Jamel D's English Journal

One of the main methods employed by McCarthy in bringing the story to a close is tone, for the majority of novel the tone varies from emotional to to factual through which McCarthy is able to convey the most minute details pertaining to the daily lives of the two men as well as showing their relationship. However towards the end the tone cascades from an almost hopeful tone to a more drab reflection of the goings on. After the man is injured and needs to tend to his wounds it is explained that he takes the first aid kit ‘without comment’ in the light of the his treatment of the boy earlier in the book the father appears cold and unfeeling as opposed to his previous seemingly joyful demeanor. Furthermore prior to this display of stoicism from the Father he is described as shouting to the boy ‘Get the first-aid kit, damn it’ this random outburst of anger adds to the tone of hopelessness and the emergence of what appear to be true emotions. McCarthy also provides a dark omen in the dialogue, earlier in the book a hopeful tone is maintained through the reassurances of the father but on page 298 there is a swift change. The boy says ‘You said you wouldn’t ever leave me’ which is met with a reply of ‘I know. I’m sorry’. This piece of dialogue is drastically different from other examples, there is no reassurance and no motivational response, the Man has accepted his fate and wants to make peace with the Boy before his death; this dark, macabre tone continues on to the point of the Father’s death when the child awakes to find his dad lifeless and ‘stiff’. During the ending few pages of the book McCarthy does return to the hopeful tone in both the character of the long-awaited ‘good guys’ and the unseemly discourse on ‘brook trout’ both of which giving the idea of a new beginning or evolution into something greater and better.

McCarthy also makes use of third-person narrative that doesn’t only give the reader an outside perspective but at times appears to show the goings-on through the eyes of the two characters as well. One of the most profound examples of the transition into a first-person view is on page 299 when the Father wakes up a short time before passing away: the narrator states ‘He woke in the darkness’ but a short while after the perspective morphs into that of the Man ‘Drip of water. A fading light. Old dreams encroached upon the waking world’ these short sentences from the psyche of the older protagonist are indicative of him understanding that his death is imminent, proven true by the fact that his last part of dialogue follows on from the passage. The third-person, pansophical narrator also proves to be an effective story-telling method, the freedom because of the narrators steady presence means that McCarthy is able to describe what happens to the characters but also go into descriptions of the landscape.

A final, less explicit method employed by McCarthy is that of imagery and symbolism. Despite the eponymous road being an actual physical structure it can be perceived as what is also a reflection of the characters’ mindset. From the opening of the book it is made clear that the aim of the two is to travel south and reach a warmer climate, such a concrete objective is popular within post-apocalyptic novels but the road seems to be a constant presence throughout the events that transpire on their journey. Also regardless of what happens to the pair they always seem to return to the road and continue along it as if intense events did not occur beforehand which does seem to insinuate that the road might not only be a structure but additionally some sort of entity that draws in all manner of individuals. The Road serves not only as a major plot device but as a symbol of all the novel represents, change, transition and seeking new beginnings. The concept of ‘carrying the fire’ is also an allegory reiterated throughout the book, obviously the named fire is not physical but most likely a way of referring to the principles passed onto the boy by his father, this depicts the boy as a sort of messianic child responsible for transporting a code of ethics and passing it on this brings an optimistic end to an otherwise dark novel but also gives the reader a chance to develop ideas about what would happen after the book comes to a close.