Juxtaposition of Character in The Road
Juxtaposition of Character in The Road
By: Tyler Croll
Well, the two main characters in The Road are obviously the father and son. The father does not really want to live anymore, but he knows that he must for his son. The son wants so much to be with his mother, and he knows he must kill himself to do so, but is convinced by the father that they must go on; even when he wants the same (representing hope). His wife left him alone to take care of their child and since he is the only parent left, he stays in this pulverized world for the sole purpose of taking care of and protecting his son. With saying this, he does not want anything to happen to his son and would even rather his son kill himself than to be captured and tortured by the “bad guys”. The son takes the gun as his father tells him to, in case he needs it, which shows how courageous he is, for it takes a lot to be able to kill yourself, especially at such a young age. Even when the situation looks almost unwinnable, the father doesn’t give up hope and keeps on trying, which I think is the biggest similarity between the two of them. Neither of them is willing to give up without a fight, even when all it takes to get out of this nightmare is the two bullets they have in that gun. They are both extremely courageous and take a lot of risks to try to survive (such as entering a house in search of food with God knows what is inside). When the father encounter’s a “bad guy”, he shows no sign of fear and does what he needs to do to get him and his son away safely; he even holds a “bad guy” hostage at one point which symbolizes morals fighting back against the immoral world, and the immoral people are the home team and the moral people are the minority. The father is so incredibly smart, thinking so rationally all the time to find food and escape danger (ex. making fake bullets of wood to make his gun seem fully loaded); and so is his boy even (so curious; asks a lot of questions). I think that the son symbolizes what is left of morality with all the people he helps/wants to help as they venture across America. First off, when they pass the man sure to die, who got struck by lightning, he felt extremely guilty for not helping him and had to be convinced that there was nothing they could do to help him, by his father, in order to be satisfied and move on. This shows that the father represents strength and power and the son represents morality and hope. Also, when the son sees a little boy across the road, he tells his father that he wants the boy to come with them (assuming he was all alone), and then also when they come across that old man; the son demands they give him food and the father listens, even when he feels like the old man doesn’t really deserve it. With the father asking of a “thank you” from the man it shows his connection with his son and how, to them, morality is still important in this world.
