading somewhere, we do not know that they ever reach the place. It is plausible that they do not reach anywhere. Their aim of making it to the coastline, arguably, is revealed as futile.
As the title suggests, highways and throughways, as well as some smaller roads, make up the majority of the story’s setting. The road is described so well by the author that it is a major element of the story; it seems as important as the characters themselves. The characters spend a great deal of time on the road that it quickly becomes a significant image to the reader. The road is an isolated, temporary factor, littered with risks. In this way, it is possible to reason the road as a real setting and a psychological state.
The ending of this book is perhaps the most surprising part, especially for those familiar with McCarthy’s other works. The conclusion of The Road seems optimistic. Following a long book of blood and travelling, and following the death of The Man, abandoning the Boy to solitude, some caring people take care of the Boy. During the novel, The Man and The Boy spend their time searching for the good people, but fair to locate them. Then, in the final section, The Boy achieves it.
The change in fortune for The Boy is surprising and seems out of the blue. It raises the question for some readers as to whether McCarthy had a different ending in mind when he wrote the book, but then received too much negative feedback and decided to end on a hopeful note. Conversely, it is possible that the conclusion is simply evidence of the existence of optimism and humankind; in other words, the ending could demonstrate the idea that whatever happens in the world, humans will always be social animals who find a way to continue. Interpreted in the latter way, the conclusion could imply that civilisation will, in time, be reconstructed.
The Man's demise works as a kind of sacrifice. He has put everything he had, both physically and mentally, into finding a warmer place for The Boy to spend winter. The Boy then places a blanked onto the Man. As blankets and food have been such treasured objects throughout the story, this action seems to echo the theme of sacrifice.
The last paragraph of the novel features a trout, which appears unexpected in some ways. However, on a second reading, it seems clear that the portrayal of the trout assists in highlighting the splendour of memory in spite of grief. It also puts into relief all the lyrical descriptions throughout the book. Furthermore, the novel is littered with unpleasant imagery; the introduction of the serene trout at the end backs up the optimistic feeling.
While many readers may be turned off by the gruesome images and discussions through The Road, it is likely that most will be unable to resist the beauty of the real story: the relationship between the father and son. The over-riding theme of this story is sacrifice, and the concept of people acting with integrity and love, in spite of difficult conditions. Through style, tone and point of view choice, McCarthy has written a story which will remain in the minds of his readers for many years to come.