Describe the setting (time, place, & culture).

The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, was published in 2006 and won the Pulitzer Prize for best novel of the year. It is in the genre of post-apocalyptic/ Dystopian/ speculative fiction that has become a favorite with contemporary readers. The Road remains popular and many consider it his best work. Publishers Weekly writes: “McCarthy’s latest novel, a frightening apocalyptic vision, is narrated by a nameless man, one of the few survivors of an unspecified civilization-ending catastrophe. He and his young son are trekking along a treacherous highway, starving and freezing, trying to avoid roving cannibal armies. The tale, and their lives, are saved from teetering over the edge of bleakness thanks to the man’s fierce belief that they are “the good guys” who are preserving the light of humanity.”Write in grammatically correct complete sentences—no one sentence answers.NUMBER your answers1 What is the plot premise of The Road?—what has happened to put the characters in the setting that they are in? Describe the setting (time, place, & culture)2. Describe the character of the mother. What is she like and what happens to her?—be explicit and give details.3. Describe the character of the father. 4. Describe the character of the boy. How does McCarthy suggest there is something special about him?5. The man and the boy think of themselves as the “good guys.” In what ways are they like and unlike the “bad guys” they encounter? What do “the bad guys” eat?—give a specific example with details.6. Only one time do they find an abundance of food and supplies—briefly describe the details of that place they found in the middle of their journey. 7. The Road takes the form of a classic journey story, a form that dates back to Homer’s Odyssey. To what destination are the man and the boy journeying? Describe two encounters they have with others along their way. (identify specific details)8. Where and how does the father die?—be explicit and give details. What happens to his body?9. As the father is dying, he tells his son he must go on in order to “carry the fire.” When the boy asks if the fire is real, the father says, “It’s inside you. It was always there. I can see it”. What is this fire? Why is it so crucial that they not let it die?10. What happens to the boy at the end of the story?