The Road Essay

Which is Triumphant? In The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, it presents a dark view of humanity and its future. A boy and his father constantly mention the differences between “good guys” and “bad guys,” trying their best to be the “good” ones. They are living during an apocalypse that is filled with evil, but the boy manages to do good deeds. Through the boy’s goodness, McCarthy shows that good ultimately triumphs over evil. Despite what the man thinks, the boy almost always convinces him to do what is right. He and the man see an elderly man whose “name” they find out is Ely. The man does not want to help Ely and urges the boy to leave. On the other hand, the boy insists that they help this poor man. “‘He’s scared, Papa…. Maybe we could give him something to eat.’ ‘He’s not getting a spoon.’ The boy took the tin and handed it to the old man. ‘Take it... Eat it. It’s good. Can we give him something else?’” (164-165).
Even though the man wants to leave and ignore this old grimy man, the boy convinces him to make food for Ely. The boy is generous and caring, especially for someone so young. The way he gives the food to Ely at the side of the road gives us a sense of goodness and selflessness in the boy.
No matter what situation they get into, the boy always tried his best to be a “good guy.” For example, when the man and the boy come back to their campsite everything is gone. A thief stole their whole cart causing them to have nothing. They catch the thief and the man threatens him by pointing a flare pistol at him. “Papa please don’t kill the man. The boy was crying” (256). Although the thief had left the two stranded with no food or essentials, the boy begs his father not to hurt the man. He is genuinely caring and forgiving towards the thief, despite leaving them with nothing to survive. Unfortunately, his father consequently forces the thief to strip completely naked and return the cart. The boy quickly becomes distraught. As they leave this poor