Mccarthy The Road Analysis
At the low end of the social spectrum lies the decayed, weak, and dying. They have little more to give and are easy for the higher classes to take advantage of. Normally, it is the highest order that attack this isolated and depressive group, and such is the case throughout much of the story. However a notable event does occur in which the the man leaves a thief with absolutely nothing. Even before this though, they notice his place on the social ladder.
“Scrawny, sullen, bearded, filthy. His old plastic coat held together with tape… They could smell him in his stinking rags,” (McCarthy, 256).
Upon first reading this, it would seem that McCormac hast an open hostility, and even disgust for them. And that would certainly agree with how …show more content…
But in this moment, in this one very moment, it is key to overlook the scene that has just taken place. In the middle of this “eye for an eye” trade off of what little each side has, there is more pity in McCarthy’s words than any sort of blame or reprimand. This, in contrast the activities of the cannibals that the protagonists encountered earlier, paints a stark contrast in The Road’s view of survival. The cannibals feast on the weak. They take and take, even going to far as to take the person themself. And, throughout the book, they show more open hostility that any sort of remorse, even when a youth is present. The protagonists, people of this middle social class in this post-apocalyptic order, are merely looking to right what has been wronged. They have been taken from, and in a fit of rage, try to lash out. And, much unlike those in the higher social class, show the remorse of returning to scene of the crime in which they realize their wrong before setting the rotting clothes back down in the road in the hope that the man comes back -- not because they have to, but because they want to. This is a key difference between them and the greedy top class of the cannibalistic
“Scrawny, sullen, bearded, filthy. His old plastic coat held together with tape… They could smell him in his stinking rags,” (McCarthy, 256).
Upon first reading this, it would seem that McCormac hast an open hostility, and even disgust for them. And that would certainly agree with how …show more content…
But in this moment, in this one very moment, it is key to overlook the scene that has just taken place. In the middle of this “eye for an eye” trade off of what little each side has, there is more pity in McCarthy’s words than any sort of blame or reprimand. This, in contrast the activities of the cannibals that the protagonists encountered earlier, paints a stark contrast in The Road’s view of survival. The cannibals feast on the weak. They take and take, even going to far as to take the person themself. And, throughout the book, they show more open hostility that any sort of remorse, even when a youth is present. The protagonists, people of this middle social class in this post-apocalyptic order, are merely looking to right what has been wronged. They have been taken from, and in a fit of rage, try to lash out. And, much unlike those in the higher social class, show the remorse of returning to scene of the crime in which they realize their wrong before setting the rotting clothes back down in the road in the hope that the man comes back -- not because they have to, but because they want to. This is a key difference between them and the greedy top class of the cannibalistic