The Road
In the book, The Road, the author writes, "He knew only that the child was his warrant" (McCarthy 5). The word I was focusing on was 'warrant' which means a document issued legally by the government authorizing the police to be able to arrest or search something or someone. Having this information, how do you think the man would have lived without the boy?
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ReplyDeleteI agree with Nicole. I don't think that the man would have lasted long without the boy, seeing as the boy was his sole motivation to continue living. There were multiple instances in which not only the man, but the boy as well, expressed their dependency upon one another during their journey. An example of their fierce codependency was when they reached the storage room with the abundance of food. While the boy was hesitant to eat from other person's supply, the man was so worried about his health that he did not think twice about taking it; "They would want us to. Just like we would want them to" (McCarthy 139). The boy had been very sickly from malnutrition and terrible living conditions, and the man knew he would not be able to make it south on his own. On the other hand, if the official definition of warrant is "a document issued by a legal or government official authorizing the police or some other body to make an arrest, search premises, or carry out some other action relating to the administration of justice" then there is a possibility that the man would have been implying that the boy was his physical property, simply a crutch to keep him walking on (Dictionary.com). However, basing these inferences off the other instances where the man treats the boy like a real person instead of an object for his survival, I believe that McCarthy just utilized this diction in a figurative manner in order to give the reader a strong mental image of dependency. Another example of when the boy and the man exhibit codependency is when the man dies and the boys is in a state of confusion and grief. He does not know what to do now that the one he had been so dependent on to live has passed away. The boy "stayed three days and then he walked out to the road and he looked down the road and he looked back the way they had come" (McCarthy 281). This confusion and state of isolation just shows that he probably would not have survived much longer -- especially in his state -- without the man's protection and advising if the other family had not shown up and taken the boy under their wing. With the man constantly reminding himself that his sole desire was to keep the boy safe, it is safe for the reader to assume that a similar situation would have occurred had the roles been switched and the boy had passed away instead of the man.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the boy was never born? Then how do you think the man would have been like?
DeleteHm. Fanfiction au question. Like I said, I don't think the man would have lasted long after his wife committed suicide. He would not have any motivation seeing as he requires all outside motivation even for simply staying alive. I think he would have committed suicide shortly after his wife, maybe even at the same time.
Delete(No Grade) I agree with both of these responses. I believe that the only reasons that the man stayed alive was for the boy. The boy was the only thing that kept the man pushing through all of the hardships. In my opinion, I believe that the man would've committed suicide if the boy had died, just like his mother did early on. The warrant refers to something that you have to follow by law. The man feels as if he is required to stay alive in order to protect and defend his son. It is the man's duty to remain alive for the sake of the boy because he is the only one who can show the boy what's right from wrong. He is trying his best to give the boy the life that he should've had in the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThis is a good question, it is short and sweet. This questions the inter identity of the book. But without the boy there wouldn’t have been much of a book because Papa would have died very quickly. Besides committing suicide the man would have died early on. The boy was clearly the only thing that the man lived for. When his wife left him the only thing Papa had left in life was the boy. At many points Papa tells the boy that he will never leave him. Papa would be to depressed to continue on with life and would be rob, raped, or killed. “’Don’t go away, the boy said.’ ‘Of course I wouldn’t go away.’ ‘Even for just a little while.’ ‘No. I’m right here.’” (Cormac McCarthy, 247) With this conversation between the charters show just how much they rely on one another. The boy fears Papa will leave him, but Papa would not be able to leave him because the boy relies on Papa just as much as Papa relies on the boy. If the boy had died or lost Papa, then Papa would have died of in vain. Even for the few seconds when Papa cannot see the boy, Papa freaks out and looks franticly for the boy. Like a warrant the boy many times did hinder and slow down Papa. I believe Papa would have lived much better and longer but due to his emotional attachment to the boy he needed him.
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