The Road and its Large Cultural Impact in a Short Period of Time
A man forced to go to his limits to protect the last glimmer of hope in his world, the story of The Man in Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road contributed to the birth of the ever-growing post-apocalyptic genre. Set in a time where the world is a place of depravity, The Man and The Boy are the two glimmers of hope. The journey down the perilous road to their idea of salvation inspired not only the other in the novel, but a large quantity of analysis, ranging from scholarly scrutiny of its effect in the history of literature, as well as its allusions in popular culture through television and video games, all contributing to the idea of The Road setting a new standard for the exploration …show more content…
In comparing the works of Harold Bloom and Cormac McCarthy, Giraldi suggests that the writings of Cormac McCarthy strongly differ from the latter, due to the dark nature of the writing. He claims McCarthy is too alienating in his works, and that as a “father of young boys [he] can brook only so much vicarious heartwreck [sic] involving young boys” (Giraldi). The dark themes in the novel are used to allude to this novel as taboo for young children and even a large number of adults. One of the parts in question is the introduction of the people trapped as meat for cannibals, and yet, the darker part may not have been their ragged condition despite the hopeless imagery presented; “A bearded face appeared blinking at the foot of the stairs. Please, he called. Please” (McCarthy 111). Rather, the darker part of the work may be The Man’s response to the situation: “[he] got hold of the door and swung it over and let it slam down” (111). The Man knowingly sentences these people to death, leaving them to their fate in a cruel show of the primitive survival instinct. The allusion to this novel underscores the argument of the author on why Harold Bloom is a better writer, showing with examples the morbid curiosity that McCarthy has throughout many of his novels, culminating in The …show more content…
In Marcus Chown’s article “Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, by Janna Levin,” Chown interviews the author about the scientific accuracy and the process of writing her novel. While talking about concrete scientific ideas such as “Gödel’s theorem” Levin mentions that “[s]ome truths don’t emerge from a collection of biographical facts” but instead “through fiction” in some circumstances (qtd. in Chown). When asked about her favorite works of fiction which inspired anything about the scientist/novelist, the first answer was her “entrance[ment]” with “conceptually intriguing themes,” specifically mentioning The Road as the first example (Chown). Despite the intriguing conceptual themes, such as the crossroads and Christian symbols aforementioned, the novel does include some realistic and tangible elements, most notable with the tinkering of The Man as he “went methodically through the shelves” and “set about removing one of the burners from the little gimballed stove” (McCarthy 230). The knowledge of common cooking and other electronic appliances is the closest application to sciences in the post-apocalyptic world. The irony of this illusion is apparent, with the scientist having a reference in conceptual fiction while the fiction tries to add realistic elements to its existential
A man forced to go to his limits to protect the last glimmer of hope in his world, the story of The Man in Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road contributed to the birth of the ever-growing post-apocalyptic genre. Set in a time where the world is a place of depravity, The Man and The Boy are the two glimmers of hope. The journey down the perilous road to their idea of salvation inspired not only the other in the novel, but a large quantity of analysis, ranging from scholarly scrutiny of its effect in the history of literature, as well as its allusions in popular culture through television and video games, all contributing to the idea of The Road setting a new standard for the exploration …show more content…
In comparing the works of Harold Bloom and Cormac McCarthy, Giraldi suggests that the writings of Cormac McCarthy strongly differ from the latter, due to the dark nature of the writing. He claims McCarthy is too alienating in his works, and that as a “father of young boys [he] can brook only so much vicarious heartwreck [sic] involving young boys” (Giraldi). The dark themes in the novel are used to allude to this novel as taboo for young children and even a large number of adults. One of the parts in question is the introduction of the people trapped as meat for cannibals, and yet, the darker part may not have been their ragged condition despite the hopeless imagery presented; “A bearded face appeared blinking at the foot of the stairs. Please, he called. Please” (McCarthy 111). Rather, the darker part of the work may be The Man’s response to the situation: “[he] got hold of the door and swung it over and let it slam down” (111). The Man knowingly sentences these people to death, leaving them to their fate in a cruel show of the primitive survival instinct. The allusion to this novel underscores the argument of the author on why Harold Bloom is a better writer, showing with examples the morbid curiosity that McCarthy has throughout many of his novels, culminating in The …show more content…
In Marcus Chown’s article “Black Hole Blues and Other Songs from Outer Space, by Janna Levin,” Chown interviews the author about the scientific accuracy and the process of writing her novel. While talking about concrete scientific ideas such as “Gödel’s theorem” Levin mentions that “[s]ome truths don’t emerge from a collection of biographical facts” but instead “through fiction” in some circumstances (qtd. in Chown). When asked about her favorite works of fiction which inspired anything about the scientist/novelist, the first answer was her “entrance[ment]” with “conceptually intriguing themes,” specifically mentioning The Road as the first example (Chown). Despite the intriguing conceptual themes, such as the crossroads and Christian symbols aforementioned, the novel does include some realistic and tangible elements, most notable with the tinkering of The Man as he “went methodically through the shelves” and “set about removing one of the burners from the little gimballed stove” (McCarthy 230). The knowledge of common cooking and other electronic appliances is the closest application to sciences in the post-apocalyptic world. The irony of this illusion is apparent, with the scientist having a reference in conceptual fiction while the fiction tries to add realistic elements to its existential