Book Review: Cormac McCarthy - The Road
As I was reading this book, I found myself afraid to go on. With every new page came the danger of something bad happening to the characters. The rapidly dying world that McCarthy has imagined serves first of all to remind me that no such protection will exist when the real end comes.
Although the situation of the novel is imagined, the specifics are irrelevant. McCarthy wisely avoids discussion of why and how the world has reached its terminal state, in which clouds cover the sky and all plants have died, leaving the survivors to scavenge for preserved foods that were made before the apocalyptic event. Regardless of whether this situation is scientifically accurate, it resonates strongly in a society as obsessed with progress as ours. Even if the end doesn't occur in our lifetimes, it must come eventually, even if we hold out until the universe collapses. No amount of planning can save us. The son of the unnamed protagonist, who never knew civilization, does not truly believe the stories that his father tells him about the world that was; with him the continuity is broken, as it must eventually be. All he can do is "carry the flame" of goodness, trying to survive as long as he can without resorting to cannibalism and savagery, as most of those who remain have.
The sincerity of this "flame" is subject to question. The biggest objections I had while reading the novel were on the ethics of the protagonist. First is the potential for sexism in McCormac's depiction of him; his wife gives up while he refuses to do so, and the lack of names suggests that they are meant to stand in for men and women in general. Second is that the protagonist distinguishes himself from the savages only by his refusal to eat human meat; he does not hesitate to kill when it is to his advantage. But in retrospect the novel neither advocates the type of life that the man lives nor suggests that it would be typical. The boy is traumatized by his father's violence, and in particular by an incident late in the novel when the man takes the clothes of a disarmed attacker and leaves him to die. What the novel advocates in the end is kindness over self-interest, even if that means the flame must die sooner.
This reading may not be in line with McCarthy's intentions, but that doesn't keep me from finding the book powerful on my terms. McCarthy's post-apocalyptic world not only serves in a literal capacity as a comment on the inevitable end that our society must face, but it also works as an allegory for our individual mortality, particularly when viewed in light of modern subjectivity. The man and boy encounter a number of people during the course of the novel, but after each of them departs they are never seen again. Similarly, many of the interactions that occur in modern society are superficial, one-off encounters. Such encounters are not personal enough to be emotionally satisfying in the short term; but, as the novel directly illustrates, nor can society as a whole be a satisfying long-term end, since we know that it won't last. Some have read the novel as a plea for the return of religion in the face of such a predicament, but I think it is more a celebration of irrational kindness and tenderness over formal and self-interested relations with others. Tenderness is not a long-term goal; it is the one thing that we don't need the promise of a future, be it corporeal or spiritual, to appreciate.
It's a celebration, but it's not a joyful celebration. The Road is hardly uplifting, and too gruesome for me to recommend unilaterally. If you're inclined to wallow in the pointlessness of existence, however, then it's essential reading. Also, don't worry about the Oprah's book club sticker. It peels off easily.
