McCarthy Unabridged: The Road, Page 287

The passage below is what I think could be added to Cormac McCarthy’s The Road before the final edition.

So where are we going?

You’ll see.

What is there?

Let’s just say we’re going to the good guys.

The good guys?

Yes, the good guys.

And are they carrying the fire?

Yes, they’re carrying the fire.

They walked through the sand and calculated the sky. The days seemed longer, it was getting warmer and the grey clouds slowly disappeared. They have been walking for a couple of days already, approaching their destination.

The man stepped passed the bank and towards the woods. There in the middle of the woods was an open confined community, surrounded squarely by a 20 foot concrete wall. The boy still wrapped up in the blanket, followed the man to the gate.

Here we are. Welcome to Margin.

What is this place?

This is the home of the survivors.

So no one here eats people?

Nope, we don’t eat people. I told you, we’re the good guys. Everyone here is just like you and me.

Come on follow me, let’s get you settled in.

Infamiliar faces observed the boy as he tailed the man. The pistol was still with him, just like Papa said. He didn’t let anyone take his Pistol. It was the only physical part of Papa, that the boy had. The man brought the boy into a tent.

There’s someone I want you to meet.

There stood a woman with blonde hair. As she made eye contact with the boy she started to cry.

Jonathan?

Mama?

Jonathan ran towards her in tears hugging her in disbelief.

For my creative piece I have decided to add my part to the ending of the book which is on page 287. The boy and the man 2.0 start to build somewhat of a relationship. The man 2.0 is leading and replacing Papa as he continues the journey that the boy Papa started down south. As you see in the dialogue between the boy and the man 2.0. The boy is still very curious and he is continues to asks questions about the “good guys” and “carrying the fire”. The boy wants to have this trust in the man 2.0.

The man 2.0 is taking the boy to a confined community where it is safe. The man 2.0 and the women are sent from this community to find any survivors, also known as the “good guys”. In which they bring them back to this place, so that they can start a new civilization that is against cannibalism.

One major theme in this book is survival, trust and love. The whole point of this book is survival. The man 2.0 and this woman are helping these children. The boy trusted the man as a good guy, he didn’t know what was going to happen to him or what was in store for him. However, he did have hope and he continues to follow the man 2.0 and goes south like Papa had said.

In the book the pistol is mentioned a lot.The boy and Papa run into the “bad guys”. The pistol is the last thing that Papa gave to the boy before he died. Also, that Papa said to never give it to anyone so he will always have it on him. I think that since Papa can no longer protect him, the pistol will.

The boy reunites with his mother in the end. In the book it never mentions what exactly happens to the mom. Most of us assume that she died. I chose to have her alive in this confined community because before she disappeared she did tell Papa to keep going south because that’s where it’s warmer. This is where she ended up being as well. At the end the mother also, calls the boy Jonathan. She reveals that the boy’s name is Jonathan. The Christian meaning behind the name Jonathan means given of god. The boy represents numerous amounts of god like features and traits. When the mother realizes that the boy is her son, she cries because she feels guilty for leaving him and Papa. She is also in shock because she didn’t think she’d see either of them.