A study of The Road, by Cormac McCarthy

Group memebers: Shilah Squires, Jessica Van-Nugent, Shane Paniec & Semhar Mebrahtu

Table of Contents: Passage Analysis 1 Page 1 Passage Analysis 2 Page 2 iii.Passage Analysis 3 Page 3 iv. Character Quotes

Passage Analysis One Page 49, line 7 – page 50, line 21.
This passage is a key point in The Road, because the reader gets a glance into the mind of the boy, and sees what type of person he truly is. He is shown to be a gentle, caring, soft-hearted little boy, unlike his Papa. Without much effort the boy sees the best in everyone, and he thinks that everyone he comes across will have good intentions. While his father does the exact opposite and assumes no one will have good intentions. For example in this passage they come across a man who had been struck by lightning, the boy was devastated by the fact that they could not help him. This passage reveals some of the mystery that was initially created by Cormac McCarthy by not revealing their names.

Passage Analysis Two Page 54, line 4 - page 55, line 14.
This passage helps the reader get to know the characters, and witness their struggles first hand. They boy admitting that he wanted to die, to be with his mother, although endearing and heartwarming, it is incredibly mortifying. No child should ever have to go through what this child goes through, and the reader can really feel the bleakness through the words on the page. McCarthy does this with the intention to make the reader really feel the book, not just read it. This is a pivotal moment within the novel because this is the point where the anxiety heightens; the author fully shows the hardships that the characters endure.

Passage Analysis 3 Page 278, line 8 - page 379, line 24
This passage is by far the most touching moment in the entire novel. The final words shared by a dying father and his son, causes the reader to worry wholeheartedly about the boy, and his fate. No one knows how he’ll survive on his own, so the fathers passing is even more heartbreaking because of what he has left behind. At the same moment there is a spark of hope, because looking back, the father educated his son well, well enough to take on what was lying ahead of him. The author intended for a slurry of emotions at this point, by doing this he draws the reader in much deeper and makes them not only feel the bond between the father and son, but also anticipate the future event to come in the boy’s life.

Character Quotes

“When things go wrong,