I finished! But, why AP?

To be honest, the typical emotion I feel when I finish a book, whether it was middle school English class or Ap Literature, is similar to that of an everlasting goodbye.  When you think about it, you will never look through those character's eyes again, never hope for their survival, never disappoint over their ill-minded decisions.  I guess this is where the phrase "closing the book on someone" comes from.  Often after I finish reading a book, or more realistically a Netflix series, I just sit wherever I was, unsure about what to do with myself.  In my opinion, it really sucks to form a connection with a character, hope for them and watch them grow, just to reach the final pages and have to say goodbye.

All of these emotions last for about five minutes, then I'm back to checking Instagram.

I really do think that Cormac McCarthy ended The Road perfectly.  I was definitely expecting a grandiose gesture of human goodness (a thematic concept that I was banking on), but I never really was able to predict how I would feel about it.  The scene between the father and the son conclude epitomize the theme of human goodness, "goodness will find the little boy.  It always has.  It will again" (281).  Even though the father was talking about the boy that his son met earlier in the novel, it was clear that in his mind he meant his son, a boy who was born into a chaotic world but still shined with goodness.  As for the man that "rescued" (the term is used loosely because rescue insinuates salvation and also because we cannot be certain about the true intentions of the strange man), I think that that was a tough call for McCarthy to make.  Some readers may exclaim that it was a corny way to end a survival story, but would they have been satisfied with both the father and the son dying?  What does that say about God protecting the good, or the power of human goodness?  McCarthy's ending was a great way of 1) ending the depressing final scenes and 2) subtlely asserting one final bit of commentary on his thematic ideas.

Now for the big question, the one that has been lurking over me through my journey of blogging and exploring a novel on my own (for the most part).  Is Cormac McCarthy's novel, The Road, of AP merit?

Yes.

Why?  There are a few ways I can go about tackling this question.  I could compare The Road with the past novels I have read in AP Literature, those being Song of Solomon, Brave New World, The Handmaid's Tale, and Atonement.  While this is a logical method, is it not the unique qualities of a novel that make it transcendent across time as a masterpiece?  All novels of AP merit, in my opinion, must achieve the same, broad goal: skillfully use literary techniques supplemented with the plot to convey a social commentary pertaining to a relevant idea in society.  The means that are employed in order to achieve this goal are often unique to each other, and that is the beauty of literature.

The Road is of AP merit due to its vast collection of allusions, motifs, and symbolism that all connect to an overarching theme or meaning of the work.  The motif of dreams was evident in much of the novel's key scenes and was wrapped up incredibly.  "[Papa] fell into a dreamless sleep"; remember how I emphasized that dreams were Death's way of reaching out to people.  A dreamless sleep doesn't mean that Death has stopped chasing, it means that Death has found you.  This motif was related to the thematic concept of hope, and how maintaining hope but remaining realistic is the best remedy of survival.

McCarthy also connects allusions to his thematic ideas.  For example, the allusion to the Greek myth of Phaeton (explained in previous blog post) and the theme of human goodness's empowering property.  McCarthy used this allusion to elaborate on his ideas of human goodness as portrayed by the relationship and values of Papa and his son.  This novel is of AP merit because he deliberately uses complex literary devices to convey the meaning of the work as a whole.

Another facet of the novel that I believe highlights its worthiness of AP merit is the subtlety of Cormac McCarthy's own ideas within the novel.  He disguised his own values in the novel through the dialogue and thoughts of Papa and the boy.  He used this method to share his ideas on spirituality and morals and their respective fluctuations in a time of severe crisis.  This is a strong indicator of the novels complex underlying meanings and uniqueness.

All in all, The Road is an AP worthy novel as demonstrated by Cormac McCarthy's ability to connect literary devices to multiple themes and employ his own commentary into the novel discussing relative social controversies.