5 Points To Describe What I Have Learnt About The Road So Far

The Road – Task 1

 

5 points to describe what I have learnt so far –

1.    This book is based on mainly on four ‘trashy’ horror films or ‘B Movies’ (movies that would become before the main feature film in Hollywood viewing.) They are more farcical and satirical, the audience laugh at what they should find disturbing. These are Dawn of The Dead, Last House on The Left, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. McCarthy took these films and decided to remove the satirical elements to make The Road seem more horrifying.

One word to describe this point – Horror/B Movie

2.    It is post-apocalyptic literature. Meaning it is based around low culture such as video games, trashy horror films, gossip magazines etc. Post-apocalyptic literature is a subgenre of science fiction and horror fiction which talks mainly about the end of human civilisation – which is reflected in The Road.

One word to describe this point – post-apocalyptic

3.    Inspired by The Cold War. People would live in bunkers underground in their garden and predicted that that would be how future generations would live – underground. Enduring the Cold War tensions is what inspired The Road.

One word to describe this point – cold war

4.    McCarthy was inspired by the Cuban Missile Crisis. He took himself (aged 64) and his son (aged 6) on a trip to Nevada and just stood looking out onto a barren, open landscape and imagined what it would be like if it were to be just himself and his son left alive. This was his inspiration for the characters in The Road.

One word to describe this point – alone/isolated

5.    Was based on post-modern literature, which is an oxymoron/contradiction as you cannot have ‘after modern’/‘after now’ literature. This style of literature is deliberately ironic and tends to be a mix of many different genres. Post-modern literature also takes all its inspiration from the wrong things.

One word to describe this point –post-modern