Reading: The Road pages 131-160; By: Cormac McCarthy

     Starting on page 132, all things seem hopeless. The man and boy have gone days possibly weeks without a solid income of food and thoughts of death are starting to appear in their heads. The boy especially is beginning to lose hope in his father and agrees with his dad, but thinks in his mind that they are going to die. They continue their mental battle until they come across a charred house and like before they must enter it to look for some food. The father found nothing in the house and so he then went out back to check a tool shed. In the tool shed the father finds a gas can that somehow has managed to still contain a little gas. Needing a container to put it in, the father begins to cross the yard.
    On the way through the grass to the house the father stopped walking. He wondered why he had stopped walking in realized the ground had felt different. He then grabs a shovel from the shed and pierces the ground where he was standing. A sudden thump, and the father began shoveling away dirt. As if finding buried treasure, the father continues shoveling off all the dirt until all that remains is a locked wooden door. When the boy sees the sight he his very frightened because he recalls what happened at the other house earlier when they found the horrid people in the basement. Understanding the boys emotions the father tells the boy that they can just sit on the porch and wait a while. After convincing the son, the father goes back to the door and breaks the lock. With a custom built lamp of a beer bottle and cloth, the father opens the hatch to the room underneath the ground. Suspense builds as the unknown approaches, and to the father's surprise he discovered a miracle.
    In the room in the yard the father uncovers an untouched area full of an array of multiple foods, utensils, and survival needs. Amazed by their find the father is breath taken and begins looking around and finds canned peaches and other canned goods, lighters, an oven, blankets, and many other useful goods. The father begins cooking a meal for the two of them which consists of peaches and the boy insists that they thank the people who made this room. the boy and father continue staying in the area for around four more days so they can rest and eat. On the fourth day the boy and father load up all the goods they can from the room and place it in a shopping cart they picked up at a shopping center earlier. Replenished and with a full supply of food, the father and boy begin to walk down the road once agian.
   For the first time in this book I have felt a feeling of relief. I believe that Cormac McCarthy not only put this scene of the boy and father finding a plethora of goods for the survival of the characters but as a relief feeling for the reader as well. This occurrence finally portrays a feeling of hope for the boy and dad who had previously hit rock bottom, and it lets the reader know that goods thing happen to those who look for it. I am very happy with this book so far, and with the characters replenished and optimistic again, I am ready for a new start.