The Road Post 3 Question 6

6.What other remarks might you have about the books? Questions? Observations? Reactions?

A prominent theme in The Road is the role of religion, and the Bible, in such dire circumstances. First, in The Road, the name of God is one of the only names mentioned, besides the name of old man they encounter, Ely, which could be short for Elijah, as in, the prophet. The conversation the man has with Ely is one of the most important, religion-wise, in the book, as it is one of the only times where God is discussed.

“I guess God would know it. Is that it?

There is no God.

No?

There is no God and we are his prophets…” (170). This line could directly allude to “Ely” representing the prophet Elijah, as he joins them for dinner, referring to a tradition in the Jewish holiday Passover, in which an extra setting and cup is set out for “the Prophet Elijah”.

In this conversation, something else is remarked upon; the man viewing his son as almost a godly being, “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God.”(77). This statement is said after the man kills someone to protect his son. The boy’s survival is considered so important by the man that extreme measures must be taken.

“When I saw the boy I thought that I had died.

You thought he was an angel?

I didn’t know what he was. I never thought to see a child again. I didn’t know that would happen.

What if I said that he’s a god?” (172). In this, the man comments on the remarkable fact that a young boy has survived in this world, and a compassionate one at that, who offers his food to wizened old men. That such a child, his humanity intact, exists, is hard to believe, even after all he has seen and been through: the suicide of his mother, facing cannibals, near-starvation, thieves, and a hopeless world. The boy must have something in him that other people don’t, and in a landscape this desperate, who can say it isn’t some sort of divine spark?

The Biblical themes could also contribute to the lack of female characters in the book, perhaps saying that as the world began with man, Adam, it will end with man as well. Still, the woman and her daughter mentioned at the end give hope for the future, not only as the boy and the girl could become the parents of a new generation, but also because, as in the cycle mentioned earlier, the presence of women can represent the creation of a new world.