The Road By Cormac McCarthy (Spoiler Alert)

Cormac McCarthy's The Road is a tale of a son and his father, neither of which are named, and their trek through a post-apocalyptic North America. Their goal is to reach the southern coast because the father believes it will be warmer than the almost inhabitable north and he believes that there will be more food available there. They must also survive horrible conditions and confrontations with cannibals. Most humans still living have turned to cannibalism to survive, as a result of this, the father must protect his son from anyone they come in contact with. This novel is very very VERY graphic. In fact, the director of the movie into which the novel is made (featuring Vigo Mortenson) left out several scenes at the request of McCarthy because of their graphic nature. One such scene in the novel that is not in the film is a scene in which a newborn infant (meaning hours old infant) is roasted on a fire. Along their journey the father and son find scraps of food, clothing, and other materials they use to scrape by. The most important of the items they carry however is the gun that has 2 bullets in it. One bullet for the son, and one bullet for the father in the event that they cannot escape cannibals who literally cook people alive. The father uses one bullet on a man who threatens their survival, and instructs the boy to kill himself if he is caught, the father can not bear the thought of his son being tortured by cannibals. Throughout the novel we find out that the mother committed suicide shortly after the unknown cataclysmic event, something the father can not forgive her for doing. About halfway through this novel we find out that the father has begun spitting up blood and is dying, something he refuses to tell his son, instead he continues to protect his son to the best of his abilities and to teach him how to survive without him. The father and son do eventually reach the sea through much trial, but they are disappointed to discover that there is no surplus of food like they had expected and the weather is just as inhabitable as where they had come from originally. Eventually the father does die of his illness, but before this he tells his son that he will always be with him through the boys imagination After three days of the son sitting over his father's corpse, he meets a man with a family who offers to take the boy in with his family and protect him. The boy leaves with this seemingly nice family after covering his father with a blanket, a crude burial.

Questions:

Throughout the novel the boy and his son refer to themselves as the "Good Guys," and they refer to the cannibals as the "Bad Guys." There are many instances in history (recent history too not just medieval) where people resort to, in times of life or death, cannibalizing their dead companions. Do you, on a survival level, think that cannibalism is indicative of "Bad Guys?" What about on a moral level?

As stated earlier the father never forgives his wife/mother of the son for killing herself, however he keeps the gun so he can kill his son if the time arose. There are several times throughout the novel where the son and father are in danger of being tortured, killed, and eaten. (A) Would you, put in the situation of the father have killed yourself and your son instead of travelling hundreds of miles without the knowledge of whether or not your circumstances would improve? (B) If you knew that they would not improve would your answer to (A) change?