Scarica Riassunto del libro “The road” e più Sintesi del corso in PDF di Lingua Inglese solo su Docsity! THE ROAD Cormac McCarthy SUMMARY The novel begins with the man and boy in the woods, the boy asleep, as the two of them are making their journey along the road. The story is set in a post-apocalyptic world, date and place unnamed, though the reader can assume it's somewhere in what was the United States because the man tells the boy that they're walking the "state roads." Neither the man nor the boy is given a name. From the start, it's clear that the boy is all the man worries about. He is all the man has, and the man believes that he's been entrusted by God to protect the boy. He keeps a pistol with him at all times, unless he goes inside a house. Then he gives the pistol to the boy. The pistol, though, only has two bullets. They come upon towns and cities that are mere shells of what they once were. Remnants of the old world often — like houses, billboards, and hotels — clash with the reality of the new world, reminding the man of the life he once lived. The man remembers an evening spent on the lake with his uncle. And he remembers his wife — who left him and the boy, presumably to kill herself and escape this horrible new world. The man and boy come upon the house where the man grew up. The boy is scared of this house, as he is of many of the houses. The boy worries they'll run into someone, like the roadagents or bad guys who eat people in order to survive. The man and boy are cold and starving, as they are for most of the novel. As they travel, they are on a constant lookout for food, clothing, shoes, supplies, and roadagents. As they continue moving south, the man and boy run into other towns and landscapes that act as skeletons of the old world, both literally and metaphorically. They see bones of creatures and humans alike, as well as empty houses, barns, and vehicles. They find a train in the woods, and the man shows the boy how to play conductor. The boy asks his father about the sea. He wants to know if it's blue. The man says it used to be. The man has a fever, which causes the two to camp in the woods for over four days. The boy is afraid his father is going to die, and the man's dreams turn to dead relatives and better times in his life. The boy's dreams continue to be bad, and the man encourages him, saying that his bad dreams mean he hasn't given up. The man says he won't let his son give up. Their arrival at the coast is anti-climactic. The water looks gray and the boy is disappointed. It looks as if, even at the southern coast, life isn't sustainable. But the boy, with his father's encouragement, runs to the waves and swims in the ocean, which lifts both his and his father's spirits. The man stitches up his leg and they press on. The man grows weaker, his cough worsening and becoming even bloodier than before. The man's dreams soften and he knows he's going to die.
