While reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road, I can’t help but remember the numerous films released with the same plot. Titles that come to mind are: The Book of Eli, Twelve Monkeys, Resident Evil (all 4 sequels), and the child’s film, City of Ember, based on the novel. All of these films have something in common with The Road. The cliché being established here makes the reader dislike the plot not only because of the repetitive storyline, but also because of the depression it instills. With a scene like the following, the narrator shares his despair with the reader: “This is my child, he said. I wash a dead man's brains out of his hair. That is my job. Then he wrapped him in the blanket and carried him to the fire.” (McCarthy. 37) Perhaps our taste of film genre has mutated to include morbid depictions of vampires, post apocalyptic worlds, and worlds en-route to destruction (The Day After Tomorrow, Armageddon, The Core, 2012, Red Planet, War of The Worlds, Independence Day, The Knowing, The Matrix…).
I would also like to mention that the style with which the grim epic is portrayed symbolizes the steps taken on the road to something else. This road represents the hope the characters need to survive in their bleak environment. The justified, broken paragraphs seem to me like steps. Here is an image of what I mean:
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