1 Lani Chung The Ethics of the Apocalypse Nora Lambrecht Writing Assignment 3.

2 November 1, 2013 Writing Assignment 3.2: Beginning the Conversation Cormac McCarthys novel The Road describes the journey of a man and his sonwhose names are not explicitly disclosedin a desolate post-apocalyptic America, as they travel towards the south coast in order to survive the next winter. The novel begins with the man and his son traveling along a road with a shopping cart of supplies, after waking up in the woods alongside each other. One night, the man dreams of his deceased wife and remembers the way she left him to commit suicide because of her unwillingness to live in the new post-apocalyptic landscape. Back on the road, the man and his son encounter a roadrat who is shot by the man when the mans son is taken hostage (McCarthy 34). Upon escaping, the man and his son continue down the road for a few days until they come upon a large house with a group of naked and mutilated people locked up in a cellar for consumption by cannibals. The two are able to get away before the cannibals return, and during their journey, the man reassures the boy that they would never eat anyone because [theyre] the good guys who are carrying the fire (McCarthy 66). Soon, they find a house with an underground bunker full of provisions and supplies where they stay for a few days before they head off on the road once again. As the days pass, the man gets increasingly sick, but eventually the two make it to the south coast. After exploring the beach, they find that all their supplies are stolen. Eventually, they find the thief, take everything from him, and continue onward. The man, however, quickly weakens and is unable to continue traveling. After his death, the boy grieves until a Veteran and his family finds him and promises that [hell] be all right (McCarthy 148).

2 Throughout the text of The Road, there are recurring snippets of religious and metaphysical ideas that may cause readers to ponder an important question: What message did McCarthy intend to convey through his incorporation of theology into The Road? According to James Wood in his article entitled Getting to the End, theology [does] not [seem] central to the books inquiry as it evades the demands, the obligations, of [the] subject (Wood 8). However, Woods argument is not thoroughly valid because it fails to identify the vast array of subtle meaningshidden beneath McCarthys minimalism, which might come off as evasive to the subject of theologythat point to religious and metaphysical elements. In contrast to the argument made by Wood, Donovan Gwinner asserts that there is indeed a message that McCarthy conveys through theology. He explains that the goodness of [the man and boys] survivalism relates metonymical to the traditional goodness of religion and the sacred (Gwinner 146). While Gwinner does make an appropriate connection between theology and a possible message being conveyed through it, he does not recognize other important ideas that might have been meant for impartment unto the reader. To address the lacking nature of the claims made by Wood and Gwinner, I will offer more insight into a variety of possible theologically rooted ideas containing important messages that exist in the novel. My thesis is significant in that it brings to light a fuller depiction of the grand morals of The Road that may hold relevance to the lives of readers.