Currently, I have read the first 55 pages of Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road”, and I am finding that I am left with only questions so far. I wonder what caused McCarthy to wait so long to explain what has happened to civilization. There are ravaging fires and frequent earthquakes, but I don’t yet know why. Also, at this point the constant flashbacks to the man’s wife is haunting. I can tell that she died in a “disaster” of sorts, but I would like to know the specifics.
The focus in the first part of the novel seems to really zoom in on the material objects needed on the road. Specifics like canned pork, dried ham, a metal cylinder filled with carbonated cola (Coke, obviously), backpacks, and other necessary survival items are really emphasized right now. It’s interesting to see this, especially when, in class, we just discussed the items that Lauren and her group took with them on the road, like water purification tablets. This theme has been found so far in every book read at this point: Lucifer’s Hammer, White Noise, Parable of the Sower, and now The Road all emphasize the items required to survived while making the escape on the road in their car. The “getaway” scene is present in every book read so far, and it captures a feeling of both desperate escape and desire to move westward to a new frontier.