The Road is by no means a poorly written or uninteresting novel, yet I couldn't quite find it engaging. I simply can not accept the Man's character. Perhaps it's because I'm not a parent, or because I've never been starving and running for my life after experiencing the apocalypse, but I cannot understand the Man's mindset.
"We carry the fire,"
Are these just words to him? It appears so to me. For someone who lives solely to protect his son and keep "good" alive in the world, I can't see him as... righteous. He lacks conviction too much for me to understand why he keeps living, why he keeps his son living. His "We carry the fire" speech is his only excuse to keep living, but just because you don't eat people, doesn't mean you're a good person or carrying the fire. If he was truly a kindhearted person, why is only the son the one always pressuring him to help people? He may be the lesser of two evils, but he is by no means a good guy. If it were up to him, he'd leave every starving man or animal they pass. I don't blame him for that though, it's every man for himself if you want to survive in his world. There is no fire left for him to carry.
So that disregards his reason for living of "carrying the fire"...he certainly isn't doing it. But if he lives solely for his son, how come he couldn't muster up enough courage to overcome his sorrow and shoot his son when he died? A small act of compassion to save his son from dealing with the cannibal ridden, lonely and broken world he tried to hard to protect him from wasn't able to break through upon his death. (it was pure luck and by no knowledge of the father that the veteran was able to take in his son after his death). I can't believe his character because I don't understand why he was even there.
"We carry the fire,"
Are these just words to him? It appears so to me. For someone who lives solely to protect his son and keep "good" alive in the world, I can't see him as... righteous. He lacks conviction too much for me to understand why he keeps living, why he keeps his son living. His "We carry the fire" speech is his only excuse to keep living, but just because you don't eat people, doesn't mean you're a good person or carrying the fire. If he was truly a kindhearted person, why is only the son the one always pressuring him to help people? He may be the lesser of two evils, but he is by no means a good guy. If it were up to him, he'd leave every starving man or animal they pass. I don't blame him for that though, it's every man for himself if you want to survive in his world. There is no fire left for him to carry.
So that disregards his reason for living of "carrying the fire"...he certainly isn't doing it. But if he lives solely for his son, how come he couldn't muster up enough courage to overcome his sorrow and shoot his son when he died? A small act of compassion to save his son from dealing with the cannibal ridden, lonely and broken world he tried to hard to protect him from wasn't able to break through upon his death. (it was pure luck and by no knowledge of the father that the veteran was able to take in his son after his death). I can't believe his character because I don't understand why he was even there.
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