CORMAC MCCARTHY'S "THE ROAD" AS APOCALYPTIC GRAIL ...

CORMAC MCCARTHY'S "THE ROAD" AS APOCALYPTIC GRAIL NARRATIVE Author(s): LYDIA R. COOPER Source: Studies in the Novel, Vol. 43, No. 2 (summer 2011), pp. 218-236 Published by: Studies in the Novel, University of North Texas Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41228678 . Accessed: 28/06/2013 10:44 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

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CORMAC MCCARTHY'S THE ROAD AS APOCALYPTIC GRAIL NARRATIVE LYDIA COOPER I believethatwe are arksof thecovenantand ourtruenatureis not or logicorcraftorevensorrow.It is longing. rageordeceitorterror - CormacMcCarthy, Whalesand Men The Holy Grailis a standardsymbolin theEnglishlanguageforan outofreach. objectof searchfar-off, mysterious, - DhiraB. Mahoney,TheGrail:A Casebook CormacMcCarthy'sThe Road (2006), withits ashen,post-apocalyptic fromtherealismof his earliernovels. landscape,seemsa striking departure in "biohazard"suitsor wearing Inspiredin partby grimimagesof wanderers masksand goggles"like ruinedaviators"{The Road 51, 24), manycritics the novel as a nuclear identifythe unnamedcatastrophethatprecipitates holocaust(see e.g.,Christman). McCarthyhimselfimaginesthedisasterto be a meteorstrike, althoughhe claimsthat"his moneyis on humansdestroying sets in" (Kushner).Yet few each otherbeforean environmental catastrophe andfuturistic criticshaveexploredjusthowunusualthefantastic landscapeof ' filmofhis2005 novel theCoenbrothers TheRoad is. In aninterview regarding realismover No Country claimsthathe prefers forOld Men,McCarthy literary more"magical"genres."[I]t'shardenoughtogetpeopletobelievewhatyou're to tellthemwithout he says."You haveto make makingitimpossible," trying it vaguelyplausible"(Grossman63). WhileTheRoad does bearMcCarthy's toaccuracyinall theminutiae theexcesses ofhisdescriptions, typicalattention initspagesmaystretch thelimitsofcredulity. ofcarnageandapocalyptic horror In fact,one criticfindstheworldof thenovelso sublimelydamagedthatit musthavea "supernatural concludesthatTheRoad is cause,"andhe therefore

intheNovel,volume 2 (Summer Studies © 2011bythe 43,number 2011).Copyright ofNorth Texas.Allrights toreproduction inanyform reserved. University


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a retelling of theBook of Revelation(Grindley12). The fantastic elementsin thenovel,however,arenotsupernatural but motif.The allegory, mythological novel'stitlein an earlydraftwas TheGrail} a titleillustrative ofthenarrative arc in whicha dyingfatherembarkson a questto preservehis son, whom he imaginesas a "chalice"(McCarthy, TheRoad 64), thesymbolicvesselof divinehealingin a realmblighted disease.The motifsof some by catastrophic theWasteLand,thedyingFisherKing,andthepotentially unattainable healing which balm in thecup of Christprovideparticularly through apt metaphors fearsin orderto exploreifandhow TheRoad examinespervasiveapocalyptic thehumanprojectmaybe preserved. Itmaybe usefulfirst toestablishcommongrailmotifs beforeinvestigating theirapplicationin The Road. The principalearly "Grail" textsfall into two general categories:chivalricromancesabout King Arthur'sknights thegrailand historiesof thegrailfromthetimeof Christto its encountering in terms removalto Britain.The firstcategoryhas been themostinfluential This categoryincludes of thosestories'impactupon subsequentliterature. vonEschenbach'sParzival,and de Troyes'Contedel Graal,Wolfram Chrétien theQuestedel SaintGraal (Loomis l).(See Loomis 2-4 and Weston12-15.) have as thequestherotheArthurian The firsttwoof thesetextsin particular narrative tropes knightPerceval,as well as themostcommonand consistent Percevalis a youngboyraisedin thewilderness (Weston15). In thisstoryline, deathin battle.The wild,untrained afterhisknight-father's boy byhismother one day sees someofArthur's knights ridingin thewoods.Captivatedby the she court,leavinghismother grief-stricken; sight,he followsthemtoArthur's laterdies of hergrief.Duringhisjourney,Percevalfindstwo menfishingin for a boat.One of themenis theFisherKing,who offerstheboy hospitality thenight.At theFisherKing's castle,Percevalsees an olderkingdyingof a grievouswound.Percevalfailsto ask the"rightquestion"(a questionrelating or eitherto whatails theolderman,who is usuallytheFisherKing's father, to the whomthegrailserves).Aftera feastin whichthegrailis introduced Percevalfallsasleepandwhenhe awakesthecastleanditskingsare company, He then gone. goesona questtofinda waytohealtheoldkingandhiskingdom. Attheendofthetale,he onceagainfindsthekingsandthecastle.Thistimehe asks therightquestionand thekingand kingdomare healed(Loomis 29-62; Weston39-45; Campbell246-60). The keymotifsof thisnarrative, then,are thewild boyhoodof Perceval;theFisherKing's appearanceon a boat or in somewayassociatedwithwater;thephysicalwoundingor illnessoftheelder FisherKing;thegrail'sappearanceat a feast;and thefailureof thefirst quest to theFisherKing'scastle(Weston46-7; Mahoney7-8). The themesof the grail narrativethatresonatethroughmodernand versionsof thetale are thedyingkingand his kingdom,which postmodern is infectedby therootcause of his wounding.The cause of the wounding and thecause is almostinevitablylinked in particular becomesparamount,


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The grail,then,becomesa metaphor to humancorruption. forthatwhichis in need of spiritualor moralrenewal.In capable of healinga worldterribly an earlyexampleof thistrend,Alfred,Lord Tennyson'sIdyllsof theKing as a symptom In this of humansinfulness. diagnosesthekingdom'ssuffering tale,Percival'ssister,a nun,receivesa visionof thegrailaftershe expresses herearnestdesireforsomething thatwill providean antidoteto humanvice: sheprays,"thatit[thegrail]wouldcome/Andhealtheworldof "Ah,Christ," all theirwickedness!"(lines93-4,Tennyson121). DhiraB. Mahoneyclaims thatT. S. Eliot's The WasteLand likewiseseizes upon the"symbolsof the WasteLand andtheFisherKing"as vividdescriptors ofthe"culturalsterility of a modernworlddevastatedby theGreatWar"(57). Textsemploying grail in orderto expresscontemporaneous concernswithviolenceand metaphors in literature and popularculturesince have,if anything, atrocity proliferated Eliot's The WasteLand. JohnMarino,forexample,examinesseveralfilms fromthe latterpartof the twentieth fromFrancisFord Coppola's century, ApocalypseNow( 1979) toTerryGilliam'sTheFisherKing( 199 1) ,as evidence of a "transformation" of thegrailintoa metaphor forpoliticalconcerns.The he says,areturned toagainandagainas symbols grailandFisherKingmotifs, that"bringmeaningto a humanexperienceoftenthought to be meaningless" in a worldcharacterized on a globalscale,widespreadsocial by "destruction absolutesthatexplainedreality" injustice,and loss of faithin thetraditional (115-16). Because theWasteLand motifis theprimary impetusforseeking thegrail,contemporary evocationsofgrailmythstendto situategrailsymbols withinan apocalypticfearof immanent disasterresulting froma corruption itself. byhumanity wrought The salientthemeof thesecontemporary versionsof thegrail,in other betweenfertility andsterility, thefertility words,is thatofa contest symbolized by thegrail,theobjectwithoutwhichtheFisherKingwill die and theworld of a worldreapingtheconsequencesof a along withhim,and the sterility perceivedsocial evil. It is thislast aspect,theassociationof theWasteLand withrelevant socialconcerns, thatilluminates theimportance ofgrailmotifsin McCarthy'sTheRoad. The blastedlandscapeattheopeningofthisnovel,with its"wastedcountry" and its stagnant riverchokedwith"dead reeds,"seems hauntedbyEliot's"dead land"withits"rootsthatclutch.. . /Outofthisstony rubbish"(McCarthy, TheRoad 5; Eliot5, lines2, 19-20).2Justas Eliotapplies theWasteLand and FisherKing motifsto an apocalypticversionof London in orderto addresssocial andethicalconcerns,so also TheRoad's evocations of thosemotifssuggestthe powerof the grailnarrative as a metaphorfor an extendedstudyon a worldseemingly"wounded"and "wasted"beyond recognition, possiblybeyondsalvation. The mythological motifsunderpinning the narrativein The Road, of as muchof a departurefromthe moreobvious course,are not ultimately realismofMcCarthy'searliernovelsas itmayinitiallyseem.As manycritics


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have noted,despitetheirhistorically rootedcontextsand accuracyof detail, inmythological earlier novels are drenched motif McCarthy's characteristically and allegoricalsensibility, in particular oftenreflecting a debtto traditional modes.RussellM. Hillier,forexample, Europeantropes,texts,and narrative demonstrates howChildofGod is a "subversive parody"ofPilgrim'sProgress Ellis traces the the of chivalric romancein All thePretty (58). Jay heritage Horses and The Crossing,fromthechivalriccodes to thehierarchical social and the thematic of to of obsession ordering "knights" "squires," say nothing withconceptssuchas honorand revenge(213). In fact,JohnCantsuccinctly claimsthat"[m]uchof what[McCarthy]has written is allegoricalin nature" The is not that motifs issue,then, figureso prominently ("Oedipus"55). grail in TheRoad butrather turns in his(to date) to whyMcCarthy grailmythology ahistorical novel. only The apocalypticism of TheRoad seemsto be a responseto an immediate and visceralfearof cataclysmicdoom in theUnitedStatesaftertheterrorist attackson 9/11. DianneC. Luce claimsthatthenovel"haditsgenesisin a very in whilestaying setting McCarthy imaginedtheapocalyptic specificmoment": a hotelinEl Paso withhisyoungson,JohnFrancisMcCarthy, "perhapsnotlong afterSeptember11, 2001" (9). Luce's explicitassociationofthepresentimentladendarknessof thenovelwiththeeventsof 9/11is notfurther exploredbut deservesexposition.TheRoad has at itscorethedesireto drivethereader's into contactwithan extremevision of an apocalypse-ravaged imagination The desireto future America,thereto discoverwhat- ifanything-remains.3 it seems to reflectthefundamental theworldby deconstructing reconstruct fearunderlying thenovel,namely,thefearthathumanbeingsmaynotin fact deserveto survive. The Road indeed commenceswitha scene in whichthe fatherhas a In this in itsown destruction. visionof humankind's participation nightmare takeshissonbythehandandgoesintoa cavewherea slavering dream,thefather is standsby a lake. So translucent monster "pale and nakedand translucent" can see itsbones,bowels,heart,and brain,which themonster thatthefather possession "puls[es]in a dullglassbell" (3). The emphasisuponthemonster's ofa heartanda mindstrikesa terrifying note,as thebeastturnsfromtheman withthefather's andboyandlopes"soundlessly intothedark"(4). Contrasted thattheboy must"carrythefire"(234), a metaphorforthepractice refrain a willfuldullnessof of civilityand ethics,thisdarknessseems to represent in whicha manandboy emotionand intellect.TheRoad, then,is a narrative darkness hasbeencreated battleagainstanencroaching that,thenovelsuggests, Baudrillard claims In The Jean the humans it Terrorism, Spiritof destroys. by that thattheWest's fearof terrorderivesfroma subconsciousrecognition wielded the West has theincreasingand increasingly by inegalitarian power withinitselfthevery"conditions for.. .brutal createda systemthathas fostered in itsown retaliation" ofWestern (9). It is therecognition society'scomplicity


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fearexpressed thatresidesat therootofirrational andapocalyptic destruction in literature, theeventsof9/11, he says.The art,andpublicrhetoric following era "bear witness"to this "countlessdisastermovies"of thecontemporary as theydo a collectivefascination withimagesthatactout dread,representing or thedestructive to ..[that] approachesperfection impulse "rejectanysystem. in after Baudrillard that of terror literature (7). suggests images omnipotence" andturning to ash,areevidenceoftheAmericanpublic's 9/11,worldsburning is initselfan actofviolence fearthatthepursuit ofpolitical,globalascendency in itsmagnitude and inexorablein its whosebacklashwillbe bothstaggering execution. Even morethanthefather'sdreamof thedark-seeking beast,TheRoad a world of fire and ash that illustrates Baudrillard's conjuresup nightmare claim.Afterall, as theman's wifepointsout,theirworldis notjust ruined; it is cinematically "We'rethewalkingdead in a horrorfilm,"she destroyed: Road The to Americanpulp apocalyptic 47). Her reference says (McCarthy, filmssuggestsa correlation betweenthe futuristic worldof the novel and thefearsof thecurrent the day.Whateverhas caused theactualdevastation, novelargues,it is theinternal of people who soughttoo long for corruption theirown power,who placedtheirown needsabove thoseof others,thathas to its doom. The novel thusparticipates in broughthumanity thematically theprojectsof contemporary popularresponsesto 9/11,exploringas it does attributes of communalguilt,terror, and what,ifanything, can find humanity thatmayprovidea way out of thedarkness.In particular, thesethemesare explicatedthrough graillegendmotifs-theboy as Percevaland as thegrail, thefather as thedyingFisherKing,anda perilousjourneyin whichfinding the therightansweris thekeyto bringing back the rightquestionand proffering forhealing. potential Because earlydraftsof thisnovelweretitledThe Grail,it is clearthat fromthebook's McCarthypositionedthenovel as a typeof grailnarrative genesis.However,whiletheboyis thesymbolicgrailoftheearlydraft'stitle, narrative suggestthathe is a Percevalfigureas well. Bornafterthe patterns thatendedhumancivilization, theboy is at leastpartiallyferal; catastrophe he is unfamiliar withsuch basic trappingsof humansocietyas shopping, ata table,evenwalkingup stairs.Forexample,whenthefather findsan sitting of food,and abandoned,eleganthouse,themanandboygo in,findremnants eatata table,a decorousreenactment ofmoresandcustomslongvanished.Yet, whiletheritualized dinnerreminds thefather theboyexhibits ofhischildhood, asks if discomfort. He his father several times can "wait"before they deep the he at andthefather into house balks (173, (172); 177); goingupstairs going thinksthattheboy,standing underthechandelier in thepalatialdiningroom, lookslikea "trollcomein fromthenight"(175). Yetdespitehisprimitive life, theboy is obsessedwithbeinglike theheroesof his father'sstories(35, 65, 116,237), drawnlikePercevaltowardshiningexamplesofchivalry.


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A keydifference, ofcourse,is thatPercevalabandonshismother, leaving In TheRoad,theboyandhis hertodie ofgrief,inordertopursueknighthood. whokillsherselfin anguish, father havebeenabandonedbytheboy'smother, notbecauseherson has leftherbutbecauseherson was bornat all. She tells herhusbandthather"heartwas rippedout of [her]thenight[theboy] was to her born"(48). The mother'sabjectlackofpityfororemotionalconnection andexternaldeathof childsuggeststhatshehas beenpoisonedbytheinternal withan earlier herworld.The mother's"coldness"(49), however,contrasts with a mother as a the sun of lamp"(28). In "grieving metaphoric depiction thisarchaicallygeocentricimage,thesun,whoseraysare blockedfromthe thedeath earthby theash cloud thathas coveredtheplanetand precipitated like a woman the clouded "circles" its and of flora fauna,endlessly sphere the sun In this her fora childnowlostto shift, (28). plays metaphoric searching theroleof themotherabandonedbyherchild,whiletheboy's humanmother thatare swiftly and faithlessness of theegocentrism is an embodiment killing theplanet. the moreproperly In thenovel,thesublunary (in thepreviousmetaphor, witha viralplague.Thatdisease,givenvoice by sub-solar)worldis infected themotherand, laterin thenovel,by thewanderinganti-prophet, Ely, is a loss of faithin thehumanendeavor(145). That loss of mental catastrophic to othersresultsin dissociativebehaviorranging and emotionalcommitment fromthemother'srejectionof herson to peopledevouringtheirown infants that derivesfromthetragedy (167). Althoughthemother'sdespairostensibly condition ofherinternal herworldawayfromher,herdescription has snatched attributes totheactualworldas well.The thatMcCarthy epitomizesan attitude is foreternalnothingness her that husband her to mother "only hope explains and [she] hope[s] for it withall [her] heart"(49). The mother'ssuicidal ideationin TheRoad is phrasedalmostexactlythesamewayas is thesuicidal commitment espousedbytheacademic,White,inMcCarthy'splayTheSunset New Limited,publishedthesame yearas TheRoad and set in contemporary Whitesays."I cling YorkCity:"Now thereis onlythehopeof nothingness," to thathope" (141). The boy's motherin TheRoad and Whitein TheSunset beliefthathumansuffering, Limited,in otherwords,bothexpressa fatalistic senselessviolence,andtheloss ofmeaningoncefoundin traditional religions of a have to survival for undermine meaningbeyond prolonging any ability pointlessagony. Poised counterto the mother'snihilisticbeliefin the pointlessnessof ofcourse,is herson.In additiontohisdepictionas a Percevalhumansurvival, thenovel's theboyis himself enamoredofdreamsofchivalry, wild child esque seem. as it as is not odd This Earlygrailnarratives may symbolicfusing grail. insistenceon thepurityof thegrailbeareras an have in commona thematic to humankind essentialcomponentof thegrail'sabilityreturn (Weston15). forminthehumanrealmwithout Becausethegrailcannotappearinsubstantial


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becomespartof thegrail.At one an appropriate bearer,thebearerineffably his son ahead of himand thinksthattheboy sees the father standing point, TheRoad 230). The is "glowingin thatwastelike a tabernacle"(McCarthy, the is the tent that housed of tabernacle, course, presenceof God in ancient Israel.The boy,herepicturedas a vessel made translucent by the gloryof withinhim,is consistently associatedwithlight.Later, theessenceofdivinity in theorangelightfromtheheater"(126), he is a "tinyparadisetrembling associates theboy withlightand makeshim an an image thatonce again seem oftherealmofGod.Whileon theonehandthesemetaphors instantiation linkedtograilimagery (theyimaginetheboyas a locationin onlytangentially whichthedeitydwells,as opposedtoa vesselfora healingsubstanceproduced by thedeity),thegrailis actuallyexplicitlyassociatedwithparadiseand the immediate Accordingtoearlylegends, presenceofGod in old grailnarratives. Arthur's sometime afteritsjourneytoEngland,eitherduringorafter reign,the chaliceis takento paradisebecausethe"worldwas notworthy to possessthe Vessel"(Waite485). The grailis now in paradise,in otherwords,becauseof thecorruption oftheworldandtheabsenceofanymancapableofbearingthe The boy,likethegrail,thusbecomes chaliceto sickenedkingsandkingdoms. theobjectthatbringstheessenceofdivinity backto a corrupted world. Whiletheboy is describedin termsevocativeof thegrail,as a "house" underscores theconnection, theboyas a fordivinelight,thefather describing and a He calls the a olden house chalice, simultaneously. grail boy "[g] goodto housea god"(64). The grailmakesseveralotherappearancesalongthenovel's barrenroad,as well.Accordingto RogerLoomis,physicaldescriptions ofthe in are mutable due the of translation to challenge grail earlylegends oddly andthetransmission cultures.Even within ofgrailnarratives thoughdifferent the same narrative, the grailmay variouslybe describedas a "chalice,"a "ciborium"(thatis, a "coveredgobletsurmounted by a cross"),the"Host" transubstantiated of in the andas a Christ form of (the bread)on a platter, body In the scene in which father "stone"withmagicalpropensities the (Loomis28). in factevokestheimageof a ciborium. calls his son a chalice,thenarrative The fatherhas set up camp underneath an old bridgewithtraintracks.He buildsa fireneartheboy,whois illuminated bythe"glowofthelightwiththe theboysits shadowofthebridge'sunderstructure" overhim(63). Specifically, ingoldenlightlikea "chalice"while"[o]verhead[is] theironwork illuminated brownwithrust,thehammered rivets,thewoodensleepersand crossplanks" The in other words,is overshadowed (63). boy-as-chalice, bythecross-shaped and cross-planked silhouette of therisingbuttress bridgeoverhim,a visual with a lid anda crossaffixed above evocationofthegold-plated domed goblet thelid. In anotherscene,thefatherwatcheshis son standingin fallingsnow andthinksthatthesnowis likethe"lasthostofChristendom" (13). Andwhen the fathermurdersa cannibal,the boy becomes "muteas stone" (56)- a reactionbornin virtuous horror at boththecannibal'sandhis father'sviolent


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acts.Each ofthesedescriptions evokethegrail'svariousiterations intheConte del Graal andtheQuestedel SaintGraal (Loomis29), so thatTheRoad is shot withglimpsesof theelusivevesselin thesamewayas are thequests through ofPercevalandGalahad. In additionto beingdescribedas thegrail,theboyis also associatedwith his roleas thegrail-bearer. As he lies dying,thefathersees his son approach, water with a of carrying cup "lightall abouthim."Afterhe givesthewaterto his father, theboy leaves and "thelightmove[s]withhim"(233). The halo thecup-bearer of firelight suggeststhecomplicatedimageof the surrounding the to as the boy grail.According legend, grailis thecup JosephofArimathea used to catchdropsof Christ'sblood as he hungon thecross.The restorative is blood.Yetwhiletheboyis describedas a vessel substanceinthecup,inshort, thenovel,thosedescriptions fordivinitymanytimesthroughout emphasize In additionto beingfilledwithlight, themoreephemeralqualitiesof divinity. theboy is also thevery"wordof God" and,elsewhere,the"breathof God" (4, 241). The comparatively imagesof light,word,and breathas incorporeal evidenceof themiraculousrestorative powersrestingin theboy,in contrast The Bible does, after to imagesof blood,are notnecessarilya contradiction. all, claimthat"thelifeof thefleshis in theblood,"therebyassociatingthe mysticalconceptof the "lifeforce"of a creaturewithits blood. However, with life, the Bible explains thatdrinking because blood is synonymous blood is an act of desecrationunlessthe drinkerimbibesfroma ritualized thetransubstantiated ceremonial wine),since"itis cup (in theNew Testament, theblood [ofa ceremonially innocent]thatmakethan atonement slaughtered forthesoul" (King JamesVersion,Lev. 17:11). In otherwords,thefactthat McCarthy'snoveldepictsthelifeforce(the"breathof God") in theboy in movementaway fromthe termsof wordsand lightsuggestsan intentional that is a shift sanctification of blood, perhapsexplicatedbythe through concept Thesecannibalhordes, wasted the literalblood-drinkers landscape. populating humanvictims infants and half-eaten associatedas theyare withspit-roasted If has be to the of blood undermine 93), redemptive. (167, anycapacity image notbyblood thisChristis represented theboyis thedistilledessenceofChrist, butbywords. thefactthatthe realisticwasteland, Because TheRoad depictsa viscerally seems odd. But than rather is substance physical metaphorical grail'shealing In ofthewastelandis itselfat leastpartially theveryphysicality metaphorical. Whiteclaimsthat"ifthatpain [ofhumanexistence]were TheSunsetLimited, thenthesheerweightofitwould actuallycollectiveinsteadofsimplyreiterative and senditcrashingandburning the universe the walls of from the world drag untilitwas not be of it whatever night mightyet capable engendering through andtransform evenash" (137). TheRoad seemsto takeWhite'sproclamation of whichthe in whichall theavariceand atrocity it intoan imageof a future humanraceis capableis beingexpendedin a ragenowreachingitsinevitable


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conclusion.The ash coatingtheworld,then,providesa visualmetaphor for thecoalescedsuffering ofthedyingspecies.However,thehealingrepresented on itshead.Lookingat his son at bytheboy seemsto turnWhite'sargument thinksthat"[a]ll thingsofgraceandbeautysuchthatone one point,thefather holdsthemtoone's hearthavea commonprovenance inpain"(46). In hislove forhis son,thefather a worldviewin whichsuffering constructs becomesthe sourceof beauty,ratherthanits doom. If theash metaphorically represents humansuffering, thentheboy'santidoteto thatgriefis also bothphysicaland metaphorical. As a "grail,"theboybearstheantidote tothatwhichtheashsymbolizes. In theQuestedel SaintGraal,thegrailhero,Galahad,mustsave a kingwhohas beenwoundedbya "DolorousStroke,"a blowthatcauses"devastation to the landanda woundthatcan be healedonlybyGalahadin theQuest"(Mahoney into do, TheRoad interpolates 5). As manygrailnarratives imagesof fertility a worldcharacterized In an in by infertility. earlierdraftof themanuscript, fact,McCarthyhas a sketchin whichthemandreamsof his child"covered in powderedgold,"laughingand running towarda river.4 In thisimage,the of fertility, a scenethatexplicatesthenovel's boy seemsto be an incarnation insistence thattheboybe readas a lifeforce,bothliteralandmetaphorical. In theliteralsense,theboyis his father'slifeforcesincethechild'sexistenceis linkedtotheman'ssurvival.The novelintroduces theboythrough inextricably thefather'sgaze, and,ratherthandescribingtheboy's physicalappearance, thenovel'snarrator observesthat"thechildwas [theman's]warrant" (4). The childis thusintroduced in termsofhisroleas thesingular forthe justification man'ssurvivalandthenarrative's action.The father at one pointtellstheboy "If youdied I wouldwantto die too" (9). A relentlessly darkbook, outright: thevivaciousnessoftheboy's speechpatterns andtheluminousinnocenceof hismoralcommitments, incontrast tothefather's traumatized and consistently exhaustedthought andspeechpatterns, suggeststhattheboyis morethanjust thefather'swarrant: he is thenovel'swarrant as well. If theboyis bothgrailandgrail-bearer, vesselandantidoteto theworld's thenthefather mustplaytheroleof theelderFisherKing,wounded toxicity, andinfected theland.Becausehe is dyingofsome bythatwhichis destroying to theold king, disease,thefatherseemsan obviouscorrelation mysterious buttherearetwoadditionalaspectsof thisassociationthatbearexamination. The firstis thefather'sassociationwithwater,andthesecondis thethemeof inheritance as a keyattribute to theabilityto find,possess,orreapthehealing benefitsof thegrail.The father'saffiliation withwaterrunsthroughout the novel.In tracingtheCelticinfluences in earlyBritishgraillegends,Loomis pointsoutthattheelderand youngerFisherKingsare thesamepersonin the earliestformsofthelegendandthenameitselflikelyderivesfroma conflation of similarWelsh legendsabout Bran,the sea-god,who turnsinto a man on thewater"(57). WhiletheFisherKingoftenappearsin thestory "floating


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withanotherman in a boat on a river,thecharacteris not associatedwith in The so muchas withappearingon thewaterin general.The father "fishing" to water.He recallsa Road, of course,defineshimselfin termsof proximity he and his day" (12). In thismemory, memoryof whathe termshis "perfect does notspecifythat unclearein a rowboaton a lake (11). Whilethememory forwater. it does illuminatethefather'sconsistent affinity theyare fishing, ash-chokedwater,despite He teacheshis son to swimin a pondof stagnant, concernsforthewater'ssanitary quality(33), andhe bringstheboysouthwith dies (232). a shorenearwhichhe finally theshoreas a destination, threadto unravel,thoughit is far is a trickier The themeof inheritance inheritance is linkedto ideas aboutmoral In grailnarratives, moresignificant. As JessieWestonpointsout, familial or as an of geneticpurity. purity aspect as Perceval thePercevalstoriesalwaysdepict closelyrelatedby blood to the bothof whomare Fisher GrailKing- theFisherKing,or the King's father, descendedfromJosephofArimathea (45). The youngmanwhobringsthegrail himto thegrail musthavea bloodinheritance backto humankind connecting tothepotencyofthe thatis inextricably connected as wellas thatinternal purity crops grail.The twoqualitiescannotbe easilyparsed.The issueofinheritance TheRoad butis,onceagain,moremetaphorical up againandagainthroughout thaninthelegends.BarbaraBennett underlying pointstotheCelticsymbolism ofthethemeof thefire"as a succinctsummary thenovel'srefrain of"carrying thefire,"shesays,evokesthe"transplanted Thisphrase,"carrying inheritance. in whichgrownchildrenwouldcarryfirefrom hearthfires"of Celticculture, theirparents'hearthwiththemwhentheyfoundedtheirown homes(2). The in thethemeofinheritance then,illuminates symboliclineageoffire-carrying, to the thenovel.The questionof inheritance, however,becomestantamount inmetaphorically Afterall,thesondoes succeedthefather questionofsurvival. he is, in other him wants to the father the embodyembodying goodness thefire-butto whatend? words,carrying Afterall, the father'squest is to physicallykeep his son alive and, topreserveinhisworlda vesselofnobility capableofproving metaphorically, of thehumanrace.The physical thatthereis some meritto thecontinuation to trekfromcoldmountains journeyquestinthenovelis thatofa southwestern theclimateofthisbrokenecosystem, climate.Whether a morelife-supporting even in the GulfCoast region,will be able to supporthumanlife remains in evokesan imageofvitality The novel'sfinalepigraphic doubtful. paragraph the"brooktrout"whosescalesresemble"mapsoftheworldin itsbecoming," butthesefishare memoriesand their"maps" are of a worldthat"could not be putback.Notbe maderightagain"(241). The symbolicapplicationofthis andboytravel novel'sgeospatialjourneyis rivenwithdoubtas well.Thefather stories southwiththeboy's book of heroesand thefather'stalesof chivalry, meantto instillin theboya setof valuesandbehaviorsthatwillpreservethis ofhumanity one instantiation amongthebestialhominidsscavengingthrough


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earth'swreckage(8). In thisdescription of thefather'squest,thereaderis in The WasteLand who "read[s],muchof the remindedof Eliot's narrator night,andgo[es] southin thewinter"(5, line 18). IfEliot'swastelandis more thanhell,however,thefather'swastelandmaybe closerto a place purgatory ofabsolutedamnation. On the one hand,manycriticspointout thatthe love evincedby the fatherin TheRoad makesa striking contrast to thesociopathicrelationships betweenfatherfiguresand sons in McCarthy'searlierworkssuch as Outer Dark (in whicha fatherwatcheshis incest-born son be killedby cannibals) andBloodMeridian(in whichtheJudgeclaimstobe a father to a "kid" figure whomhe rapesand murders). Cormac (See e.g., Cant, McCarthy277.) The between the father andsonin TheRoad tender, mutually nurturing relationship at least a faint faith in the human to be moraland achieve suggests capacity This seems tobe oneheld,to someextent, meaningful relationships. viewpoint In aninterview abouthisfilmofTheRoad,director bytheauthor. TonyHillcoat claimsthatMcCarthy"explainedto [Hillcoat]that[BloodMeridianis] very muchabouttheworstin humannatureand thisbook [TheRoad] forhimis verymuchabouttheabsolutebest"(qtd.in CollettWhite).However,thevery bestof humannaturemaynot,in theend,accountformuch.So brutalis the a concrete post-apocalyptic landscapeherethatcriticshave difficulty finding senseof eudaimoniain theending,despitethetenderfather-son relationship. Alex Huntand MartinM. Jacobsen,forexample,claimthatthecave images thenovel- thedreamof themonster-haunted cave and thefather's framing dreamof a cave as he dies- alludeto Plato's allegoryof thesunbutreverse theClassicalallegory'smovement towardgrowing lightso thatthecavesinthe novelbecome"anti-Platonic that"bespeakan endto civilization, symbolism" notitsrebirth" (157). TimEdwardsfurther explicatesthedarknessofthenovel as one thatrevealsitselfthrough thereader'srealizationthatthe"seemingly Edenic past...seemsto carryin it...theseeds of its own destruction" (58). Because thenovelultimately of theU.S. as nurturing within paintsa portrait itselfthecorruption, andviolencesufficient tobringforth theterror selfishness, describedin itspages,therecan be no genuinesenseof hope at theend. The Road is, Edwardssays,an "Americanjeremiadmoreterrifying thaneventhe Puritanimagination could conjure"(60) .5Accordingto theseinterpretations, theworldview ofthenovelis as apocalyptically direas itslandscape. Yet suchis theinarticulate of the father'sobsessivedevotion eloquence to his son thatthesereadingsseem reductive.Afterall, the factthatsome liferemainson theplanet- even lifeas tenuousas cannibalistic humansand the mushrooms forwhichthe man and boy forage(34)- indicatesthatall andanimallifecannotpossiblybe "extinct" vegetation (101). Thisplanet,after a cataclysmic meteorstrike. Thefather's of all,hasalreadysurvived perception thenaturalworldas utterly losttherefore seemstoodire.Furthermore, hisown beliefin thedegeneracy of humanity undergoesat leasta slightamelioration.


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Early in the novel, the fatherthinksthat,withthe death of so much of the"sacredidiom[is] shornof itsreferents and so of itsreality" civilization, (75). But he laterrealizesthathe changeshis own memories, adaptingto the viciousnewworldaroundhim,andthosememoriesin turnbreedsymbolsthat knownornot"(1 11). To return tothethemeofinheritance "ha[ve]yeta reality, thatrunsthroughout thenovel,whatis inherited is notjustgeneticmaterial but a veryrealsenseofpersonalresponsibility andinclusioninhumansociety.Ely, thedegenerate prophet, maybe rightthatthereis no longera humanrace to and men cantlivegodsfarenobetter" "[w]here (145). Butthereverse speakof, of his logic holds trueas well. HumanbeingscreateGod, thenovel seems to argue,in thesensethattheycreatewhatthereis of meaningand morality. Wherehumanslive,then,God also survives.The father in factenunciates this creed. his has come(again)close todeath,he holdsthe very Facing child,who "Whereyou've nothingelse construct ceremoniesout of the boy and thinks, airandbreatheuponthem"(63). His decisionhereis to behaveas ifthechild is indeed"God"- theembodiment of all value and morality. Whilethechild exists,so toodoes meaning.So toodoes humanity. The pathos of the dyingfather'slove for his son lies in this very equivocation.Because thephysicaldarknessof thenightsin thisash-covered worldis "sightless"and "impenetrable" (13), thefatherstumblesin a literal dark thatlends itselfto musingson metaphorical darknessof vision. He expressesan agonizeddesire"to be able to see" as he dies (233). Since he stillhas thephysicalcapacityforsight,thisyearning is clearlymetaphorical. Visions- dreamsof color and hope- tauntthefatherwiththeirelusiveness the novel. His desire to "see" therefore becomes a reiterated throughout insistencethattheremustbe something worth"seeing,"worthpursuing. The novel'sforegrounding ofa desireforsightina worldoflimitedvisibility evokes thevisionsinTennyson's grailpoem,in whichthesearchforthegraildoes not on but on a desire forsight.Perceval,afterall, is theonlyknight depend sight whodoes notreceivea visionofthegrail,anditis hisconsequentdesperation to see thegrailthatdriveshimbeyondhis chivalricpeersto ultimately find theobjectof his unseendesire(lines 195-96,Tennyson124). The question becomes,then,whatsortofendingTheRoaďs questhas. focuson whatis ruinedin the Apocalypticversionsof grailnarratives to explainwhydeath world,whatis diseased- in otherwords,theyattempt is transcendent andnotfertility. TheRoad examinesthisquestionandproffers a tentative answerthrough thegrailmotifof the"rightquestion,"in which a questionmustbe reiterated untiltheanswerthatcontainsthemoralbalm to an evil age is found.Accordingto Loomis,theFisherKing motifin grail narratives accentuates the"rightquestion"motif.YoungPercevalfailshisfirst when he does not and thenask therightquestion quest manageto identify of thedyingkingin thecastle.So important is thequestionmotif,Loomis that it the unaccountable says, explains seemingly presenceof thedyingking


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in additionto theFisherKing,ratherthanconflating theFisherKing with the dyingking."[A]ddingto the FisherKing a second invalidwho could he says,providesa sourceforthenamethatmust serveas thecommunicant," the answer the to traditional "supply question,'Whomdoes one servewiththe Grail?'"(62). The cryptic seem to havelittleto do withthe questions initially centralquestionsofthegrail- questionsofinheritance andmoralpurity-but in that the fact ritualized JosephCampbellargues questionsexplicatethose fundamental The crisis the of veryqualities. grailstory, Campbellsays,lies in thequestion,"How is theWasteLand goingto be cured?"And theansweris act of a nobleheart,whoseimpulseis notof ego butof "by thespontaneous love- and love in thesensenotof sexuallove,butof compassion"(254-55). Therefore, Campbellsays,Percevalfailshis firstquestbecause,althoughhis heartis "filledwithcompassion"whenhe sees thewoundedking,he maintains hiscode ofchivalricconductandfailsto ask whatails theking,orhowto use thegrailto providehealing(260). The rightquestion,then,reflects morethan therightquestionand askingit of the justtheanswerto a riddle.Identifying rightpersonindicatesa heartthatis pureandnobleandsuggestsa spontaneity ofaffection onlypossiblewherethereis genuinecompassion. Campbell's explanationof the role of the "rightquestion"motifin illuminates whatmanycriticshave pointedout as one of the grailnarratives forcesin TheRoad: thenovel'slengthy drivingnarrative question-and-answer and son.Of theseroughly dialoguesbetweenfather thirty dialogues,fourteen deal withdeath- thedeathofothers, theirowndeaths,theirinability tosurvive each other'sdeaths,how quicklytheyare dying,and so forth(17, 50-51,70, 72, 74, 85, 87, 95, 108-9, 118, 127, 132-33,182-83,205). Anothertwelve depicttheboy's grapplingwithethics- thequestionof whatit meansto be a hero,to be good to others,to be humanein an evermoreinhumanworld (69, 107, 122-23,135, 137-39, 147, 155, 162-63,216-17, 225-26, 227-28, who discourses,itis theboy,notthefather, 234-35).In thesepseudo-Socratic address the and so 's The Socrates role. plays boy'squestions poses quandaries issuesofresponsibility towardothersandthepracticalapplication complicated ofcompassionin a morallyrancidworld.The sheernumberofthesedialogues laconicnovels) (notableespeciallyin lightof McCarthy'scharacteristically their suggests importance. And the conclusionthe dialoguesdraw is, perhaps,counter-intuitive. forexample,theboy's Althoughthe father'sdeathgrowsmoreimminent, survival a subtle shift toward about hope in continued undergo questions humanexistence.The father assertsearlyin thenovelthatall floraand fauna have died- "There'snothingin the lake" (17)- an assertionthe boy does notquestion.Later,theboy suggeststhatothergood people have survived brushesoffas ("Whatifsomegood guyscame?" [127]), a questionthefather reiterated with at best. But this becomes unlikely question increasing positivity. father andhis littleboy"(182) theboy suggests,the "Maybethere'sa[nother]


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declarative sentencestructure tohisearlierquery.The father tellingincontrast once againsuggeststheidea's unlikelihood. The boy laterinsists,once again in a declarativemode,"Therecould be people alive someplace"(205), and thistimethefatheranswersaffirmatively. "Thereare people,"he says,"and we'll findthem"(206). Whilethisstatement maymerelysuggestthefather's as he will realizes he be not around toprotect hissonmuchlonger, desperation it is an assertionthatis metwithreality. Afterhis fatherdies,theboy almost meetsa groupthatincludeschildrenand a pregnant woman(237), instantly the absence of other despite previousconspicuous ordinarily good folk. In additiontohisgrowing in the existence of other certainty (good)people, theboy's dialoguesdemonstrate an increasingawarenessof and distressover theproblemofmorality. Whenheandhisfather abandonhalf-devoured, barelyalive peopleto theirfates,theboy questionsrhetorically, "[W]e couldnthelp thembecausethenthey'deatus too"(107). Thefactthathe flattens thequestion tonally(indicatedbythedeclarative punctuation) suggeststhathe has already exhibits acceptedhis father'sdecisionas inevitable.Yet theboy increasingly anxietyat thefather'sdecisions.Even thoughhe does notdenythejustice of his father'sactions- "I didntsay you were wrong"(147)- he indicates it.The boy thenbegins disapprovalstrongly enoughthathis fatherinterprets toquestion,andfinally tocountermand, hisfather, suchas whenhe insiststhat limitstheamountoffoodtheygive theygivetheirfoodtoEly.Whenthefather to demanding. "Justhelphim,Papa," he him,theboy shiftsfromquestioning says."Justhelphim"(218). The boy's growingagency,demonstrated through his capacityto articulate his own moralinclinations to his father's, contrary culminatesin his rejectionof thehero storieshe has long soughtfromhis father. Whenhis fatherasks whyhe no longerwantsto hearthestories,the of literary morals:"[I]n boy indicateshis insistent pragmaticinterpretation thestorieswe're alwayshelpingpeople and we donthelp people" (225), he fictions his father has offered, theboy says.In hisrejectionof thecomforting hereseemsto posithis own answerto his often-repeated earlier in questions thenovel.Previously, theboy has askediftheyare "stillthegood guys,"and has demandedaffirmation thattheiractionsare indeedtheactionsof "good when venture into guys," they morallyuncertain territory duringtheirarduous trek(56, 65, 116).The boy'sultimate of hero stories rejection suggeststhathe sees thenecessityofa functional correlation betweenfictional idealsandrealworldpraxis.Iftheboymodelsthegrailhero'smaturation frominstinctive but to transformative then this scene unexpressedcompassion genuine, healing, suggeststhattherightquestionsare thosethatlead notto thecorrectanswers butto "correct"actions- tobehaviorconsistent withan internalized ethics. In his analysisof therole of hospitality in The Road, PhillipA. Snyder argues thatthe ancientvirtueof hospitality"may constituteMcCarthy's essentialnotionofgoodnessandgrace"preciselybecause,whenitis practiced in thispost-apocalyptic risk, setting,it is committed despitethe "inherent


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namelyharmand death"(70) thatface thosewho practiceit. And indeed, thecruxofthedebatebetweenthefather'sversion Snyderconciselypinpoints versionof of ethicsand his son's. While the fatherpracticesa utilitarian an that seems at times his demonstrates idealism both son juvenile morality, hischivalricethicsrequirehimto actoutcompassionand andself-destructive; of thedialogues regardlessof theriskto himself.An examination generosity thatremainsconsistent, of morality, a definition revealstheboy's definition Towardthebeginning of the althoughit growsin bothclarityand extremity. the his father for to for novel, example, boy castigates goinghungry give the to do that" the last of the food. "You not (29) he says.Whenthe promised boy in his "lie" this case is a result of his wantingthe father that merely explains bestforhis son,theboypointsout,"If youbreaklittlepromisesyou'llbreak to a strict moralcode thatseemsinitially thebigones"(29), holdinghisfather of Yettheboy'sclaim,thatthesmallestofchoicesarerevelatory unnecessary. of choicesin largercrises,gains theinternalstateof thesoul and predictive credenceas thenovelprogresses. The boy's understanding of whatmoralitymeans is perhapsnowhere so profoundly expressedas in his creationof an "other"child,a childwhose existencehauntsthe novel withits veryabsence. When the boy initially he runsoutintotheroadto imaginesthathe sees anotherchildlike himself, call thatotherboy,riskingbeingseen by cannibals.The imaginedboy does Theboyis tormented not,ofcourse,materialize. revealing bythisabsentother, his anguishwhenhe repeats,"I'm afraidforthatlittleboy"(72, 73) andlater, nothing, says,"I wishthatlittleboywas withus" (111). aproposofabsolutely he says,"If Towardtheend of thenovel,afterseeinga cannibalizedinfant, of we had thatlittlebabyit could go withus" (168). It is thisfinaliteration his desireforthepresenceof anotherthatrevealshis reasonforcreatingan is basedon a beliefthattheonly other.His desireto rescuechildren imaginary of his worldis and the consumerism the to counteract (literal) solipsism way others. bysaving butpractically Of course,theboy'sdesireto save othersis philosophical, Even whena he tries his food to as when to too, (144). Ely give implemented, manstealstheirpossessionsandleavesthemtodie,theboydoes notadvocate Whenhis fatherreclaimstheirpossessionsand stripsthe thief, retaliation. theboy triesto leave some of theirmeagersupplywiththeman.The father suggeststhattheboyis beingfoolish,buttheboyexplainshisrationale:"He's demonstration so scared"(218). The father respondsto theson's spontaneous ofthethiefis just,ifnot thattheirtreatment ofcompassionwiththeargument The andthatin anyevent,theboyis "nottheone whohas to worry." merciful, his makes most And so the I ..I am the "Yes am.. one" (218). boy boyreplies, aboutethics:if,indeed,he is hisfather'sandtheworld's argument compelling grail,thesymbolof hope forhumansurvival,thenthathope is nothingless tomercyin a worldwherean actofmercyjustmay thana radicalcommitment


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be a deathsentence.Whatis at stakeis nothing less thanthedivinein human nature. Campbell's argument-thatthe pivotalquestionsat the heartof the theidea thathealingis foundin an act of genuine grailnarrative represent thus illuminates theboy'sformulation ofhismoralcode through compassiona seriesof questionsthatneverseemto receivetheanswershe needs.In one theboy surprises his fatherwithan unusualquestion: of theseconversations, "Whatare our long termgoals?" (135) The father, amused,asks wherethe term heard the term The boy goals." boy saysthathe heardthefather "long ask himselfthatquestiononce. "Whatwas theanswer?"his fatherasks,and theboy responds,"I dontknow"(135). This fruitless exchangedemonstrates the criticalflawin the father'squest- his own failureto answerthe right theashes of his questiontherightway.In short,thefatherfailsto revivify andin so doinghe loses sightofhislong-term ownpragmatic morality, goals, insteadforshort-term settling goals. Suchbehaviormayenablesurvivalin the immediate future butbuildsno framework a future for uponwhichtoconstruct humankind. In his seriesofessaysresponding to 9/11 andthe"Waron Terror," Slavoj in defenseagainstterror Žižek claimsthatrhetoric actsof brutality justifying is based upon a fundamentally flawed (the "tickingtimebomb" argument) withregardto short-term "[O]f courseone can legitimizetorture assumption. profits (savinghundredsof lives),"he says,butthelong-term consequences of suchbehaviorwilldevastatethemoralidentity ofthesocietymakingthose ethicalstancehas to rejectthoroughly decisions,because "[a]ny consistent suchpragmatic-utilitarian In TheRoad,McCarthy (43-44). reasoning" paintsa a in of world which moral seems ultimate The any picture expediency justified. afterall, has alreadyarrived.However,the finaldialogue between terror, theman and boy definespreciselywhyutilitarian ethicscannotbe theright In to terror. this the frantic at the response dialogue boy, prospectofhisfather's death,asks,"Who will findthelittleboy?"He is askingabouthis imaginary "other"boy,and,whilefroma psychological he is almostcertainly perspective the as a stand-in the nature other for of his question himself, very using boy the nature of the antidote that he he is The other-focused. suggests represents: demonstrates that he is be to the boythereby morallypureenough grailbearer, and his father'sanswer-"Goodnesswill findthelittleboy" (236)- suggests thatsuchpurityis reciprocal. Actingoutethicalimpulses,theboy will create a worldin whichethicalresponseis possible.Because theboy subsequently findsothers, thenarrative whathisfather suggeststhathe is capableoffinding is not:goodnessin otherpeople. The Roaďs conclusionis by no means triumphal. Afterall, the last a of brook trout that are now extinct, image, memory suggeststhatthehealing in the flicker and fade a world toodamagedto survive represented by boymay if Even this is too infected be world to theboy's saved,however, (241). fatally


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inthefaceofterror suggeststhatifthereis anyvaluetohumanlife, generosity it lies in a categoricalrejectionof fear-based behavior.The grailsymbolsin thenovelhallowtheboy'sheroicmorality andsimultaneously remindreaders thatthesemythshavethemselves beenchangedthrough time.Brutallyshorn in order theirveryessencehas beenrevivified ofreferents no longerrelevant, the father's obsession to bringinsightto contemporary reality.Furthermore, withidentifying theboyas thevesselfordivinehealingdrawsattention to the Nameless and with limited access a of to importance signification. memory deeply affectedby trauma,the novel's dyingfatherattemptsto findthe mathematic limitofhisuniverse, thatsinequa nonofhumanity which without thehumanracecannot(and,indeed,does notdeserveto) survive.Ultimately, thegrailis notan objectcapableofhealingthehumanraceof itswickedness; instead,thegrailis picturedas a smallchildwalkingdowna road.The novel self-destructiveness thusexpressesa deeppessimism ,but regarding humanity's an affirmation itconcurrently of theindividual'sabilityto experience proffers with a transcendent, andperhapsultimately empathieconnection redemptive, others. In McCarthy'sunpublished Whalesand Men,John,a wealthy screenplay withhumanbeings, manwho initiallyseemsto espouseWhite'sdisaffection withtheabilityof whalesto empathizewitheach other, becomesentranced translated emotions.He concludes sharingeach other'spain andjoy through thathumanbeingsare,atroot,defined bytheirlongingforsuchradicalempathie connection."[O]ur truenature,"he says,"is notrage or deceitor terroror logic or craftor even sorrow.It is longing"(130).6If Johnis correctand the is a longingforconnection, thentheambivalence defining qualityofhumanity at theend of The Road maybe thepoint.In thisgrailmyth,theend of the questis notin sight,buttheyounggrailbeareris headingoutintothebarren wastelandwiththe"breathof God" in him,a breaththatis definedin terms His father's ethicalinstruction is imaginedas hisfather'sdying ofinheritance. thatthenarrator claimsmaycontinueon, breathnowmadehis,an inheritance all of time"{The Road 241). so thatit may"pass frommanto manthrough The father'slove forhis son becomestheboy's longingforhisfatherand for a withothers.Thatlongingis depictedas a boy'sjourneythrough community in find that a relentless to other whose broken world attempt pain physically and and whosejoy he can share.In a worldpoisonedby greed,dissociation, itself be a form of redemption. despair,longingmay CREIGHTON UNIVERSITY


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NOTES 1 All information fromMcCarthy'spapersis attributable toThe CormacMcCarthyPapers, Writers Texas State Collection,The Wittliff Collections,AlkekLibrary, partoftheSouthwestern Marcos.The earliestsketchesforThe Road appearas loose-leafsheetswitha University-San penciled,underlined heading"The Grail"(91 .86.1). 2 While the correlations betweenthesetwo textsare in manyways self-evident, Eliot's influencein factpervadesthewholeof McCarthy'scorpus.See Cant,"Oedipus" 46. 3 In one scene,thefathermuseson this veryidea. He looks at thefading,dyingplanetand reflects thatthe"world[is] shrinking downabouta rawcore of parsibleentities"(75). On one page hand-marked "Lang. /History"in a draftof thenovel,McCarthywrote(and thencrossed out) a few sentencesexplicatingthefather'scrypticremarkhere.In theexpurgatedpassage, thefatherthinksthatthe"pleasingthingaboutwitnessingtheutterdestruction of every-thing [sic] is thatone can see finallyhow it was made.And how frailly"(CormacMcCarthyPapers, 91.86.1). 4 Cormac McCarthyPapers,91 .87.3. 5 It should is linkedto particularly perhapsbe notedthatThe Roaďs perniciousbrutality Americancrimes,similarlyto McCarthy'searliernovel,Blood Meridian,and,indeed,mostof as a metaphorforinwardlycritical McCarthy'snovels.In TheRoad, theapocalypsefunctions to Nietzscheanpower,inabilityor unwillingness analysisof theU.S.'s hegemoniccommitment to practicean empathieengagement withothers,and so forth. in However,McCarthy'sinterest or moreprecisely,mythologizing Americanculpabilityin thisnovel,as in others, fictionalizing, does notlimittheapplicabilityof thearguments aboutthesurvivability of humancivilization. Afterall, McCarthy'sfictionmaybe nationally, even regionallyspecific,buthis otherwritings senseofculturalinheritance a transatlantic and,byextrapolation, expressa clearlytransatlantic inheritance of guilt.His screenplayWhalesand Men, forinstance,is populatedwithlanded incombination withAmericanscientists whointandemexaminethedangers Anglo-Irish gentry of a colonializinganthropocentrism. And McCarthydraftedThe Road whilelivingin Ireland of his own culturaland ethnicaffiliation withIreland (Luce 9-10). His consistentrecognition (notinsignificantly symbolizedbyhisadoptionofthename"Cormac")indicatesthathisfictional microcosmsofAmericanguiltare ultimately illustrative of ethicalcrisesnotlimitedby nation or ethnicity but ratherendemicto humanity. In theend, then,the mythologicalstructures in The Road underscoretheuniversalaspectof theconcernsposed in this"Americanjeremiad" (Edwards60). 6 Cormac McCarthyPapers,91 .97.5.

WORKS CITED Jean.TheSpiritofTerrorism and RequiemfortheTwinTowers.Trans.ChrisTurner. Baudrillard, London:Verso,2002. Bennett,Barbara."CelticInfluenceson CormacMcCarthy'sNo Country for Old Men and The Road:' Noteson Contemporary Literature38.5 (2008): 2-3. Campbell,Joseph.Transformations ofMyththroughTime.New York:Harper& Row, 1990. New York:Routledge, Cant,John.CormacMcCarthyand theMythofAmericanExceptionalism. 2008. - . "Oedipus Rests:MimesisandAllegoryin No Country for Old Men." No CountryforOld Men: FromNovel to Film. Ed. LynnaeChapmanKing, Rick Wallach,and JimWelsh. Lanham,U.K.: ScarecrowP, 2009. 46-59. Phil. "A Tabernaclein theDark: On theRoad withCormacMcCarthy."Books and Christman, Culture:A ChristianReview13.5 (2007): 40-42. CollettWhite,Mike. "Movie Remake forMcCarthy'sBleak Novel 'The Road.'" Thomson Reuters,3 Sept. 2009. Edwards,Tim. "The End of the Road: Pastoralismand the Post-ApocalypticWaste Land of CormacMcCarthy'sTheRoad" The CormacMcCarthyJournal6 (2008): 59-61.


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Eliot,T. S. The WasteLand. Ed. MichaelNorth.New York:W. W. Norton,2001. and CharacterFlightin theNovelsofCormac Ellis,Jay.No Place forHome: Spatial Constraint McCarthy.New York:Routledge,2006. Carl James."The Settingof McCarthy'sTheRoad." Explicator67.1 (2008): 11-13. Grindley, betweenCormacMcCarthyand Joeland EthanCoen." Time Grossman,Lev. "A Conversation 29 Oct. 2007:62-63. Hillier,RussellM. '"In a DarkParody'ofJohnBunyan'sThePilgrim'sProgress:The Presence of SubversiveAllegoryin CormacMcCarthy'sOuterDark'' AmericanNotesand Queries 19.4 (2006): 52-59. Hunt,Alex and MartinM. Jacobsen."CormacMcCarthy'sTheRoad and Plato's Simileof the Sun." Explicator66.3 (2008): 155-58. KingJamesVersionBible. HolmanBible Publishers,1992. Kushner,David. "CormacMcCarthy'sApocalypse."RollingStone 27 Dec. 2007. Online. 21 Feb. 2011. Loomis,RogerSherman.TheGrail:FromCelticMythtoChristianSymbol.NewYork:Columbia UP, 1963. Luce, Dianne C. "BeyondtheBorder.CormacMcCarthyin the New Millenium."The Road Home: CormacMcCarthy'sImaginativeReturnto the South.ConferenceProceedings, April25-28,2007. Ed. ChrisWalsh.Knoxville:U ofTennesseeNewfoundP, 2007. Mahoney,Dhira B. The Grail: A Casebook. Ed. Dhira B. Mahoney.New York: Garland 2000. 1-102. Publishing, Marino,JohnB. The Grail Legendin ModernLiterature.Cambridge:D.S. Brewer,2004. Cormac.TheRoad. NY: AlfredA. Knopf,2006. McCarthy, - . Whalesand Men. N .d. Southwestern WritersCollection. The Whittliff Collections. Alkek Marcos. Library.Texas StateUniversitv-San - . CormacMcCarthyPapers. Southwestern WritersCollection.The Whittliff Collections. Marcos. AlkekLibrary.Texas StateUniversity-San Snyder,PhillipA. "Hospitalityin Cormac McCarthy'sThe RoadУ The Cormac McCarthy Journal6 (2008): 69-86. Alfred.Tennyson's IdyllsoftheKing.Intro,by WillisH. Wilcox.Philadelphia:J.B. Tennyson, Lippincott,1920. Literature.New Waite,ArthurEdward.The Holy Grail: The Galahad Quest in theArthurian York:University Books, 1961. Weston,JessieL. The QuestoftheHoly Grail. London:FrankCass & Co., 1964. Žižek,Slavoj. Welcometo theDesertoftheReal. New York:WoosterP, 2001.
