The road, a physical and mental state

[Cristina]

Throughout the reading I had come to the conclusion that highways and a few other roads compromise the setting of the novel. Even though the characters stop at some few houses the characters are mainly the a road. McCarthy describes the road in so many details the reader could picture a major image. In this book the road is lonely and desolate, also full of danger. In fact, it's probably useful to think of the road as physical setting and and a mental state.

[Mariana]

Many philosophers and thinkers have said that life is a journey and that there is a path that one follows. While reading "The Road" I realized that the road is not only the setting but also a metaphorical concept. I believe that there is a contrast between what the actual setting depicts and what the characters think; the "mental" road, or as I would like to call it, "path," differ in content. The physical road is desolate, filled with ruins, dust, and chaos, while the mental road is not empty. In order to survive both the father and the son must keep their minds focused on their path, they have to fill it with hopes and dreams about what and where the physical road will get them to. When there is nothing beautiful in the physical world, one must make the mental one somewhere one wants to be.

Mariana Escobar APB3

[Elisa]

Cristina, I think I can agree with you when you say the road is also a mental state but I think you didn't explain full well why it is even though you said the descriptions made about it make the reader get a clear picture. I think it is a mental state as well as a physical one because the words used to describe it can be used in a metaphorical way to describe their minds as well and people would understand. Mariana, while I agree with you that it is a path filled with ruins, dust and chaos I don't think that is much different from their minds, since I don't ever see any glimpse of their hopes or dreams while reading. Instead, I think they have none but they just have their human nature that tells them they have to survive but never do they mention anything that gives them or the reader hope. However, I do think it is an interesting idea that one must create a rather beautiful mental world when the real one is lacking so much beauty. In what cases do you think the reader gets to see this beautiful mental place they have, or do you think they actually don't have one?

Elisa Gonzalez APB3

[Alejandro]

I agree with you all, "The Road" as McCarthy portrays it is actually more than a setting and the place were things are well described it is m a mental state of desolation and desperation that characters have adquired after the "apocalypsis" they suffered. As well I think that the fact it is called "The Road" is a metaphorical and rethorical issue, it means the journey of life and the passage we all must pass as we are living even if extinction is arriving and we have to strugle to survive. The Road is not only mental or psychological, it is also physical it afects the way the characters act during the whole book.

Alejandro Gonzalez