Safety

The Road by Cormac McCarthy can be imagined and interpreted in many different ways. The element I chose to follow was the shelters the man and the boy stayed in. They must constantly move places, going further South and avoiding danger along the way. Most of the time, they slept in the woods with a fire that just barely lit for warmth, and ate what the man could salvage. There were many instances when the man went out looking for shelters with the boy, but they had to be careful not to be seen. One of the first places they found was a run down and wrecked gas station; “He went through the drawers but there was nothing there that he could use.” (6)

On the right side of the map, it shows the first places the man and the boy had been, each place the man looked carefully for food and resources for the both of them. It was difficult considering everything had been either destroyed or ransacked. Continuing forward through the woods and run-down houses, the man found a hatch. “Huddled against the back wall were naked people, male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands.” (110)

This was not the first or the last time they had encountered other people. People in either the same or worse situation than the man and the boy were a threat. They were starved, cold, and anything could become a resource. They had to stay protected, but throughout the novel McCarthy shows many examples of the man taking risks that could be life threatening. Going down the hatch could have easily been a trap, a dead end, and anything could have happened. It seems that the man took the risk because there was a chance of warmth, a chance for food; safety for the boy. The second time they came upon a hatch, the boy was hesitant; but the man was going to take the chance. Anything they find could have been useful and allowed them to continue pushing forward. “Crate upon crate of canned goods. Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots.” (135) Taking the risk and seeing what was down the second hatch proved to be helpful for them. In their tough situation, it was crucial to take the chances the man did for safety and survival. It was not only for himself, but for the boy he was determined to protect.