campea

As a piece of post-apocalyptic fiction, The Road does appeal to my more cynical tendencies. In a world in which we are all blatantly bent toward survival, those that seem safest and most prosperous are those willing to be wicked. But that is not why I appreciated the book, nor do I think it to be the central message of it. Though this is a story occurring during the bleakest of possible futures, it uses the darkness to heighten the contrast between animal survival and human compassion. McCarthy calls it "the fire," which the father constantly reminds his son they both carry. The question being, can such a thing as compassion provide for survival?

2023-06-20 18:49