2. Loathe is a verb meaning to dislike
greatly; to abhor; to feel disgust for.
For example, if you have a mean
instructor, you might say that you loathe
her.
Loath is an adjective meaning unwilling
or reluctant.
For example, you might say that you are
loath to to spend time with your mean
instructor outside of work.
Loathe versus Loath
5. Set in a conceivable future, after a global catastrophe,
The Road tells the story of a father and a son as they
tread along a forsaken highway awash with marauders
and cannibals.
It is perhaps the most chilling commentary of the post-
9/11 world. The post-apocalyptic setting plays upon the
public’s fear of terrorism, pandemics, genocide, and
weapons of mass destruction.
We can also hear the poetic passages of desolation and
are reminded of Dante’s descent into hell or T. S. Eliot’s
The Waste Land.
McCarthy also wrestles with the ever-present question of
the existence of God: the father tells the boy, “There is
no God and we are his prophets.”
6. THE SETTING
The Road is set in some undetermined location.
There is mention of distant mountains, several rivers
and creeks, the Piedmont (a plain that runs along the
eastern side of the Appalachian Mountains), and a
coastline.
The landscape and the air are soaked in thick, gray
ash.
Vegetation has been destroyed. There are no fish in
the water.
When snow falls, it collects the ash in the air and
falls to the earth already gray.
7. 1. WHAT CAUSED THE
DEVASTATION OF THE LAND?
PROVIDE THE CLUES YOU USED TO
COME TO YOUR CONCLUSION.
2. DISCUSS A THEME FROM THE
NOVEL: DESTRUCTION, SURVIVAL,
ISOLATION, DEATH, OR HOPE
3. EXAMINE THE CONCEPT OF
TRUST AND MISTRUST IN THE
ROAD.
4. ANALYZE THE SYMBOL OF
INNOCENCE AND HOW IT PERTAINS
TO THE SON IN THE ROAD.
5. INTRODUCE ANOTHER CONCEPT
OR SYMBOL
Discussion Questions
8. 1.Discuss the
novel as a
postmodern work
2.Use a critical
lens to start a
discussion
3.Discuss the
American Dream
as it manifests in
The Road
4.QHQ
10. POSTMODERN ASPECTS
The Road is postmodern because the characters don’t have
name and they have different experiences and the setting is
some fragmented post-apocalypse
“The Road” is a postmodern work because of the format. It
doesn’t follow the normal convention and plays with
something that wasn’t really normal at the time. I am talking
about the weird punctuation. Another reason why it is
postmodern is because of the theme. There isn’t really much
that goes on in terms of external conflict.
The prospect that anyone and everyone could be destroyed in
nuclear holocaust is a very postmodern idea, however, the
survival that would come afterwards is even more so a
postmodern idea. It subscribes to the primary concept that
drives this literary movement; chaos.
12. CRITICAL LENS
The ambiguity of “carrying the fire” in The Road can be interpreted both
literally and metaphorically. On a literal level, the fire is a guiding light for the
father and son through the perpetual darkness of the landscape. However, the
father and son roam a land that is completely desolate and devoid of any
beauty, rendering the ability to see such atrocity, arguably obsolete. Not being
able to see becomes a defense mechanism to not become an internal
reflection of the environment—in this case, a reflection of barren hopelessness.
Despite the dark, the father and son can still see their way, as their existence
becomes diminished to mere survival. In reaction, “carrying the fire,” on a
metaphorical level, is maintaining hope that life goes beyond than just
surviving. Life becomes about moving past hardship and towards the
“unimaginable future, glowing in that waste like a tabernacle” (89). Regardless
of how bad the world may be, a person must first find hope within him or
herself in order to gain the motivation to move forward—never worrying about
the past or future, but the present moment of which they must decide whether
to give up or keep fighting for new life.
14. In modernist literature, American dream is about money and
success. When the person has more money, it means the
greater success. We can also find characters’ desire for the
social mobility. Marriage and love often become means to
achieve the higher class. Jim and Gatsby are the ones who
look for the success. However, when the theme comes to the
postmodernist literature, American dream becomes a matter
of survival. The postmodernist authors discuss how the
minority should survive among in this unequal society.
Moreover, Cormac McCarthy talks about morality in “The
Road.” American dream is not about success, but it’s about
how to survive in this immoral dystopia.
THE AMERICAN DREAM
15. The American Dream is present in The Road through a
deteriorated, more hopeless manifestation. The Man does
everything he can, and is prepared to do absolutely anything for
the sake of The Boy, which could be paralleled with the American
desire to do anything “for the children”. It is typically thought to
be just and upright to work hard and struggle so that one may
provide for the children, as they are the future of America.
Putting in work and struggling for the longevity of your nation –
what’s more American than that? The Dream is also seen in The
Man’s dreams, as they are fantastical and sometimes
nightmarish, adding to the idea of struggle but also hold
elements of the perfect American dream, such as his wife. The
entire scenario is also representative of Americans pursuing the
American Dream – The Man and The Boy toil, struggle, and
barely survive on their way to an end destination, which is
supposed to be “good”, though there is nothing concrete at the
end.
THE AMERICAN DREAM
16. QHQS
1. Why didn’t the man and his son simply stay at the bunker and ride out the
next months and years with the food and shelter it provided?
2. How do you retain your humanity in a human less world.
3. Why don’t we have the man and boy’s names in “The Road”?
4. Discuss the significance of the ‘good guys’ who are ‘carrying the fire’.
5. What is the importance of and effect of McCarthy’s use of negative
contractions in the novel?
6. What do you think of the mother’s refusal to say goodbye to her son and
insistence of killing herself? How does her character act as a foil to the
man?
7. What is the significance of McCarthy using a father and son as main
characters in “The Road”?
17. POSTING: SELF-ASSESSMENT
The blogging post points (100) require self-
assessment. Consider three aspects of your
responses:
• First, how many of the posts did you make? (26 possible:
four points for each one: one freebie)
• Second, what was the quality of your response?
• Third, how timely were your submissions?
Write a brief argument justifying your grade.
This is due before the final. Please submit it as an email to
palmoreessaysubmission@gmail.com
18. END OF DAYS
Class 23: Thursday,
June 25th: 9:15-
11:15
Final Exam
Revision of essay #1
due before class
begins
Essay #2 due before
class begins
19. FINAL EXAM: 200 POINTS
40 objective questions
10 rules of writing
7 character identification
7 fill in the blank
8 who wrote it?
7 Passage identification
Name the author (first and last
name and the work
1 Comprehensive Essay
Question: 100 points
