- Plot Summary Plodddddddd
Genre
The road is a post-Modernisn work, and is classified as “post-apocalyptic
fiction”
- The boy and the man, called Papa by the boy, come across many deserted
towns-remnants of civilization that the man used to live in but the boy never
experienced. The man frequently has flashbacks- in particular, one about him and
his uncle on a fishing boat and of his wife. It is revealed that his wife left
him and his son to (presumably) go kill herself because she could not stand the
world they lived in.
They come upon a grocery store first, hoping to find some food. Inside the grocery
store, the man finds a single Coca-Cola, and gives it to his son so he can have
something to enjoy. They next come across the man’s old house, where he grew up.
The boy is scared, begging his father not to go in-there could be “bad guys”
inside. The man knows this could be true, but he persists anyway. In this, it is
revealed that of the few remaining people who have survived this apocalyptic
event, many have turned into “bloodcults”, groups of cannibals and roadagents
who torture their victims. Here, a crucial conflict that is repeated throughout
the novel is brought up. The man, with his pistol and two bullets, decides he
will kill the boy should they be caught by a blood cult to spare him from being
tortured. But, an internal conflict arises- could he do it if necessary?
On the road once more after camping at a waterfall, the boy asks the man whether
they “carry the fire”-whether they are the good guys as opposed to the
bloodcults. The man replies yes, and tells him stories from the old world of
courage to keep the fire alive in the boy. Along the way, the two come across a
burnt man who has been struck by lightning. The boy cries out to help him, but
the man refuses, knowing they have nothing to give him.
Later, a truck of roadagents finds the man and the boy camping in the woods. On
of the agents seizes the boy, and the man shoots him in the head and they manage
to escape the cult. Now the man has one bullet left in his pistol, and he knows
it will be for the boy.
Upon arrival at a little town, the boy thinks he sees another little boy and a dog.
The boy worries about the other little boy the rest of the novel.
Out of food and starving, the boy and the man come across a huge house that looks
suspiciously empty, given the fact there is a pulley system used by slaves and
empty blankets. The boy begs the man to leave, but they continue on, desperate
for food. Unlocking a basement, they discover naked people in the dark, waiting
to be eaten by the bloodcult. The boy and the man flee just as the cult returns,
hiding in the woods. Again, the argument surfaces to the man whether or not he
has to kill the boy, and if he can. He is certain this night is when he will do
it. But, they go undiscovered through the night, and leave the next morning.
The two, still starving, find an old apple orchard, where the man finds dried
apples, a tank of water, and a grape drink mix, which he gives to the boy.
Pressing on, the boy and the man find a sanctuary in the backyard of the house when they
discover an underground bunker with food, cots, clothes, a stove, and other
survival necessities. The man knows they cannot stay in the shelter long. They
spend a few days in the sanctuary, eating and sleeping, and they go out to find
another cart to take on the road again. The man whittles wooden bullets to load
into his gun-he wants to gun to look loaded should they find anyone else on the
road.
Setting out again, they meet a stranger on the road- an old man who gives his name as
Ely (although this is not his real name). The boy begs his father to let him eat
dinner with them. The man and Ely talk about the future, God, and being the last
human on Earth. The next day, the boy gives Ely some food, and Ely leaves them.
The boy cries because he knows Ely will soon die.
As they keep moving south, the boy and the man find remnants of the old world-
ghost towns and billboards and even a train- mixed with the new, with corpses
and bones and dead remnants. The boy asks the man about the ocean, wondering if
it was blue. The man replies it used to be. The man then gets sick with a fever,
causing them to camp out for four days. Weakened, they move on, hide from a
group of people they see going over a bridge- three men and a pregnant woman.
later, they find their camp- and, over the fire, a burnt infant on a stick over
a fire. The boy doesn’t speak for days.
Upon reaching the coast, they find a gray ocean, filled with ash, but the father
encourages the boy to go swim in the ocean. After this, they find a boat, which
the father goes alone to scavenge for supplies, finding food, a first-aid kit,
and a flare gun., which they shoot off that night at the boy’s insistence. The
boy and the man camp at the beach, and the boy gets severely ill- the man thinks
he is going to die, and is terrified and enraged. The boy survives, and they go
to town to get more food store-coming back, they find their camp stolen. The man
and boy set out to find the thief, who is pushing their cart down the road. The
man makes the thief take off his clothes, and steals them. The boy is extremely
upset, and makes the man go back and give the clothes to the man-only to find
him not there. The boy blames the man, saying they killed the thief- and they
were to be the good guys, and help people.
They walk through a barren town, where the father gets shot in the leg with an arrow.
He shoots a flare through the window and hits the archer, but is unsure whether
he died from it. The man stitches up his wound and they move on, but the man is
weak and is coughing up more blood. Finally, the man and the boy find a spot on
the road and camp there. The man knows he will die here. The boy brings him
water, and the man asks not to be covered with a blanket- he wants to see the
stars. He begs the boy to go, to leave him, but the boy refuses. The man dies,
and the boy stays with him for three days before being found by a man with a
shotgun who claims he is carrying the fire too and is a good guy, and that his
camp has a little boy and a little girl too. The novel ends with the boy being
integrated into his new family, and saying how he talks to his father everyday.
Bibliography:
- Picture: http://www.boingboing.net/images/the-road_l.jpg