A+Summary+of+'The+Road'+pages+76-150


 * A Summary of "The Road" **
 * Pages 76-150 **

Having escaped from the road rats, the man and the boy hide out in the woods. This gives the boy time to recover as it is a while before he talks to his father again. This gives the man time to contemplate his first human contact in more than a year. He somewhat ** ironically ** calls him him "my brother at last" (p79) and describes in grim detail the evilness of the man: "The reptilian calculations in those cold and shifting eyes. The gray and rotting teeth. Claggy with human flesh. Who has made of the world a lie every word." This means he was not to be trusted. He was justified in shooting him dead.

On page 81 there is an example of the **theme loneliness and despair. The flute is a symbol** of it. As the boy plays the man thinks it might be "the last music on earth" (p81).

On page 86 there is an example of the ** theme of compassion **. They hear a dog and the boy asks if they are going to kill it and the man says "No. We're not going to kill it." (p86).

On page 87 there is a good quote that illustrates ** the theme of good and bad ** using the boy as a ** symbol **. In a world of good or bad, they are the good guys "Because we're carrying the fire." (p87). This is also a reference to the ** theme of God/Godlessness, an allusion to biblical imagery. **

In their travels they are being followed, though we don't know this until the end. There are 2 clues, 1: the dog on page 86, and 2: The boy on page 88-89. The man is very wary of everyone they come across, so when the boy says he sees a boy, the man tells him that he did not see a boy: "There's no-one to see. Do you want to die?" (p89). Again the boy is shown to be more compassionate and caring. He thinks about the other boy and worries about him. He is also in dire need of contact with others his own age. His life has been one where all things have been deprived, including friendship with someone his own age.

A very clear ** symbol of good and bad ** is the "ragged horde". They ** symbolise ** all that is bad in the world. The "ragged horde" is an interesting display of post-apocalyptic depravity. There is every evil imaginable in the large group. Everything in it is everything the man is protecting the boy from. There are heavily armed and dangerous looking people, slaves, sex slaves, and pregnant women (kept, we presume, for eating purposes). The horde passes and they continue.

Can things get worse for them? Yes. The man's health is getting worse. That night, in the forest where they are sleeping, the trees begin falling around them. A sign of the decay of all that is left in the world. The boy's thought are getting worse as he thinks more and more about ** death **. The conversation on pages 106-7 is a clear indication of this. Then, worst of all, they come to the house of horrors. Re-read the section from 114-120 which gives a vivid and frightening account of the house of cannibalism, where humans are kept for food. This is another clear illustration how ** language features **show the theme of good and bad: the vivid ** description and imagery ** of the captives (p116) and the boy's reaction described with an ** oxymoron **: "but the boy had gotten up and was doing his __little dance of terror__. Immediately afterwards, on page 120, there is an insight into what thoughts the man has to deal with by the use of** rhetorical questions ** as we read his thoughts through the ** narrative perspective ** of the father- the alternative to being eaten is having to kill his own son. "Can you do it? When the time comes?...Could you crush that beloved skull with a rock?" (p120). Just to add to the horror, as they lay in the forest hiding they hear "hideous shrieks coming from the house"(p121).

On page 136, the man keeps it real when the boy asks questions about the house of the cannibals. "We would never eat anybody, would we? No. Of course not. Even if we were starving? We're starving now. You said we werent. I said we werent dying. I didnt say we werent starving. But we wouldnt. No. We wouldnt. No matter what. No. No matter what. Because we're the good guys. Yes. And we're carrying the fire. And we're carrying the fire. Yes. Okay." (p136)

Finally, towards the end of this section of the novel, the pair come across a welcome respite from their travels. For a brief couple of days they seek shelter in a fully-stocked bomb shelter. Note the change in ** language ** at this point. They are suddenly surrounded with everything they could ever want. On page 147 the colour references change to brighter, and words have ** positive connotations: ** //green, electric, best, rich sweet syrup, warm,// not to mention the lists of food and goods they so desperately need, //including coffee, ham, biscuits, chocolate.//

They spend a few days here and they even get the chance to bathe, shave and have haircuts. For the reader, the **i ntended effect ** is to give us, too, a much needed break from the weary drudgery of the book so far. As many of you will have noticed, the effect of the writing can at times be really harrowing, tiring and emotionally draining. The reader also needs a break!