The Road Essay -- Literary Analysis, McCarthy

Why do you think McCarthy has chosen not to give his characters names? How do the generic labels of â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† affect the way you /readers relate to them? While reading The Road, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy, I was jerked from the warmth, comfort, and safety of my home and thrown into a cold, dark, and desolate world, walking alongside â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy†. McCarthy composes his work so graphically that readers are drawn right into the story. I believe Cormac McCarthy wanted the figures in this book to be universal, so that the reader could imagine him/her self as â€Å"the boy† or â€Å"the man† at any given moment, and to be able to feel as they do. To do this McCarthy did not designate the characters in his book with names, and because of this, I was able to connect with â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† on a personal level and envision myself uniting with them in their chilling journey. As the reader, I was deeply overwhelmed with many mixed emotions such as compassion, sadness, happiness, disgust, remorse, and fear. I have pity for the characters in the book The Road, because â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† have to pass day to day struggling to survive in a frigid bleak world where food is scarce â€Å"They squatted in the road and ate rice and cold beans they’d cooked days ago.† â€Å"Already beginning to ferment.†(McCarthy 29). The landscape is blackened, and mankind is almost extinct â€Å"The mummied dead everywhere.†(McCarthy 24). As I read on I noticed myself connecting more deeply with the characters. When the boy’s mother takes her own life, I was deeply saddened and my heart broke for â€Å"the boy† simply because his mom, someone he cherished and loved so much, had given up on hope and faith and deserted him. I just wan... ..., I jumped in the bed got as close to my husband as possible and eventually drifted off to sleep. When I finished reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy, I was astonished at how deep I was able to connect with the characters and the fact that this book touched me as deeply as it did. It also made me think what if†¦? In reality if this were to happen would I have the courage and strength of â€Å"the man† and â€Å"the boy† or would I be like the mother as McCarthy states it â€Å" †¦a faithless slut†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (57), who has taken death as a new lover. Over all I personally believe that this novel was absolutely fantastic, even though I had nightmares for a few nights after I had completed the book. This just goes to show what a great writer McCarthy is, he touches his readers so deeply they even dream about his work. I would defiantly pick up this book and read it again just for fun.