The Road (206-287)

<---"The Apocalypse"
Summary
Things start to get better for the old man, the son, and the father. They travel far south, according to the father that they haven't encountered any danger. The father is very proud of that because his son is still alive. He was afraid of dying and leaving the boy alone because he's been having pleasant dreams. The father believes pleasant dreams means that death is coming after you, however frighten dreams are a sign of a better day. But the father keeps having pleasant dreams of his wife who committed suicide because she didn't want to live in world anymore because it was corrupted and too cold. The father, the son and the old man reach a water fall and find a house. They wash up and get cleaned. The old man begins to look fresh and healthier. They were afraid to go in the house because it could be a trap from the survivor who tried to eat them before. However, the father did go in, and he found food and clothes, and the house was warm. The boy comes out and sees an old man waving but disregards him because he didn't look familiar but it was the old man who's been traveling with them. They live there for a couple of days together with no danger at all. They ate, they washed and they slept, and they father still had the recurring pleasant dreams of his wife. Couple of days later the father died of an illness near the lake and left his son alone, however nothing was mentioned of the old man. He wept and cried for many hours over his father's body, and while he was sitting next to the body a family came behind him who’s been following them to this point; which included a son, a daughter, a wife and the husband. They took the boy into their family. This symbolizes a hope for the human race to be repopulated because amongst the family was a daughter, and the son was attracted to her...And so the book ends!


Quote
"They entered the Drawingroom. The shape of a carpet beneath the silty ash. Furniture shrouded in sheeting. Pale squares on the walls where paintings once had hung" (McCarthy 206).

Reaction
This is the description of the house the found while traveling. It gives them a sense of a new beginning because every house they encountered has no food, no clothing, just abandoned. However, this house shows a sign of life in it. There’s food, clothing, and warmth. It gives a sense of security and home.

The Road By Cormac Mccarthy (111-205)

Summary
During this Post-apocalyptic (predicting or presaging imminent disaster and total or universal destruction) crisis the father and the son begins to witness horrible things. It all starts when the father walks into a gasoline station in search of food and clothing and a possible shelter. However, they were chased by a group of survivors as preys; hunting them down to eat them. The boy was terrified by how many people were eaten by these groups of deadly survivors. The father and the son ran with fear while the father shoots them with the pistol he had. Some survivors turned to cannibalism to survive because of how hungry they were. This event is related to the history of the "Donner Party." The Donner Party was a group of California-bound American who were traveling heading to California led by a man George Donner. However, George Donner took the wrong roots and they became snowbound in the Sierra Nevada in the winter of 1846–1847, and some of them resorted to cannibalism (people eating each other). The boy becomes frightened about what can happen to him and his father and the old man if they become too hungry. He begins questioning the father, if they will ever eat anyone, and the father and the old man assures the boy that they will not eat anyone else. The lived off what they found on the streets, such as rotten apples that have been turned brown, and coca-cola the father finds along the way. As they keep traveling they encounter other survivors, however, they keep moving because soon enough, the others will find them and eat them, but they stop to eat and drink before leaving heading south where is warmer.

Quote:
"A creaking of tin somewhere high in the roof above him. There was yet a lingering odor of cows in the barn and he stood there thinking about cows and he realized they were extinct. Was that true? There could be a cow somewhere being fed and cared for. Could there? Fed what? Saved for what?" (McCarthy 120).

Reaction:
The fact that he realizes that cows have been extinct relates to human race as well. There is nothing alive left anymore. They are just barely dead people walking the face of the earth, and those who did survive are eating each other with no hope.




"The Donner Party"