The Road Lit Log: Reassurance

In “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, the man and the boy set off on a journey to the south in a post-apocalyptic world. Through dead bodies and abandoned towns, the two come across very few people and ultimately have to rely on each other. As I followed their adventures, I noticed the common theme of reassurance. Due to the many scary things in this world, the boy is in a constant state of fear. The man comforts and reassures the boy many times throughout this book in order to move on in their journey. They only have each other which is why it is key that McCarthy shows that the man genuinely cares about the boy. The connection between a father and son is incredible and is showcased by the level of comfort and security that the man provides the boy. But also the man often gaslights the frightened boy to justify his actions and their choices as a whole. In many moments, the man has to find ways to survive and collect supplies. He is so worried about their lives that he often has to lie to the boy just to explore abandoned places in order to not starve. Alongside this, the boy’s maturity continues to grow as the story progresses. As he starts to understand that the world is not so innocent, the boy begins to be a key part of the man’s decisions. The man is no longer making decisions for the boy and instead the one sided relationship becomes a partnership. The naive and innocent times of the man comforting the boy has now turned into the boy processing emotions and understanding the severity of their situation. As shown below, the map determines three key ways that reassurance is represented in this book.