Henderson: The Road

In the novel, The Road, the plot is very ambiguous and abstract, with no regards as to why or when the cataclysm has taken place, nor why the father and son were chose to survive for so long; or even to why or how God has entered the man's and son's being.

The father realizes that his son will not be able to live through another cold winter in their current location due to the great and unexplained cataclysm that has taken place. Therefore they begin a journey to sea, in hopes that they will come across some type of vegetation and warmer climate for the sake of the son's survival. In the novel, the father tells his son: “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you.” and he does in their first encounter with another human. In the film you can see how different the father's and the son's characters are; the son has a sense of compassion and 'goodness' towards others that they come across and the father is very protective of his son and merciless.

In the end of the novel, the father and son reaches the sea but did not find the salvation that the father had hoped for and eventually the father died due to his illness leaving his son alone on the road, with the gun, and the knowledge that he can still talk to his father everyday. Three days later, a man who has said that he has been following the boy and his father, approaches the boy inviting him to joint his family. The boy asked the man if he is also one of the “good guys” and the man states that he is, along with his wife, their two children, and their dog.

Although the man states that he is a good guy in the end of the novel, the reader is still left to wonder about the boy's safety and the family's intention. On the other hand, at the end of the film, I feel like the viewer is more comfortable with the boy joining the family because the wife is portrayed as a compassionate woman who will treat the boy well, like her own.