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Dystopian ction essay: The Road
February 19th 2021
“The Road” is a dystopian ction about a man and a boy (father and son) who are trying to survive
in a post-apocalyptic world. Everything around them is grey, burned or consists of ashes. The man
and the boy are traveling down to the south because it is very cold where they are and it is more
warm in the south. Which will increase their chance of survival. They have not much to be happy
about but they are still trying to work it out, this is reached due to a few social principles: acts of
kindness, compassion and sel essness.
The story takes place in a dystopian setting, which makes it hard to be completely happy. The
setting causes lots of trauma: the little boy saw dead bodies among other things and is on the road to
survive. This is not something that he should have to worry about since he is so young.
But the man and the boy do have their happy moments. The writer of the book created the idea of
hope by illustrating optimistic scenes and character traits. The man and the boy have very little
possessions and it is at all times uncertain if they can survive another day. The food that they have is
not much and this causes struggles. As they near starvation the man and the boy discover this
bunker lled with foods and many other supplies, they carry them along in their shopping cart and
continue their journey. As they are walking they pass this elderly man, the boy insists to share some
of their food with the elderly man. While the father does not think that it is a good idea because he
would rather keep it for themselves. This act of kindness shows the boy his sympathy and
compassion. He cares about being a good human being and makes sure that he is, by showing this
sympathy and helping out other people that they see along their journey. He also shows his
compassion when they see a burned man, who was struck by lightning. The boy wants to help him
out but the father stops him and tells him that it would be useless and a waste of time because they
have nothing to offer him.
Both characters have dreams and visions about this one particular
woman: the wife of the man and mother of the boy. They have lost her
and it makes them sad that she is not with them. The woman chose to
die because she would rather be dead than live the life the man and the
boy are living. This sorrowful event caused not only negative things but
also positive: it drew the man and the boy more towards each other
and it makes them inseparable. They are each other's will to live. This
is because of love and causes them to be sel ess. The man’s love for the
boy gives him the will to keep surviving from day to day. The man will
do practically anything to protect his son and he wants him to live a
good and happy life. Neither of them speci cally say how much they
love each other. But they make it clear by actions that happen during
their journey. Like for example when the man gave the boy the can of
Coca Cola, this was a sel ess action of the man. Small things like this
mean a lot because things like the can of Coca Cola was an object
from a former generation which the boy could not enjoy so his father
gave him it to experience and taste something delicious again.
To sum up everything that has been stated so far the book shows many reasons not to be happy but
the man and the boy work their way through it and try to be happy despite everything. I have
discussed three social principles in this essay: acts of kindness, compassion and sel essness. These
three principles helped them through their journey. It made them not lose their human traits and
care.
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