The Road By Cormac McCarthey: The Theme Of Trust In The Book

When I started reading I was doing as I had no choice. Though after reading the first few pages I wanted to keep going out of curiosity. The boy and his papa had me wondering how the story ends in there horrible cannibalism world. Their journey is narrated by the boy who is very young and does not know much about anything. He only knows what he is told by his papa and what he sees. The boy in the story is very scared of what could happen in any kind of situation. He is always trying to stay away of anything he does not know about, which does not help their situation as he knows so little. He reminds me of any time I’m asked to do anything I’m not sure how to do. I get scared that I will not succeed and the outcome could be tremendous. On page 71 the father needs to go get wood “I want you to stay here, he said. I'm going for wood. We have to have a fire. I’m scared”. Every time the papa leaves him alone with the simplest task like watching their things, he gets scared.

During their journey they meet only a few moments of action. In each moment of action the papa does what he can to protect the boy. On page 263 they are attacked by a man with a bow. “He clawed the blankets to one side and lunged and grabbed flare gun and raised up and cockedit” explained the boy. This reminds me of my childhood and my parents doing whatever they can to protect me in every situation.

The story gives off a very uncalm and unsettling setting. No matter where the papa and boy are, there is always something to set worry them. “How long can we stay here Papa? Not Long. How long is that. I don't know. Maybe one more day. Two. Because it's dangerous? Yes.” exchange the two. Everywhere they are, someone or something could be waiting for them or watching them. The story gives you little information when it starts. I thought that was a very poor choice by the author. Then when you read on you start realizing that the information not shared is to save the boy from learning many horrible things that lead up to where they are now. Since the boy narrates the story we don't know what papa is thinking. This makes the story more interesting and made me want to keep reading.

I think the theme of The Road is learn how and who to trust. Trust is one of the main things you notice in the story. The boy and his papa are constantly staying away from people as they don't know who they can trust anymore. On page 190 the boy sees a baby, though not just any baby. “He turned and looked again. What the boy had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit.” Explained papa. This shows that there are people willing to kill the innocent to survive. Making it difficult for the two to trust anyone they meet.

Cormac McCarthey is an American novelist, playwright and screenwriter. He was born on July 20, 1933. He is still living and is now 85 years of age. He has written ten novels, two plays and has at minimum of six movies. He has had three wives and has two sons. One of them being 56 years old and the other 20 years old.

The Road is a story about a young boy and his papa and their journey on a road to the south and their survival in the world's worst disaster. Not knowing much about the characters past lives or the accident that led to the world disaster, you still feel like you know everything about it at the end of the story. The Road is a very good book and always has your attention. This book is strongly written, strong at keeping your attention and strong with filling your head with different ideas. It is weak in only being a book.