Continuing a Demoralizing Journey

   The Road continues and the story only grows harder and more depressing, as well as draw me deeper into the depraved world. The second quarter focuses a lot on the Man, and who he is as a father. The text shows what lengths and hardships he is willing to endure for his son's life.
   Their journey becomes exhausting with the introduction of a snowstorm. Heavy, thick, dirty snow cascades down on the weary pair as they try to push on. As if the environment was harsh enough, the snow soaks and freezes them, sucking the energy from them. They have to abandon their cart, their only worldly possessions in order to press on. This creates a new mental hardship to go along with the new physical one. They wander aimlessly, trying to  avoid packs of scavengers and slavers along the road. They find themselves without food, without water, so tired the man begins questioning if they can go on. But this hardship shows his true character, he puts all his effort into the boy. He carries him when he is tired, uses all his available resources to keep him dry and moving, even though it only makes things harder for them. The battle is endless and the reader witnesses their hardships in annoying graphic detail. I could feel the cold wet soaking into my skin, the frigid winds fighting my every step, and I only felt the pain and hoped something good would happen to them.
   The house is a huge part in the book, not only to show the depravity the world has turned to but also show the true character of the Man. Again the author creates this "live feed" of events as we witness the Man discover the naked degenerates being harvested for meat, the terror and adrenaline are felt as they run. The exhaustion is felt with every heavy step they take away from the house, they stumble aimlessly in the dark, hopeless and lost. I felt the pure exhaustion and the confusion the characters felt. In the heat of the escape the Boy is handed the revolver, but instead of a moment of bravery where the father says to be brave and fight back, we are shown a much darker and real scenario. The Man says to his son "You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard"(113) This moment shows a dark truth of the world, that a boy can't fight back, that he can't defend himself, that killing himself is the way to fend off the evil. The passage also implies that the two have had the conversation before, that the act of killing ones self is a conversation needed in this new world, to escape the constant hardships and evil of the world.
   A very real moment is felt when the father holds his child in the dark and dirt, waiting for something sick and twisted to come out of the woods for them. His thoughts are played out, his thoughts about what he would do if they came. We see the man think about killing his son "Can you do it? When the time comes? When the time comes there will be no time. Now is the time. Curse God and die. What if it doesn't fire? Could you crush that beloved skull with a rock?...Pull him towards you. Kiss him. Quickly"(114). This moment is gritty and very real. It shows what the Man is willing to do to protect his son, even if protecting his son means killing him.
   That part of the reading really showed what Cormac McCarthy is trying to portray in the novel. A true feeling of hopelessness. He starves his character, deprives them of sleep, and puts them in a horrific situation. Again, it all feels sickeningly real, the father isn't a hero. He doesn't fight of the cannibals with a sword and gun, his son doesn't become brave and overcome the evil. They run, exhausted, hungry, lost and scared. Neither of them overcome the evil, because the evil is to great, and that feeling of hopelessness in the face of something to great and hard to fight is felt.
   Another demoralizing and poetic section of reading. The harsh world is expanded and felt in full force. The true nature and pain of the characters is expressed in painfully real detail. I don't know where the duo will do, face, or fight in the second half of the book, but I am excited and wary to find out.