Good and Evil in The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Book Analysis)

There are always going to be good and bad people in the world. In the book, “The Road” by Cormac McCarthy, the author shows that humanity is capable of both good and evil throughout their travels in a post apocalyptic world. A man and his son travel through burned America to reach the south for warmth. Every encounter made with other survivors caused questioning about whether the main characters are considered the “good guys”and if others are bad people.Nevertheless, the two strive for what moralities they can still hold on to while others yield to their more primitive instincts. Illustrating a variety of reactions in response to a disastrous situation shows the authenticity of life because everyone has an individual thought process causing numerous outcomes in terms of reaction. 

To begin with, the most memorable encounters with other survivors happen to be with cannibals and their victims. The story states, “He crouched and stepped down again and held out the light. Huddled against the back wall were naked people, male and female.” The man and the boy had stumbled upon a locked door filled with severely injured people which could only belong to the cannibals group. This act can be seen as revolting compared to the common code of morals. The man and the boy think of themselves as the “good guys” because they don’t lose their sanity over starvation, stooping down to the level of eating human flesh. Even in their predicament, the two have a shred of rectitude while others forget it in desperate times, which goes to show that there can be both good and bad people even when all hope seems lost.   

Furthermore, the mother of the young boy shows some potential of a single individual being capable of both good and bad. The author shows two perspectives as to whether suicide is justified in there situation. The mother says to the father, “You can think of me as a faithless slut if you like. I've taken a new lover.” The father replies, “Death is not a lover.” She had planned to kill herself in fear of what the world had become and what people would do out of desperation. Suicide is usually seen as “bad”, and after giving birth to her son and leaving, makes it less of an argument as too what kind of person the mother is. Despite her selfish act, her intentions were to take the child with her to the afterlife to save them from the terrible tragedies that await. Seeing what traumas the boy goes through, seeing dead bodies, cannibals, etcetera makes death sound like a bliss. Both sides can truly be seen as to whether the mother was actually a bad person or not. 

In conclusion, if the standards of the moral codes are still held in place, whatever situation they may be in, both good and evil can be present in every individual. The group of cannibals represents the “bad” people because they hold their lives more important than others and kill whatever humans they can find to survive. The father and son are seen as the “good ” people if compared to what other kinds of people are out there because they don’t harm innocent people and or kill them for food. There are even characters, like the suicidal mother, that show both perspectives of the matter. Having “good” and “evil” instilled in one person shows part of the realism that is portrayed in the book.