Language, Religion, and Morality in Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Linguistic Style and the Everyman Effect

The absence of quotation marks, names, and apostrophes within Cormac McCarthy's The Road gives rise to a strange feeling of displacement in the minds of readers. The author has only identified his key characters as "the boy" and "the man." Such a lack of differentiating signs suggests that the writer wanted to lead his audience toward a nearly everyman effect, indicating a familiar, dysfunctional society to which readers can easily relate. The effect of not naming the characters allows readers to morph and mask themselves within the characters, lending the writer a longer-lasting effect in the reader's mind. It seems this enduring impact was precisely the motivation behind the author's decision to leave his characters nameless.

Another unusual and interesting aspect is the author's frequent use of the word "okay" within conversations (Saliba). McCarthy has utilized this word a striking 168 times, using it 32 times to end conversations. The effect of such a term is that it lends itself to various meanings within the text: on some occasions it signifies a quest for permission, while on others it represents a pressuring of will. Generally, however, it signals a plea for existential support — a ritualistic appeal and answer helping to ensure that both characters are psychically and physically protected (Saliba):

Can we wait a while?
Okay.
But it's getting dark.
I know.
Okay . . .
There's no one here . . .
Okay.
Are you still scared?
Yes.
We're okay.
Okay. (McCarthy, p. 204)

Contrary to this minimalist language — in which terms such as "okay" waver in their role as bearers of complicated sentiments and connotations — the author also introduces novel terminology in the book's more graphic passages. Several kennings and invented words appear in the novel, created out of the author's felt need to illustrate the expansive, hostile, and thunderous turmoil the two characters are experiencing (Saliba). New terms introduced include "parsible" (McCarthy, p. 88), "illucid" (McCarthy, p. 116), and "salitter" (McCarthy, p. 261). The book is also liberally scattered with kennings of all kinds, including "feverland" (McCarthy, p. 28), "deathships" (McCarthy, p. 218), and "lampblack" (McCarthy, p. 244). This symbolizes a novel type of lyricism emerging from a desolate, fallen world.

Just as the man uses the remnants of the old age to fashion new implements for survival — lamps made from oil and rags, flares repurposed as weapons — new meanings and words are likewise derived from the old world. The author's affinity for words like "rachitic" and "crozzled" carries "as much visceral, atmospheric power as precise meaning. His use of language is as exultant as his imaginings are hellish, a hint that The Road will ultimately be more radiant than it is punishing" (Maslin).

Religious Symbolism and the Death-Rebirth Cycle

McCarthy's The Road describes a noir adventure of a man and his child, underscoring their survival within a community that has fallen into vicious disarray. By studying their journey through religious themes and references, the author reveals God's ambiguities and mankind's cyclical nature, thereby suggesting a natural cycle of annihilation which heralds regeneration and, possibly, outlines mankind's empowerment through human connection — with or without the Almighty (Mosis).

The author makes use of religious references to examine the deliberation on cyclical human demise and rebirth. Trailing along behind his son, the "sunken haggard" father experiences the appearance of "some new distance between them" (McCarthy, p. 191). The youthful character at the front and his "sunken haggard" father trailing behind conveys a "new distance" portraying the characters' symbolic as well as actual physical differences. From their physical positioning (back versus front) to their dichotomous characteristics (haggardness versus vigor), the father's qualms and the son's bold selflessness are analogous to the divergent Old and New Testaments — "sunken" degradation and compassion, respectively. As the older book gives rise to the newer one, these religious significances indicate that this "new distance" represents a symbolic continuum rather than a divergent detachment (Mosis).

The effect of this cyclical characterization on the reader is significant: when the author depicts the predicted death of the father, the reader perceives it as the production of the son's symbolic, Christ-like renaissance — enabling contact with other good people and continuing to bear the fuel of future human society (Mosis).

This cyclical deterioration that causes renaissance continues with the elderly journeyer, Ely, who affirms that "things will be easier when everybody's gone" (McCarthy, p. 172). This character resembles Elijah, a prophet who announced the Messiah's revival. What is contradictory about this declaration, compared to the actual scriptural reference, is the Lord's and everyone's "gone" absence. By reversing the religious reference and choosing to name only one character — Ely — the author underscores the unusual implication of his words, reflecting the recurring impression of destruction ("gone") which results in an "easier" future rebirth. Using such religious references, the author emphasizes the association between loss and renewal (Mosis).

A deeper meaning can be drawn from the author's use of the theme of divinity in studying morality and the divine presence's vagueness, as well as in exploring the emboldening reconnection between people. Surrounded by darkness, the father looks up and beholds "weird gray light . . . Pray for lightning" (McCarthy, p. 234). While "lightning" is typically representative of God's actions and serves to light up the travelers' road, the author has described it as "weird[ly] gray." This "gray light" highlights the uncertainties linked to the Almighty's presence in this world, thereby highlighting the uncertainty of related morality. The author thus utilizes religious symbols and references to study the death-regeneration cycle. While the story's end still hints at uncertainties linked to the Almighty and to ethics, the author apparently points to the value of human relationships as the fuel needed to keep the fire burning until a brighter, better future is established (Mosis).

Character Analysis: The Man as Moral Teacher

The chief character of McCarthy's novel — referred to here as the Man, or Papa — is burdened by knowledge of the past age and by responsibility for his son's future. This burden makes him overly wary, careful, and even, on occasion, a bit paranoid, which represent his primary flaws in the story. In dealing with his boy, however, he is patient and compassionate — his finest traits. His motivation is clear: as though driven by personal destiny, he strives with everything he has to save his son, and is ready to sacrifice even the boy's life to protect him from the evil in the world. He claims, "If [the boy] is not the word of God, God never spoke." He believes his son is God's "word" and his own "warrant." The relationship between father and son is clearly a sacred one, as evidenced by the following lines: "You have my whole heart. You always did. You're the best guy. You always were" (McCarthy, p. 279). He leaves no stone unturned in guiding the boy through a dystopian era, instructing him to become — and remain — good, and to "carry the fire." When the man dies, his son is able to independently "carry the fire" (DEPAUW).

The man displays three clear traits that form an important part of his personality throughout the story. His constant refrain about the boy "carrying the fire" highlights his sound moral values as well as his primary role in the story as the son's teacher (Josh). This phrase alludes to the boy's bearing the burden of society, empathy, understanding, and ever-present ethicality. The theme of the man's love for his son pervades the novel; on several occasions, he clearly states that he lives only for the boy. Set in an age of absolute anarchy, the novel shows the father displaying considerable courage in his attempts to face it — remaining hidden from cannibals, entering dangerous abandoned buildings, and more (Josh). This is where the significance of the character is most clearly illuminated: the boy is exposed to difficult situations across his life and learns how to tackle them in a morally sound manner from the most influential person in his world. The man thus represents a moral benchmark for the boy.

The son receives his remarkable morality from his father, who continuously influences him through examples of goodness:

Look at me, the man said.
He turned and looked. He looked like he'd been crying.
Just tell me. [The Man]
We wouldn't ever eat anybody, would we? [The Boy]
No. Of course not.
Even if we were starving? . . .
But we wouldn't. [The Boy]
No. We wouldn't.
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. (McCarthy)

The above conversation between father and son is a clear example of how the former shapes the latter with his constant moral compass. While the father believes the boy's morals stem from his divine nature, it is ultimately the father's own good example that has shaped the son's character. The changes in the son are mostly observed in his physical development rather than in his moral standing. The story depicts how, with time and age, the boy gradually moves to the front position as they walk across different facets of life, making necessary decisions while the man takes a back seat and lets the boy lead. The writer depicts this shift in various ways — sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically.

Bibliography

DEPAUW. The Road. n.d. 29 Jan. 2017.

Josh. "The Road: Character Analysis." December 2012. 29 Jan. 2017.

Maslin, Janet. "The Road Through Hell, Paved With Desperation." New York Times, 25 Sept. 2006. 7 Jun. 2009.

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Vantage International, 2006.

Mosis, Moos. "Death and Rebirth: God, Can You Hear Me?" 2016. <

Saliba, D. "Linguistic Disintegration in Cormac McCarthy's The Road." (2011): 1–18.

Wielenberg, Erik J. "God, Morality, and Meaning in Cormac McCarthy's The Road." Cormac McCarthy Journal (2010).