Which Is The More Courageous Choice?

The establishment of the death penalty in the United States has raised controversy about the nature of the criminal punishment in terms of its ethical merit and inhumanity. What’s really more of a consequence? A sentence of lonely nights locked away in a monotonous, violent jail; or capital punishment: a sentence often deemed immoral, barbaric, and excessively cruel? Is the death sentence truly inhumane, or does it simply puts an end to that relentless misery that forms on behalf of your fear? In The Road By Cormac McCarthy, the man, the main character and victim of an apocalypse, made the courageous decision to choose living, in hopes of saving his sons life. The man does so in spite of his feelings of fear towards the violence and pain he inherently knew would be afflicted upon him and his son, because for the man, living life in an apocalyptic society was similar to jail. As well as despite his wife and sons mother committing suicide. The man struggles to survive through the violence and chaos of the apocalypse in order to maintain his sons innocence and the possibility of giving him a normal childhood, the more courageous and morale decision to live instead of die.

Everyday the man had to deal with the agony of living, knowing that death was within close proximity. The man is in a constant state of stress when McCarty describes that, “he’d been ready to die and he knew he wasnt going to and he had to think about that” (McCarthy 144). The man’s stress of his nearing death was constantly holding him down amidst his journey to some sort of security from the apocalypse. In stating that the man has to ponder the fact that he hadn’t just chosen to die shows his self doubt. The man didn’t know if he could handle all the pain him and his son were experiencing in the apocalypse. Throughout the novel, the man stays realistic about the possible future of him and his sons daring endeavours to live. When the man and his son discover a shed fully stocked with food and supplies that they had been lacking for so long McCarthy writes that, “some part of him wished they’d never found this refuge. Some part of him wished it to be over” (McCarthy 154). The man wishes they’d never discovered this shelter of safety to convey his knowledge that good things don’t last long during the apocalypse. He knew that pain and death were always in the foreseeable future, exposing the doubt he had over whether or not to continue living.

In The Road, the man had become so adjusted to the pain and fear that he became accustomed to numbing himself from his emotions and the possibility that he and his son could die at any point. Despite this, the boy’s life and safety were always his most urgent priority. Throughout their journey to seek safety, the man faces a sign that serves as a metaphor for his current way of living, “by the roadside stood another sign that warned of death, the letters faded with years. He almost smiled” (McCarthy 31). The man viewed the warning sign of death as darkly humorous because it’s irony; the sign was warning of death, and it was fading just like he was. As the novel continues, it becomes more and more apparent that the man is losing hope in the continuity of he and his sons life. The man begins to lose his will to fight for life when he says “people were always getting ready for tomorrow. I didnt believe in that. Tomorrow wasnt getting ready for them. It didnt even know they were there” (McCarthy 168). The man was able to comprehend that him or his son could tragically and horrifically die at any moment. Even with the knowledge of the hard reality that death was nearing close, the man still bravely pursues his journey to continue living for his son.

While understanding that a catastrophic event or encounter could ensue at any time, the father and son had an unbreakable bond. In a New York Times article called “Left Behind” by William Kennedy, Kennedy describes that both characters are, “brave and loving and good but tongue-tied on what else they are becoming” (Kennedy 2006). This article contradicts the claim that the man made the right and courageous decision to stay alive, by saying that what they are becoming is not worth the pain, when they are developing features to mold to survive in this inhumane, dystopian and apocalyptic society. Features that force the man to kill and go against his morals for the sake of his son. On the contrary, the man and his son are making their way down this abominable road out of the abundance of love they have for each other, making the choice to live and carry on with a positive perspective on society.

The novel is filled with a magnitude of scenes that suggest the man’s passionate and tenacious love for his son. The man is perpetually reassuring the boy when he says to the boy, “This is what the good guys do. They keep trying. They dont give up” (McCarthy 137). The man is consoling his son by telling him that they’re the “good guys” and they’ve made the right decision to not give up, to keep living. The man undoubtedly loves his don to a degree that is boundless; by the end of the road, this straining journey, all the man wants is his sons happiness and well being. During the frequent hardships among their travels along the road, the man says to his son, “Dont lose heart, he said. We’ll be alright” (McCarthy 177). Highlighting the common stylistic occurence of the apostrophe over “we will be alright”, but not “Do not lose heart” alluding to the theme of the father yearning to keep his sons life as ordinary as possible. We will get through this.

To officially answer the question at hand; Did the man in The Road by Cormac McCarthy make the more courageous choice to live or to die? The actuality concludes that The Road could be interpreted as a love story, meaning thar everything the man did on the road was for his son, and therefore, living was the more courageous choice. The man repeatedly emphasizes that they will not give up, they only will do. The true meaning of this novel explicates the trying and dire situations that were all encased with the love the man feels for his son. The Road By Cormac McCarthy proves itself to be love story about a man who made the decision to save his sons innocence and protect his livelihood, rather than choosing to be a weak and selfish man who would rather die than face the struggles that come with living.

Sources:

Kennedy, William. “Left Behind.” The New York Times, 8 Oct. 2006.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. Picador, 2019.