Cormac Mccarthy The Road Individualism

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It is widely common for a post-apocalyptic novel to include a moral dilemma, in which the reader pounders what right and wrong. When the world suddenly goes into chaos, would one be consumed by the darkness or persevere to protect their sense of morality and humanity. These are the types of questions the reader might ask themself. In the novel, “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, the truth about individualism and society is necessary to maintain a sense of morality in which inhumanity is prevalent, and the way to achieve this is through the ability to suppress one’s id impulse, and the realization that hope helps one establish the will to never to give up. This is supported by the father and son, contemplate the cruelty and barbarity of the post-apocalyptic…show more content…
The response the father provides the boy with, would not have the same in the society that existed ten years ago. This is because the father would have listened to the id instinct, thus his reply would most likely be, don’t worry you are not going to die. But in this post-apocalyptic world the father had to learn over time how to make the critical decisions by suppressing the id, and listening to the superego. The father response was the best approach to his question because it gave the son a sense security, and as well as strengthening the boy to increase his understanding of the current world. Furthermore a little later on in the story the boy comes across something that really shows the cruelty of the world, “He looked quickly to see what had happened. What is it? He said. What is it? The boy shook his head. Oh Papa, he said. He turned and looked again. What the boy had seen was a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit. He bent and picked the boy up and started for the road with him, holding him close. I’m sorry, he whispered, I’m sorry.” (McCarthy 198). This quotation demonstrates how cruel and beast like people have
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