Wow. I cannot believe the story ends like that. Through the last section of pages, I had a lot of different thoughts. When the boy becomes ill, I think it was through his father’s strength that he survived the illness. Something else that really stood out in my mind was when the father made the thief undress, holding a pistol up to the thief. The father then leaves the thief there to freeze to death even though the boy begs him not to. In a way, I feel that this inhuman act signifies the severing of the father and son relationship. The father says that he did not kill the thief, but the boy insists that he did which in my eyes signifies the loss of faith that the son had in his father. The father’s death came out of nowhere, but I think it may have been a good thing that he died because now the boy can grow up with his free, loving nature. I thought the ending was sort of random, but probably a good thing. The boy’s new family can provide him with the love and security he has been longing for.
My personal connection that I feel with the ending of this section is mainly with the boy. When he sees his father make the thief undress and force him to freeze to death I can imagine that the boy felt embarrassed, hurt and angry. I have had times when one of my parents has done something that I completely disagreed with and I therefore felt humiliated that they had done such a thing.
So I can’t believe we finally finished the book! A lot of surprising things happened in the end. First of all I completely agree with Julie when she said the boy only survived because of his father’s strength. When the boy got sick, his father did everything and anything possible to get him better, even with the very limited supplies they had. When the boy and the man got robbed and found the robber, they man took everything just like the robber did to them. The man told the boy he wasn’t going to kill him, but the boy said they already did. I think boy was shocked that the man felt so much anger towards the robber. Throughout the hole book, the boy was always wanting to help the other people he sees and by taking the mans cloths he probably felt like they just took his small chance of surviving. The end was really sad but somewhat happy too. The man was dying and he told the boy he had to keep carrying the fire. The boy asked if it was still out there and the man said it was in him. I think that symbolizes that the boy is the only reason the man lived for as long as he did because he was really sick and always coughing. The boy meet the other family and I think it’s good because they have kids and the boy will be able to have a relationship with some children his age. The family will be able to take care of the boy which is something the man would have wanted.
Overall it thought this was a pretty interesting book, and it defiantly made you think.
In pages 226-287, the ending of the story could of gone in multiple ways. I thought before reading this that someone was gunna die. When the boy first got ill I kept thinking that he might die or the ending would be the father bringing the boy to a (good guys) camp.
Leaving a thief there without nothing is kind of being selfish, the father has done the same thing as taking other people stuff but noone was there. The boy's and the father's realtionship splits farther as the boy wanted to help the poor man and the father just wants his stuff back.
When they came to a town, the father was shot by an arrow, he had a deep horrible pain in his leg. That is like 20% survival without really good medical care.
Now I focus on my thoughts that the father will now be the person to die. The boy learned many things from his father and ready to start a new family and adventure as becoming a young man.
The ending was unbelievable, I have so many different thoughts about this last pages. The boy getting sick was something I expected. I always thought that the boy would die, because that was the only thing keeping the father alive and going. I think that the dad taking care of his kid no matter what was great. What any father should do, but I still thought there was some coldness between them. I was also very upset when the father left the thief to die, I understand he probably didn’t want to waste a bullet and that it was the man that robbed him. But the robber was a scavenger just as the father and boy were looking for ways to survive. I mean when the boy and his dad would go into houses and stores and take things that was robbing too. And I think the boy was upset about that more then letting him die, they were all on the same level. The boy doesn’t want to hurt anyone and I think that’s the little part of his innocence he has left. When the father gets sick I knew he was going to die, it was so close to the end of the book. And I think that when the boy found the new family that he could start a new family. They would grow with him learn about him and eventually love him and care for him. Something his father could never do was have feeling and love him like a child should.
The ending of the Road left me wondering what happened to the boy’s father. At first the man was willing to help the people they found along the way after a arguing with the boy for a while, then once they find the thief who stole their stuff he just leaves him there to freeze to death and perish only trying to survive by any means necessary. Also, the sad part about the ending is that after all that they went through the father dies due to most likely the nuclear fallout. The boy and his father did everything they could to survive together and now the boy is with other survivors, but he has to leave his hero, his mentor, and his protector behind. The boy only asked one thing of the people he is now with and that was that they cover his dad so that he would not be found or eaten by other survivors that will eat anything that looks like food. It is a sad ending to a other wise very possible future of nuclear war and the death that will follow it.
I truly was amazed by the last part of the book and its ending. So many events I constantly were predicting that never happened. McCarthy's writing style allows your mind to flow with new ideas and predictions. For example, when the man and boy found the boat along the beach, I thought they might try and sail on the boat because the father was searching within the boat, found sails, rope, and many tools; additionally, the boat was begging to budge from a increased tide. My mind was constantly saying to itself that they were going to go on the boat and sail to a distant, more populated land possibly. That creativity is created by doing something as linear as reading. This is the first book I have read which has caused my mind to daze off into my own conclusions and deeper personal interpretations of the novel, unlike many novels I have read where the writer gives a specific message and theme.
The father has gradually increased his hope in their survival and changed to be more decisive throughout the last part of the book. He began to give specific and generally happier answers to the boy's awkward and depressing questions. The boy stayed with a neutral attitude throughout the ending.
I thought the ending was the saddest but also the happiest event for the boy because he had to leave he dead, cold father but he also was going to live with a family of four "good guys".
OMG, YES WE FINALLY FINISHED THE NOVEL! Now that ending really blew my mind. Like most of the other people said that throughout the book the boy and the father grew a very strong relationship. Not only for example when the boy becomes ill but in general they would not have been able to survive without each other.
One incident is when the boy got very ill and he relied on his father to take care of him. That example shows specifically how throughout the novel their realtionship became closer and closer.
Like julie said when the father puts the pistol to the theifs' head and lets him freeze to death int he cold. Even thought the boy told him not to the father disobeyed him. this example shows how the boy had lost complete faith and respect for the father.
What really suprised me and caught me way off guard was that the father died. This runs in both directions; good and bad. Good because now the kid can learn himself and grow up free and how ever e wants. The bad side for this is that the kid wont have anyone to nurture him growing up and take care of him.
Overall this book drove me nuts. I was constantly thinking whats going to happen next. It was very depressing and it made my mood swing alittle bit. All in all i though it was a good book and i am so happy we are finished.
First of all, I thought that ending turned the whole book around. For the longest time, I thought the boy would die. He got the flu, and he was always colder and weaker than the father. But I think his father’s death really showed the boy something. He looked up to his father the entire book. He always saw a fearless and invincible figure in his father. Even when he held a man at gunpoint, and the boy was unhappy with it, he still saw his father as fearless. He literally watched his father die, a fearless invincible man, die.
When the other man and his children took the boy in, I think it showed the boy that even in a world where all life is chaos, and all civilization is gone, pure heart can never die.
The whole end of the book was predictable but shocking at the same time. Through out the last pages, the father knew he was gonna die, but before he could prepare his son, he needed to prepare himself. While his son was sleeping, the father tells himself “Everyday is a lie. But you are dying. That is not a lie.” (page 238) Short after though, the son gets very sick, and this scares the father because he needs him to stay alive. The father is supposed to die, not the son. All the pent up fear of losing the only thing he has left to live for and the anger about the life his son has had to live comes out when he walks onto the beach and falls to his knees crying with rage. Although the son never acted like he knew this happened, he really did and I think that gave him the will to get better and be there for his father.
When they come back and find that all their stuff has been stolen its so disheartening. All through the book we’ve been hopeful with them and excited when they find items, and then for them to lose it all is terrible! Soon after though, they find the man that stole their things and the father threaten to kill him unless he gives them everything back. The son is very frightened and once they have everything and are safe, the father tells him “I wasn’t going to kill him” and the boy replies “But we did kill him.” I think this shows that the boy has matured a lot and feels like now once the man dies it'll be because of them, not anything else.
The father still does not know how to tell the son that he is dying and he continues to lose faith every day. “What’s the bravest thing you ever did? Getting up this morning. Really? No. Don't listen to me. Come on, lets go.” This shows that he still wants to be there for his son, but he feels like everyday that he stays with him, the harder it will be for the son to continue on and let go. Eventually the time has come for when the father has to tell his son what to do. He tells him no matter what that he will always be with him and that the boy still needs to “carry the fire”. The two pages where he was telling his son what he needed to do when he was gone was the most powerful part of the book. I could feel the pain that both of them were experiencing, and I actually started crying.
When the boy brings up the little boy that he saw that day, he begins to realize that it wasn't another little boy he saw, it was him. At the time he didn't acknowledge it, but he knew that it was going to be him one day. By asking the father to help him find the boy to help him, it was really his hope that someone would come and help him when he was on his own. And someone did. When the man told him to continue on with him it was such a relief. He was right in telling the boy that he would die if he just stayed there, and I respected the fact that he gave him time before they continued on. While the boy just sits by his fathers dead body crying, it was so emotional. I cannot even imagine how this boy was feeling cause his father was all he ever had, and what I fear the most is losing my mom.
The end of the story was not expected at all. I never thought the end of the book would end like that. I definitely thought the boy was going to die after he got sick because the way his father worried about him really emphasized his illness and because the boy was the only reason the man fought to stay alive for as long as he did.
When the man made the thief strip off all his clothing, I believe this part really signified the way the boy is growing up because he never really gave up on going back to help the man. It shows how the boy is growing apart from his father.
The end was really emotional. It made me think about losing my father. But in this case the boy's father was his companion and what he really relied on to learn and survive. It seemed like the man almost gave up on trying to stay alive because he knew the boy has learned what he needed to learn and he had faith in his son that he could survive. Especially when he told him to keep carrying the fire.
I think this book was really interesting and I really enjoyed reading it because you could relate some of the scenarios to your own life.
I think that the man's death and the boy's survival symbolizes the way they lived their lives. The boy was always hopeful and generous, while the man was always selfish and focused on his own goal. Also, by the end of the book, the man seemed to have lost all faith. The new family the boy has now symbolizes a new beginning full of hope and salvation. I found it really disappointing that McCarthy didn't do anything more with the arrival at the coast. That was their goal for the whole novel, and when they reached it it seemed like just another random event they witnessed along the way. Maybe that was the point, but it gave the ending a sort of distracted feel.
I am not going to lie and therefor I am not going to be blunt. My exact words after reading the last sentence of this novel were “what the f**k, are you serious? thats it?” Some would say strong words, leaving alone what some would say inappropriate words, but just like any logical and emotional statement there lies a reason behind those words. These were my first thoughts for the simple notion the lack of ending rather then the ending of the story. I pondered there was none. Make the argument a lack of ending is an ending all you want- for it may be and that was my second thought. By Cormac McCarthy giving me that lack of ending it is similar to when Shakespeare signals the ending of a life at the end of Act 5 of Kind Lear. All it says is, “he died.” Some would call this unfortunate and some would call it undescriptive. But one of the most influential pieces of literature written by one of the claimed best writers in human history is blunt and to the point. Only a genius could come up with something so amazing. Those simple words are an ending. This story is not one of tragedy. This story is not one of guilt. This story is one of human nature and imagination. This story is one of self-reflectiveness and with me at least it has achieved its goal. No ending is an ending because it is your ending. Following the example of the great playwright William Shakespeare... the end.
The man dying at the end of the story was definitely unexpected. As everyone else has said I expected the boy to die first because he was weaker.
The ending put a new perspective on the novel. The boy's hope throughout the course of the book showed that he believed he would survive, and that's exactly what he did. The man on the other hand had many times where he was close to giving up and probably would have if it weren't for the boy.
I think the boy's survival symbolizes a feeling of making it through anything no matter how difficult the situation may be.
You could relate to the ending in many ways because it made you fear losing someone close to you such as your father. In the story the father was all the boy had making it harder once he died. At the same time, it made him stronger because he learned so much from him and looked up to him.
The end of the novel really moved me for two reasons. First that the book could have ended that way! WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I exspected the father to die but not in such an anticlimactic way but rather in a heroic and dramatic way. I thought the dad would have died defending his sons life, in a fight, or valient last stand agains the "bad guys" Instead the father gets sick and dies! Why WHy Why I know Cormic McCarthy had him die this way for a reason but im not quite sure why. The second reason is i dont understand why the boy had so much sympathy towards the robber. He stole there stuff and tried to get away. Why would the boy feel sorry for him? He should die. I understand that McCarthy had a reason for including the boys compassion towards the robber. I feel like hope has beeen a major theme in this novel. Because the boy always wants to truse the other people even when he is scard or unsure. Maybe the boy has more compassion then i do toward the robber because i would have a hard time showing compassion toward someone that took all of my belongings. Overall i still thought the ending was very powerful i like the idea of the boy still carring the fire even though the dad is dead. I think the fire repsents not only the dad but the boys faith that everything will be okay.
From the begining of this book i had a feeling one of them were going to die. I thought it would be the boy and then the father would shot himself after but it wasnt. Howeve, the ending did disturb me a lot. I do not understand why the boy was so ungrateful for his father kiling that thief. Does he not understand that through all these years his father has been looking out for their best interest. His father killed someone to protect them. Yes, getting them undressed and leaving them to die there was extreme but it was necessary. The boy however does not understand that. He still believes that there is good in people when there is not, he wants to save everyone. When the father died I just kept thinking what is the boy going to do? Then i came to a conclusion, he is going to probably keep walking the road that they walked on together. To me the ending was really unnessery and could have been better. But as we were getting to the end the father and sons relation turns form decent to bad. Throughout the book it seemed that not only where they striving to stay alive but also to keep their relationship alive as well. So was the book about survival, or about surviving with a savage relationship?
For me, the ending of the novel did not come as a surprise. From the very start of reading, i had a feeling that either the boy or the father was going to die in the end. i think that in the end the boy lost all faith in his father. From my point of view i think that the boy and the father are completely different people and have completely different views on life and surviving. In a way it seems like the boy represents a democrat and the father represents a republican. They boy is focused on helping everyone else and worrying about the other people who are still alive. While the father is focused on their survival. I think that the boy is completely lost when his father dies and does not know where to go from there. I thought that when the father died that the boy was going to die too. It was a huge relief when the man came and brought the boy into their group of people. I thought that it was a pretty good novel overall, a little twisted but straight forward at the same time.
Honestly, In my opinion, the ending of this book was a complete surprise for me. I thought since the father and his son finally made it to where they were aiming for everything would turn out to be alright and they could live happily ever after. But no, the father just had to die because he was sick. So basically the father did all that traveling for nothing. I mean I guess it was for a good thing because now the boy gets to live with a nice family that will love him because he has been looking for a long time for something like that. I also can't believe when the father actually made the thief undress by holding up a pistol to the thief. Then the father actually decides to leave the thief there to actually freeze to death even after the boy begged him not to kill the thief. The ending was very surprising but I actually kinda liked it.
I think this was a very interesting book and at the beginning of the book i thought i wasn't going to like it but then when i kept on reading it actually turned out to be a pretty good book that i actually enjoyed reading.
I had predicted an ending just like this one. I knew that the father would shield and protect his son untill the father could go no more. There was also going to be a man to pick him up. At the end of the book, there was a quote that just grabbed me and proved my point completely. "She said that the breath of God was his breath yet though it pass from man to man through all of time"(241). Like i said before in previous blogs, the boy is that light that gets passed all these thoublesom dark times. The father said to his son that he had the fire with him the whole time. he always saw it in him. He was destined to survive. I think that his father passed on his strength and courage to his son when he passed away. The son became a grown person after his father died and it showed alot. I think when the man knew that he was finally finished, he saw everything through his eyes. Everything the boy had in him. Overall there were many many points, almost too many to type in one blog, so I'm going to end it here. The book was truely amazing and it gave me a better perspective of my own life. Now I understand a little bit more what my dad goes through. How he lives his life, for me.
19 comments:
Wow. I cannot believe the story ends like that. Through the last section of pages, I had a lot of different thoughts. When the boy becomes ill, I think it was through his father’s strength that he survived the illness. Something else that really stood out in my mind was when the father made the thief undress, holding a pistol up to the thief. The father then leaves the thief there to freeze to death even though the boy begs him not to. In a way, I feel that this inhuman act signifies the severing of the father and son relationship. The father says that he did not kill the thief, but the boy insists that he did which in my eyes signifies the loss of faith that the son had in his father. The father’s death came out of nowhere, but I think it may have been a good thing that he died because now the boy can grow up with his free, loving nature. I thought the ending was sort of random, but probably a good thing. The boy’s new family can provide him with the love and security he has been longing for.
My personal connection that I feel with the ending of this section is mainly with the boy. When he sees his father make the thief undress and force him to freeze to death I can imagine that the boy felt embarrassed, hurt and angry. I have had times when one of my parents has done something that I completely disagreed with and I therefore felt humiliated that they had done such a thing.
So I can’t believe we finally finished the book! A lot of surprising things happened in the end. First of all I completely agree with Julie when she said the boy only survived because of his father’s strength. When the boy got sick, his father did everything and anything possible to get him better, even with the very limited supplies they had. When the boy and the man got robbed and found the robber, they man took everything just like the robber did to them. The man told the boy he wasn’t going to kill him, but the boy said they already did. I think boy was shocked that the man felt so much anger towards the robber. Throughout the hole book, the boy was always wanting to help the other people he sees and by taking the mans cloths he probably felt like they just took his small chance of surviving. The end was really sad but somewhat happy too. The man was dying and he told the boy he had to keep carrying the fire. The boy asked if it was still out there and the man said it was in him. I think that symbolizes that the boy is the only reason the man lived for as long as he did because he was really sick and always coughing. The boy meet the other family and I think it’s good because they have kids and the boy will be able to have a relationship with some children his age. The family will be able to take care of the boy which is something the man would have wanted.
Overall it thought this was a pretty interesting book, and it defiantly made you think.
In pages 226-287, the ending of the story could of gone in multiple ways. I thought before reading this that someone was gunna die. When the boy first got ill I kept thinking that he might die or the ending would be the father bringing the boy to a (good guys) camp.
Leaving a thief there without nothing is kind of being selfish, the father has done the same thing as taking other people stuff but noone was there. The boy's and the father's realtionship splits farther as the boy wanted to help the poor man and the father just wants his stuff back.
When they came to a town, the father was shot by an arrow, he had a deep horrible pain in his leg. That is like 20% survival without really good medical care.
Now I focus on my thoughts that the father will now be the person to die. The boy learned many things from his father and ready to start a new family and adventure as becoming a young man.
The ending was unbelievable, I have so many different thoughts about this last pages. The boy getting sick was something I expected. I always thought that the boy would die, because that was the only thing keeping the father alive and going. I think that the dad taking care of his kid no matter what was great. What any father should do, but I still thought there was some coldness between them. I was also very upset when the father left the thief to die, I understand he probably didn’t want to waste a bullet and that it was the man that robbed him. But the robber was a scavenger just as the father and boy were looking for ways to survive. I mean when the boy and his dad would go into houses and stores and take things that was robbing too. And I think the boy was upset about that more then letting him die, they were all on the same level. The boy doesn’t want to hurt anyone and I think that’s the little part of his innocence he has left. When the father gets sick I knew he was going to die, it was so close to the end of the book. And I think that when the boy found the new family that he could start a new family. They would grow with him learn about him and eventually love him and care for him. Something his father could never do was have feeling and love him like a child should.
The ending of the Road left me wondering what happened to the boy’s father. At first the man was willing to help the people they found along the way after a arguing with the boy for a while, then once they find the thief who stole their stuff he just leaves him there to freeze to death and perish only trying to survive by any means necessary. Also, the sad part about the ending is that after all that they went through the father dies due to most likely the nuclear fallout. The boy and his father did everything they could to survive together and now the boy is with other survivors, but he has to leave his hero, his mentor, and his protector behind. The boy only asked one thing of the people he is now with and that was that they cover his dad so that he would not be found or eaten by other survivors that will eat anything that looks like food. It is a sad ending to a other wise very possible future of nuclear war and the death that will follow it.
I truly was amazed by the last part of the book and its ending. So many events I constantly were predicting that never happened. McCarthy's writing style allows your mind to flow with new ideas and predictions. For example, when the man and boy found the boat along the beach, I thought they might try and sail on the boat because the father was searching within the boat, found sails, rope, and many tools; additionally, the boat was begging to budge from a increased tide. My mind was constantly saying to itself that they were going to go on the boat and sail to a distant, more populated land possibly. That creativity is created by doing something as linear as reading. This is the first book I have read which has caused my mind to daze off into my own conclusions and deeper personal interpretations of the novel, unlike many novels I have read where the writer gives a specific message and theme.
The father has gradually increased his hope in their survival and changed to be more decisive throughout the last part of the book. He began to give specific and generally happier answers to the boy's awkward and depressing questions. The boy stayed with a neutral attitude throughout the ending.
I thought the ending was the saddest but also the happiest event for the boy because he had to leave he dead, cold father but he also was going to live with a family of four "good guys".
OMG, YES WE FINALLY FINISHED THE NOVEL! Now that ending really blew my mind. Like most of the other people said that throughout the book the boy and the father grew a very strong relationship. Not only for example when the boy becomes ill but in general they would not have been able to survive without each other.
One incident is when the boy got very ill and he relied on his father to take care of him. That example shows specifically how throughout the novel their realtionship became closer and closer.
Like julie said when the father puts the pistol to the theifs' head and lets him freeze to death int he cold. Even thought the boy told him not to the father disobeyed him. this example shows how the boy had lost complete faith and respect for the father.
What really suprised me and caught me way off guard was that the father died. This runs in both directions; good and bad. Good because now the kid can learn himself and grow up free and how ever e wants. The bad side for this is that the kid wont have anyone to nurture him growing up and take care of him.
Overall this book drove me nuts. I was constantly thinking whats going to happen next. It was very depressing and it made my mood swing alittle bit. All in all i though it was a good book and i am so happy we are finished.
First of all, I thought that ending turned the whole book around. For the longest time, I thought the boy would die. He got the flu, and he was always colder and weaker than the father. But I think his father’s death really showed the boy something. He looked up to his father the entire book. He always saw a fearless and invincible figure in his father. Even when he held a man at gunpoint, and the boy was unhappy with it, he still saw his father as fearless. He literally watched his father die, a fearless invincible man, die.
When the other man and his children took the boy in, I think it showed the boy that even in a world where all life is chaos, and all civilization is gone, pure heart can never die.
The whole end of the book was predictable but shocking at the same time. Through out the last pages, the father knew he was gonna die, but before he could prepare his son, he needed to prepare himself. While his son was sleeping, the father tells himself “Everyday is a lie. But you are dying. That is not a lie.” (page 238) Short after though, the son gets very sick, and this scares the father because he needs him to stay alive. The father is supposed to die, not the son. All the pent up fear of losing the only thing he has left to live for and the anger about the life his son has had to live comes out when he walks onto the beach and falls to his knees crying with rage. Although the son never acted like he knew this happened, he really did and I think that gave him the will to get better and be there for his father.
When they come back and find that all their stuff has been stolen its so disheartening. All through the book we’ve been hopeful with them and excited when they find items, and then for them to lose it all is terrible! Soon after though, they find the man that stole their things and the father threaten to kill him unless he gives them everything back. The son is very frightened and once they have everything and are safe, the father tells him “I wasn’t going to kill him” and the boy replies “But we did kill him.” I think this shows that the boy has matured a lot and feels like now once the man dies it'll be because of them, not anything else.
The father still does not know how to tell the son that he is dying and he continues to lose faith every day. “What’s the bravest thing you ever did? Getting up this morning. Really? No. Don't listen to me. Come on, lets go.” This shows that he still wants to be there for his son, but he feels like everyday that he stays with him, the harder it will be for the son to continue on and let go. Eventually the time has come for when the father has to tell his son what to do. He tells him no matter what that he will always be with him and that the boy still needs to “carry the fire”. The two pages where he was telling his son what he needed to do when he was gone was the most powerful part of the book. I could feel the pain that both of them were experiencing, and I actually started crying.
When the boy brings up the little boy that he saw that day, he begins to realize that it wasn't another little boy he saw, it was him. At the time he didn't acknowledge it, but he knew that it was going to be him one day. By asking the father to help him find the boy to help him, it was really his hope that someone would come and help him when he was on his own. And someone did. When the man told him to continue on with him it was such a relief. He was right in telling the boy that he would die if he just stayed there, and I respected the fact that he gave him time before they continued on. While the boy just sits by his fathers dead body crying, it was so emotional. I cannot even imagine how this boy was feeling cause his father was all he ever had, and what I fear the most is losing my mom.
The end of the story was not expected at all. I never thought the end of the book would end like that. I definitely thought the boy was going to die after he got sick because the way his father worried about him really emphasized his illness and because the boy was the only reason the man fought to stay alive for as long as he did.
When the man made the thief strip off all his clothing, I believe this part really signified the way the boy is growing up because he never really gave up on going back to help the man. It shows how the boy is growing apart from his father.
The end was really emotional. It made me think about losing my father. But in this case the boy's father was his companion and what he really relied on to learn and survive. It seemed like the man almost gave up on trying to stay alive because he knew the boy has learned what he needed to learn and he had faith in his son that he could survive. Especially when he told him to keep carrying the fire.
I think this book was really interesting and I really enjoyed reading it because you could relate some of the scenarios to your own life.
I think that the man's death and the boy's survival symbolizes the way they lived their lives. The boy was always hopeful and generous, while the man was always selfish and focused on his own goal. Also, by the end of the book, the man seemed to have lost all faith. The new family the boy has now symbolizes a new beginning full of hope and salvation. I found it really disappointing that McCarthy didn't do anything more with the arrival at the coast. That was their goal for the whole novel, and when they reached it it seemed like just another random event they witnessed along the way. Maybe that was the point, but it gave the ending a sort of distracted feel.
I am not going to lie and therefor I am not going to be blunt. My exact words after reading the last sentence of this novel were “what the f**k, are you serious? thats it?” Some would say strong words, leaving alone what some would say inappropriate words, but just like any logical and emotional statement there lies a reason behind those words. These were my first thoughts for the simple notion the lack of ending rather then the ending of the story. I pondered there was none. Make the argument a lack of ending is an ending all you want- for it may be and that was my second thought. By Cormac McCarthy giving me that lack of ending it is similar to when Shakespeare signals the ending of a life at the end of Act 5 of Kind Lear. All it says is, “he died.” Some would call this unfortunate and some would call it undescriptive. But one of the most influential pieces of literature written by one of the claimed best writers in human history is blunt and to the point. Only a genius could come up with something so amazing. Those simple words are an ending. This story is not one of tragedy. This story is not one of guilt. This story is one of human nature and imagination. This story is one of self-reflectiveness and with me at least it has achieved its goal. No ending is an ending because it is your ending. Following the example of the great playwright William Shakespeare... the end.
The man dying at the end of the story was definitely unexpected. As everyone else has said I expected the boy to die first because he was weaker.
The ending put a new perspective on the novel. The boy's hope throughout the course of the book showed that he believed he would survive, and that's exactly what he did. The man on the other hand had many times where he was close to giving up and probably would have if it weren't for the boy.
I think the boy's survival symbolizes a feeling of making it through anything no matter how difficult the situation may be.
You could relate to the ending in many ways because it made you fear losing someone close to you such as your father. In the story the father was all the boy had making it harder once he died. At the same time, it made him stronger because he learned so much from him and looked up to him.
The end of the novel really moved me for two reasons. First that the book could have ended that way! WOW WOW WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I exspected the father to die but not in such an anticlimactic way but rather in a heroic and dramatic way. I thought the dad would have died defending his sons life, in a fight, or valient last stand agains the "bad guys" Instead the father gets sick and dies! Why WHy Why
I know Cormic McCarthy had him die this way for a reason but im not quite sure why.
The second reason is i dont understand why the boy had so much sympathy towards the robber. He stole there stuff and tried to get away. Why would the boy feel sorry for him? He should die. I understand that McCarthy had a reason for including the boys compassion towards the robber. I feel like hope has beeen a major theme in this novel. Because the boy always wants to truse the other people even when he is scard or unsure. Maybe the boy has more compassion then i do toward the robber because i would have a hard time showing compassion toward someone that took all of my belongings.
Overall i still thought the ending was very powerful i like the idea of the boy still carring the fire even though the dad is dead. I think the fire repsents not only the dad but the boys faith that everything will be okay.
From the begining of this book i had a feeling one of them were going to die. I thought it would be the boy and then the father would shot himself after but it wasnt. Howeve, the ending did disturb me a lot. I do not understand why the boy was so ungrateful for his father kiling that thief. Does he not understand that through all these years his father has been looking out for their best interest. His father killed someone to protect them. Yes, getting them undressed and leaving them to die there was extreme but it was necessary. The boy however does not understand that. He still believes that there is good in people when there is not, he wants to save everyone. When the father died I just kept thinking what is the boy going to do? Then i came to a conclusion, he is going to probably keep walking the road that they walked on together.
To me the ending was really unnessery and could have been better. But as we were getting to the end the father and sons relation turns form decent to bad. Throughout the book it seemed that not only where they striving to stay alive but also to keep their relationship alive as well. So was the book about survival, or about surviving with a savage relationship?
For me, the ending of the novel did not come as a surprise. From the very start of reading, i had a feeling that either the boy or the father was going to die in the end. i think that in the end the boy lost all faith in his father. From my point of view i think that the boy and the father are completely different people and have completely different views on life and surviving. In a way it seems like the boy represents a democrat and the father represents a republican. They boy is focused on helping everyone else and worrying about the other people who are still alive. While the father is focused on their survival. I think that the boy is completely lost when his father dies and does not know where to go from there. I thought that when the father died that the boy was going to die too. It was a huge relief when the man came and brought the boy into their group of people. I thought that it was a pretty good novel overall, a little twisted but straight forward at the same time.
Honestly, In my opinion, the ending of this book was a complete surprise for me. I thought since the father and his son finally made it to where they were aiming for everything would turn out to be alright and they could live happily ever after. But no, the father just had to die because he was sick. So basically the father did all that traveling for nothing. I mean I guess it was for a good thing because now the boy gets to live with a nice family that will love him because he has been looking for a long time for something like that. I also can't believe when the father actually made the thief undress by holding up a pistol to the thief. Then the father actually decides to leave the thief there to actually freeze to death even after the boy begged him not to kill the thief. The ending was very surprising but I actually kinda liked it.
I think this was a very interesting book and at the beginning of the book i thought i wasn't going to like it but then when i kept on reading it actually turned out to be a pretty good book that i actually enjoyed reading.
I had predicted an ending just like this one. I knew that the father would shield and protect his son untill the father could go no more. There was also going to be a man to pick him up. At the end of the book, there was a quote that just grabbed me and proved my point completely. "She said that the breath of God was his breath yet though it pass from man to man through all of time"(241). Like i said before in previous blogs, the boy is that light that gets passed all these thoublesom dark times. The father said to his son that he had the fire with him the whole time. he always saw it in him. He was destined to survive. I think that his father passed on his strength and courage to his son when he passed away. The son became a grown person after his father died and it showed alot. I think when the man knew that he was finally finished, he saw everything through his eyes. Everything the boy had in him. Overall there were many many points, almost too many to type in one blog, so I'm going to end it here. The book was truely amazing and it gave me a better perspective of my own life. Now I understand a little bit more what my dad goes through. How he lives his life, for me.
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