The Great Depression In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road
686 Words3 Pages
In human nature, it is expected for one to become pessimistic when barricaded by walls of negativity. A time of great pessimism was the Great Depression. The people did not trust in our economy- leaving this “depressing” feeling nationwide. Of course, there is always someone who seeks the positive in the negative. In this example, it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He and his optimistic feelings allowed him to attain his goal of getting the United States out of the depression. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, a father and his son try to make their way to the southern United States after a nuclear war. The boy and his father face many obstacles along the way such as starvation and having to steal in order to survive. All in all, McCarthy displays that even in a post-apocalyptic world, there is always sanity in humanity.…show more content… Most young boys would not be able to be tolerant and mature if they were put through the conditions this boy has to endure. Even in the times in which his father wants to be destructive, the boy stood his angelic ground. After having everything at their campsite stolen from them as the boy is sleeping there, the boy continues to be empathetic. He pleads to his father, “Papa please dont kill the man” (256). In no manner is the boy obligated to be kind to this stranger. After all, he had just stolen everything from him and his father- even the blanket in which the boy was sleeping on. Nonetheless, he is optimistic and wants to aid the man because he knows that he is struggling even worse than he and his father are. Moreover, the boy shows signs of optimism the first time he gets to drink a Coca-Cola from his father. He knew he would “never get the chance to drink another one” (24). The boy is accepting of the life of “once in a lifetime”