The Road is a post apocalyptic novel about a man and his son as they travel through the wastelands of the United States. The story centers on their struggle for survival and their relationship. There are a number of interesting choices made by the author in telling this tale. I believe that these choice are very deliberately made to allow us to focus on the themes of the story.

The author chooses to leave the man and the boy unnamed. They are simply called the man and the boy. Later in the story, they give some food and share their fire with a man named Ely. Ely tells the man that Ely is not really his name and won’t give the man his real name. Ely does this out of protection, but it is also appears related to the idea that we don’t know the main characters name as well. While Ely chooses to lie about who he is the man and boy do not. They are simply the man and boy. When society breaks down and societal norms are gone, who do we become? Do we become the deceiver, Ely? Or, do we become simply the man? What does that choice say about our character?

The author chooses not to tell us what caused the world to be destroyed. We can guess from the clues he gives, such as the ash and lack of animals. We don’t really know though. By leaving it unnamed, the author doesn’t need to delve deeply into causes. He can again put the focus on the man and the boy and the man’s effort to remain human.

The author chooses to make the “bad” guys cannibals. Ok, so I have to admit here that I have a HUGE problem with cannibals. This just really bothers me. I stopped watching the Walking Dead when the people started being cannibals. I know that if there were an event like this, cannibalism would happen. I just hate it! So, I may read more into this than there is. I imagine he made them cannibals because it is the lowest that a person can go in evilness in this type of enivironment. The author makes a distinction between hurting others for preservation as opposed to evilness. By having the evilness represent the bad guys, his killing on the road becomes more justifiable.

This was a really good book (minus the cannibals). It made me think a lot about how we keep our humanity in this situation. Also, we think we know food insecurity and worrying about eating. We don’t. We haven’t even come close. The man knows about food insecurity. I can not imagine surviving in this world the author created.

Look out List

• Cannibalism
• Cannibalism
• Cannibalism
• Murder, Scene with many people being held captive for . . .cannibalism, scene of baby being cooked
• Mild language – really not an issue at all