On page 35, the boy and father are continuously walking on the road that leads them to the south. A rare occurrence emerges, however, when they come across a waterfall. Although it is freezing cold both the boy and the man take advantage of the opportunity and take a bath in the waterfall. The scene provides a quick feeling of happiness in what appears to be a hopeless world. The feeling of happiness is quickly squashed when the boy learns that they cannot stay near the river because it is too dangerous, and so the father and son must return to the road. This scene also provides some further insight into the amount of destruction that has occurred by revealing that states have become non existent in the new America.
Later on their travel, the boy and father come across an abandoned truck on a bridge they must cross. Approaching it with caution, they learn that it is harmless and so they decided to rest in it for the night. Once awake, they come out into the light and the father discovers that the trailer behind the truck contains the bodies of people who died many years ago. After leaving the area and continuing down the path, the author Cormac McCarthy provides a rather confusing memory of the father in which he is arguing with "she", referring to his wife, about why she should not commit suicide. The excerpt ends in death when she slits her wrist with obsidian.
After the flashback, action finally begins picking up in the story on page 61. While camping out on the road the father hears a sound off in the distance. A diesel truck comes into sight and the father and boy realize that danger is on the way. Instantly the father gathers their belongings and he and the boy run off to the side of the road and take shelter in a small ditch. Unlucky towards the two, the truck breaks down right where they are located and it causes some unwanted interaction. The father and the boy encounter one of the men and the father has a gun pointed at the man and makes sure the man knows that the father is not afraid to shoot. His threat is put to the test when the man grabs the boy and puts a knife to his throat and instantaneously a bullet is lodged in his brain and the man dies. As a result of the noise, the boy and father are forced to flee and the boy is in shock of the dramatic situation that he was just in.
I would have to say that this book is definitely one of the most gloomy, omniscient books I have ever read. Everything is shrouded in darkness and Cormac McCarthy's description of this world adds to the feeling of emptiness felt by the characters. Although his writing is coated with adjectives, all have negative connotations which completely change all the nouns to give a dreadful feeling towards the reader. Even though The Road is very dark, it doesn't fail to capture my attention. It starts out sort of slow at the beginning, but as I continue reading the action is finally starting to pick up. I am very fond of the father in this novel because he is optimistic, and his cleverness in life threatening situations makes me wonder if I would have survived if put in that situation. Overall, this book is continuing to surpass my expectations and has proved to be a insightful read that uses a different approach of story telling to keep the reader interested.
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