Yet the doctrine of progress in the modern age does not make room for suffering. Rather, the notion of progress suggests “that the great evils heretofore experienced in history are passing phenomena, not enduring characteristics of human existence.”90 The entire project of progress, as noble as it is untenable, is to eliminate suffering. The Road demonstrates the impossibility of such an idea. Yet, in so doing, it demonstrates the triumph of hope. Hope exists only where there are obstacles to achieving the good, and the good that one seeks in hope is arduous.
