Survival in an Apocalyptic World - Research Paper Example

Survival in an Apocalyptic World Introduction Throughout his book titled “the Road”, McCarthy paints a bleak and hopeless picture of a struggle to survive by a father and son in a post- apocalyptic world. The novel begins with the unnamed father and son travelling southwards across a post apocalyptic empty scorched land that was America before an unspecified catastrophic event, which may have been a series of meteor attacks or nuclear war brought to an end to the human civilization (McCarthy, 3). The terror begins as the lone father and his son ran out of food and begins to desperately scavenge for food everywhere in an empty world where there are no longer supermarkets or food stores. Matters are made worse by the dangerous marauding gangs who are so merciless in their hunt for food and have almost turned into cannibals. Other authors depict an environment filled with huge blast craters, formless landscape, radio active elements and problems of electro-magnetic pulses all of which are associated with the aftermath of a nuclear war (Charles, 6). According to many authors who have predicted an apocalyptic end of civilization, survival in a post apocalyptic world will be characterized with untold misery caused by anarchy, lawlessness and a conflict between human orientations towards violence, compassion and self preservation. Although McCarthy has not explained the cause of the devastating apocalypse, many other writers have concurred that a number of events ranging from a nuclear exchange, global pandemic as well as natural catastrophes can potentially lead to the downfall of our contemporary civilization. Generally, throughout the novel, McCarthy has primarily emphasized on the conflict between self preservation and the basic human values, compassion and sympathy to the other humans. Survival in an apocalyptic scenario is widely depicted as a period of darkness characterized by acts of violence, extreme selfishness and other dark social practices such as rape, slavery, cannibalism and terror gangs. This paper critically analyzes the theme of “Survival in a post apocalyptic world” as presented throughout McCarthy’s novel “The Road” Conflict between self preservation and human values It is widely believed that a post apocalyptic world environment is going to empty deserted landscape where the infrastructure in the traditional world was completely ruined after the catastrophic event. As a result, humans are left roaming in the wild and deserted world for survival. The depiction of a post apocalyptic scenario where everything is covered in ash and dust alludes to some form of tragic end to our civilization through nuclear Armageddon, eruption of a super volcano or other unspecified events. Regardless of the cause, the concern is survival in some of the absolute bleakest circumstances ever known to man. Consequently, in the post apocalyptic world, people are increasingly concerned of their own well being than of other people and this is in part driven by their primitive survival instincts. The struggle for survival is not only characterized by little room for humanistic ideals or desires to help other people in need but also the existence of cruelty as individuals fight over scarce food and other basic resources. McCarthy (87), also paints the same picture of a ruined environment with old newspapers scattered all other the place and a lone bottle of Coca-Cola in the dust. There are also charred corpses all over the place and frozen in their final postures in a horrifying manner. A father and his son made their journey along the frozen, wretched and drenched road. As they walked they got tired and decided to rest on the woods where the son slept. On a post-apocalyptic world as the road is full of barren and desolate landscape where there is absence of human activities like electricity, running water and humanity. As his son was asleep, he began to remember one of his imaginations of a being with dead eyes. He tells himself and his son that, fine thoughts are to be feared as they signify a variety of acceptance and death would certainly be near. While the awful imaginings, are comforting. In such a cruel environment, the threats to survival are more than real and it looks like civilization has just been returned to its primary stage of development where the survivors are confronted with wilderness without anything but their empty hands and primitive improvised tools. Although a few authors present no noticeable environmental change after the apocalypse such as in the event the human civilization is wiped out by a virulent strain of a disease causing organism, survival is still painted dull. It is however worth noting that many authors believe that a total ecological collapse will not completely change the world. Despite the uncertainty, the post apocalyptic world is going to be a hopeless, hostile and unforgiving place with water, shelter, food and transportation hard to come by. According to Chabon (25), survivors in the post apocalyptic world are faced with the fear of starving to death after all the canned foods as fresh fruits or vegetables have been destroyed by the unspecified event. With no sight of supermarkets or food stores, dangerous gangs roam about scavenging for food and some have even turn into cannibals to ensure that they do not starve to death. people will have nothing to eat and will end up dying, facing and overcoming the learning curve unless people increase the scanty diet with spam and hot dog chili. Things will be messier, and people will raise idea. Hence this suggests that warfare through giant and perhaps well-armed group of people who will be doing their damnedest to make sure that they don’t go hungry to death. In “The Road” the foodstuff the father and his carried in their grocery cart was running low and the father was fighting a terrible cough that scattered blood on the dreary snow. Whenever they came upon towns and cities, it was mere snow. Remains of the old humanities like houses, billboards and hotels clash with certainty of the new world. This reminds the father the life they formerly lived. He also remembers his wife who left him and his son and apparently killed herself in order to flight this horrific new world. The father comes across a pop machine in one of the grocery store and finds a coca-cola. He opened and gave the son to drink. He prefers to give his son all he can in order to make his life more satisfying. As they walked, they kept on track location on a worn and tattered map that they joined like a puzzle whenever they use it. As they walk, they came across a man who had been struck by lightning. They left behind the burnt man and his son wished to help him but his father said that they have nothing to give him. The son cries for the man, showing his sympathy and his caring nature in a world where very little humankind exists (McCarthy, 96). Eventually, the survivors in the post apocalyptic world will come to face with the issue of cannibalism. Although some people will find themselves on the prey side of this horrible state, almost everyone will occasionally find themselves facing the prospect of starvation to death and their survival instincts may drive them into eating other fellow human beings. From McCarthy’s literary writing it has been clearly shown that societal issues have taken center stage. Among the concepts and themes brought out in the road surrounds violence and need for forgiveness in order to save human life. The difficulties associated with this kind of life being lack of food and a person to fend for the boy now that the father is troubled. This acts to show that things have changed. It is t his kind of suffering that attracts sympathy and concern. But interesting enough they accept the assistance of one such person. In the understanding of this novel it clearly shows that the world has been built on the principle that man can do anything to survive even if it includes killing. Though this theme of struggle is well elaborated it is also important to note that there is also a deferent approach to this struggle that results to sympathy and concern for other peoples lives (McCarthy,112). Amidst all this struggles honesty and truthfulness is a theme found in the plot of the story as the father and son appear to assist each other to overturn fate and survive. This is also replicated in the manner in which the father does not at any chance trust any person they meet with on the road except his own son. There has also been cited instances of religion within the plot of the story as the father appear to request protection of the son from God and on the other hand expresses instances of doubt. This on a wider view is what the current world is seen to occur at various levels of life. Coupled with the challenges of the current world it becomes important to know that far much as violence can be used to determine and solve certain grievances at the end it is destructive. Therefore it becomes important to avoid such and have a human approach to people’s trouble. Violence and Self defense Another serious challenge presented in most post apocalypse world books is the absence of secure shelter as well as the need for self defense against wild animals and fellow humans. Shelter is one of the basic human needs. In a hostile post apocalyptic environment, shelter not only needed to protect the survivals from the harsh climatic conditions such as acid rain and hurricanes, but also to keep them secure from the dangerous wild animals, nasty gangs as well as other intolerable conditions. In McCarthy’s “The Road” the man fears his son’s wellbeing since he believes that he has been assigned by God to shelter his son. His pistol which had only two bullets was always kept his pocket, unless he goes inside the house where he gives the son his pistol. After the son woke up, they proceeded with the road, making their means through a nuclear frost that trails them from the beginning to end. When they were on the way to south coast hoping to find improved life, the father knew that things will be unchanged all through the journey (Harold, 197). On the other hand, the father flashbacks about his wife parting him and his son and remembers that he left his only picture of his wife. He remembered the night his son was born and how he delivered the newborn himself, marking the beginning of the bond between him and his son. On their way down the allegorical road, they met all form of danger like; harsh weather, watery scenery, and threat of hunger. Generally, “The road” presents nothing in the way of reassure but, its daring wisdom was lasting than comfort can ever be. The father became weaker; his coughing became bloodier than before. As they sat at the camp the father dies. After three days, a man with a gun comes across the boy lying on his father’s body. The man invited the boy to go with him but the boy resisted. The man tells the boy that he is a good guy and that he’s got two little children, a boy and a girl. Finally, the boy decided to go with him. He says valediction to his father after that leaves his father sheltered in a blanket (Willard 118). The road is some of the bulbous works transcribed by Cormac McCarthy. This novel expresses the vision of the writer of the post-apocalyptic world where human nature is revealed in its life-threatening cases though in some situations to some extent, the author explores the epitome of human nature and compares basic natures of humans to superior human values and even in a salvage world rather seemingly takes place for humanism. Pull down differently, the writer believed in the sovereignty of humanism of human ethics over principal instincts even when individuals work extra hard for survival. The resounding power of humanism as the redemption is not well brought out for it has glitches and challenges in the post-apocalyptic world hence reminds where people are fretful with their own well-being also to take in justification the well-being of other persons as well (Pausewang, 123). In the era of consumerism there is little room for humanistic ideals to help those who need. This therefore provides for stressed for a much higher social status, provision and occurrence of wealth in the contemporary society which is an indication by the writer’s portrayal for the survival in the post-apocalyptic world. It is quite representative though that humanism is comparativelyidyllic which means the main character in the novel’s traits is depicted by the boy being alone in this challenging and adversity world. This novel as well depicts traditional world as being totally ruined and shimmering leaving humans in a desolate wild world which is sometimes rather rejected. Conclusion In conclusion, while encouraging human values, compassion to other fellow humans, McCarthy points an unwelcoming picture of a world seemingly empty of life in the road as he examines the cruel atmosphere, primitive tools, degradation picture to survive and lastly the anthropophagy nature of human beings where the ethics and people are ready to kill though not factually. Works Cited Chabon, Michael, K. “After the Apocalypse.” New York Review of Books 54.2 (2007): 24-26. Print. Charles, Ron. “Apocalypse Now.” The Washington Post 1 Oct. 12.1(2006):2-7. Print. Harold, Bloom, Cormac Mccarthy. New York, NY: Bloom's Literary Criticism, 2009. Web. April 4, 2013. McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Vintage Books, 2006. Print. Miklowitz, Gloria D. After the bomb. New York: Scholastic. 1985. Print. Pausewang, Gudrun. The Last Children of Schevenborn. Western Producer Prairie Books. 1988. Print. Roessner, Michaela. Vanishing point. New York: TOR publishers. 1993. Print. Annotated bibliography 1. Chabon, Michael, K. “After the Apocalypse.” New York Review of Books 54.2 (2007): 24-26. Print. This is an interesting article that discusses the symbolism of boys as the hope for continuity of mankind particularly after apocalypse. 2. Charles, Ron. “Apocalypse Now.” The Washington Post 1 Oct. 12.1(2006):2-7. Print. This article effectively discusses the potential connection between a nuclear war and the scenario depicted in Cormac McCarthys novel “The Road”. The author critically analyzes the devastation due to the calamity and the survival challenges in the harsh post apocalyptic world. 3. Miklowitz, Gloria D. After the bomb. New York: Scholastic. 1985. Print. A vivid narration of a survival story of a teenaged boy, Philip Singer in a post apocalyptic world after a nuclear explosion. The family attempts to survive in a makeshift shelter at their former backyard. 4. Pausewang, Gudrun. The Last Children of Schevenborn. Western Producer Prairie Books. 1988. Print. The book is based on the story of survival in a German village following a nuclear attack. The town is gradually running out of supply and the entire population is slowly dying from mass starvation, diseases and radiation. Generally, the author provides a scientifically accurate and detailed fictional picture of the aftermath of a nuclear attack. 5. Roessner, Michaela. Vanishing point. New York: TOR publishers. 1993. Print. The book begins about 29 years after an apocalypse in which ninety percent of the entire world population disappeared. The whole story centers on Renzie, a survivor who decides to travel travel to communities but is faced with the danger of fearsome armies in the South. Read More