The Road at the End of the World - Sentimentality and Nihilism in the Journey through the Post-Apocalyptic World of Cormac McCarthy’s Novel "The Road"

Abstract

The aim of this study is to analyse the meaning and implication of the post-apocalyptic future portrayed in Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road. Propelling the plot of this novel is a journey on the road that is perpetuated in the post-apocalyptic state of limbo, a state that offers no progression for the characters. A road-narrative in this post-apocalyptic state results in a break with the progressive and change motifs assigned to traditional road narratives and constitute the main elements of the anti-road-novel-structure in The Road. By looking at the journey with the novel’s bleak surroundings in mind, the study aims to show how several critics out of a sentimental wish for the characters too optimistically tend to extend hope reflected in the relationship between the two main characters, the father and his son, to incorporate a possible future for the boy and humanity. With the results of the analysis on limbo and the road-narrative a comparative analysis is made to other critics’ conclusions. The comparative analysis highlights the importance of separating the sentimental reading from a more realistic reading of the post-apocalyptic journey. After doing this, one becomes able to view the novel as a powerful warning on the loss of human goodness and its capability to progress and influence in the world should an apocalypse happen.