The Road

Taylor Schuler
Mr. Jiles
1st Blue
Sep 17. 2013
Morality or Immorality?
In the novel, The Road, there are countless times the two main characters go against what they probably believe to be considered “good”. The man is put in situations where he has no choice but to go against his morals and it is only because of the surroundings both of them are put in. Trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic era challenged the man and the little boy to make hard choices and to consider what really is good or evil. In a New York Times article William Kennedy said that, “Cannibalism became a major enterprise after the food gave out. Deranged chanting became the music of the new age” (Kennedy). This shows the fear they had while living in this world. However, these decisions that are made are only for the survival of the little boy, which keeps the man alive and going. In this novel, the man has to go against his morality by having to decide between either life or death, the helping of others on the road, and trust by performing immoral acts.
First, the main choices and decisions in the novel the man has to make have to do with life or death. In order to survive the apocalypse, the man has resorted to not really trusting anyone they come into contact with on the road. When cannibalism is all around them during this time, it is understandable to not be able to trust absolutely anybody. It is so hard for the man to trust anyone also because he needs the boy in order to stay alive. The man looks at the boy as a guardian angel of some sort. The little boy is the only “good” that keeps the both of them going and he is looked at in the book as the Christ figure. At times, it is hard for the boy to understand what the man has to do protect and maintain survival for him. In the novel, the boy witnesses the man shoot a road agent after holding him captive. This would not be necessarily considered “good” when it comes to morality, but it is the right thing to do in that very...