Keeping the Fire of Hope: An Optimistic Approach of a Chaotic Society in Cormac McCarthy’s the Road

Reading The Road is a journey through the ashes of conflicts and natural catastrophes. Social unknown reasons have turned interpersonal relationship into moments of selfishness and a constant appeal to confrontation for the survival of some individuals and the destruction of human community. Characters are doomed in the rampant darkness of death and evil. Nonetheless, at the heart of destruction lies the possibility for rebirth. Variety in characters bears the seeds of questioning war logic and yielding answers that lead to hope and optimism.

Keywords: chaos – community – destruction – darkness – hope.